Exercise is an essential part of maintaining both your fitness and your overall health, but keeping up with your exercise routine can be difficult if your knees hurt. In addition, you don't want to engage in exercise that makes your knee problems worse. However, becoming overweight can also put increasing strain on your knees, making exercise more necessary than ever. By understanding common causes of knee pain and exercises that reduce strain and prevent knee injury, you can protect these important joints from permanent damage.
The Basics
Your knees are the largest and the most complex hinge joints in your body. The bones of your knee are held together--and the motion of your knee is controlled--by four major ligaments: the inner and outer collateral ligaments, the anterior cruciate ligament and the posterior cruciate ligament, also known as the ACL and PCL, notes MayoClinic.com. Your knee also includes tendons to connect muscle to bone, as well as cartilage and fluid-filled sacs, creating a cushion between the bones of the joint. Injuries or strains to any part of this complex structure can cause knee pain in varying levels of severity.
Injury-Based Knee Pain
Numerous activities and exercises can lead to knee injury, making athletes and individuals in certain types of jobs particularly susceptible to knee injuries. Sharp twists or turns can sprain the knee, or even tear the ACL or PCL ligaments, notes MedlinePlus. Awkward landings from a jump or blows to the knee from falling or getting hit in the knee can also be a common cause of injury. Repetitive motion from working or exercising can also cause injuries.
Other Causes of Knee Pain
You can also have problems with your knee due to diseases and aging. Arthritis, a disease that inflames joints, can cause significant pain, depending on the type of arthritis and the severity of the case. In addition, as people age, the cushions between the bones of the knee can become worn down, allowing the bones to grind together.
Considerations When Exercising
You should never ignore knee pain when exercising. Pain in these important joints should be considered an indicator of either injury or degeneration and should be taken seriously. Ignoring the warning signs of a knee problem can exacerbate an injury, potentially causing a permanent problem. The soft tissues in your knees need time to recover in between exercise sessions to prevent strains and sprains. This is why muscle training involves working different muscle groups on different days, notes MayoClinic.com. To protect your knee joints, you also need to keep the surrounding muscles strong. Well-developed leg muscles help reduce the strain on your knees by helping you carry and balance weight better, notes BigKneePain.com.
Exercises that Reduce Knee Strain
Many exercises involve less strain on your knees. According to BigKneePain.com, individuals with knee problems should avoid high-impact exercises. Swimming is an excellent exercise for both fitness and cardiovascular health that reduces strain on the knee by reducing the high impact and weight on your joints via the natural buoyancy of water. Additional ways to reduce strain on your knees while exercising include walking instead of running, using appropriate and supportive shoes, and engaging in low-impact aerobic activities, notes BigKneePain.com.
