Strengthening the muscles that support the knee with knee exercises is most important to protect your knees from injury and knee pain.

Weak or fatigued muscles cannot adequately support the knee joint or absorb shock before it gets to the knee and the extra stress placed upon it can cause injury to its structures. Strengthening exercises can make the muscles tight though, so follow strength exercises with stretching exercises.

Flexible muscles are not as easily injured. Tightness of muscles connected to the knee can pull the knee out of alignment. When doing stretching knee exercises, be careful to go slowly and not to overstretch. You do not want to tear a muscle.

You need to increase the duration of your knee exercises gradually to avoid over-use injuries and knee pain. Be patient and you will see results.

Strength must be built up gradually. When muscles, tendons or ligaments are stressed slightly beyond their limits, microscopic tears occur. This is normal, and as these tears heal the muscles actually become bigger, firmer and stronger. These microscopic tears must be given adequate time to heal or chronic problems can develop.

Try not to exercise the same muscle groups two days in a row to give your body a chance to recover. Doing strengthening knee exercises three or four times a week is enough. Stretching knee exercises can be done more often.

The goal is to prevent injury and knee pain, not cause it. Don?t ignore pain. Pain is your body?s way of protecting you from hurting yourself further. It is not unusual to experience mild stiffness and aching of the muscles that lasts up to a day after exercising. But hardly being able to move for a few days after exercising means you have overdone it. That said, it's difficult to know when to quit when doing knee exercises. Often, the pain doesn't set in until a day or two later. If that happens, you will have a greater understanding of your body's limitations.

When you have overdone your knee exercises. Rest is important for inflamed muscles or tendons. Apply ice wrapped in a cloth can help reduce inflammation and pain and speed up healing. Knee pain should be completely gone before fully resuming your knee exercises programme, however, lightly exercising the sore muscle may help decrease muscle soreness.

If you are currently experiencing knee pain or have a very limited range of motion, or are not sure which knee exercises are safe for you to do, see a physiotherapist. A doctor or physiotherapist can assess your condition and give you a customised treatment and exercise plan.

Strengthening Knee Exercises

NOTE: Only do one exercise per muscle group on the same day. There are several exercises to choose from for each muscle.

Warming up with 5 minutes of low-impact aerobics, such as walking or riding a stationary exercise bike, increases blood supply to the muscles to help prevent injury and stiffness.

Quadriceps Strengthening

  • Contractions:

    Sit in chair. Extend legs, heels to floor. Keep as straight as possible. Tighten thigh muscles. Hold for count of 10. Relax for count of 3. Do 10 repetitions. You can do this several times throughout the day. You can build up to 2 or 3 sets of 10 repetitions at a time.

  • Leg lifts:

    Lie flat on back. Bend left knee at 90-degree angle, keeping foot flat on floor. Keeping the right leg straight, slowly lift it to the height of the left knee. Hold for a count of 3. Repeat 10 times. Switch sides. Work up to 10 sets of 10 over several weeks.

    Safety Tip: Leg lifts: Lifting both legs at the same time causes excessive stress on your lower back so only lift one leg at a time; the opposite leg should be kept slightly bent with foot on floor. <

    Hamstring Strengthening

  • Hamstring Strengthening Contractions:

    Sit in chair, heels on floor. Don't move heels but pull back on them. You will feel tension in you hamstrings. Hold for count of 10. Relax for count of 3. Do 10 repetitions.

  • Hamstring Strengthening Curls:

    Lie on stomach. Place left foot onto the back of the right heel. Slowly pull your right heel toward your buttocks - resisting with the left leg. This contracts the hamstrings. Hold for a count of 10. (Keep pressing your left foot and right heel against each other) Hold for a count of ten and relax for count of 3. Do 10 repetitions.

    • Walking backwards helps to develop the hamstrings. When walking backwards, your weight is distributed more evenly, resulting in less strain on your knees.

    There are many more exercises to do to strengthen the supporting muscles in and around the knee, so for more information, email me by clicking here

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