Strengthening the muscles that surround your knees can help reduce the stress placed on them by repetitive activities such as running and jumping, says the Wellsphere website. Even if you are planning to start with safe and gentle exercises, bigkneepain.com stresses that you should always seek your doctor's or physical therapist's approval before starting them. The website also recommends warming your knees up before doing the exercises, with a few minutes of light jogging, for example, even it's just on the spot.
Seated Heel Dig
According to bigkneepain.com, this exercise is one of the safest and best ways to strengthen your knees and the quadriceps muscles in the front of your thighs. Sit on the very edge of a chair and straighten your legs out in front of you. Position your feet so only your heels are resting on floor and your toes are raised in the air. Tighten your thigh muscles and push your heels more firmly into the floor and hold for 10 seconds. Relax then repeat 10 times. As your quadriceps and knees strengthen, bigkneepain.com suggests increasing the number of sets of 10 you do.
Seated Heel Raises
The Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons website recommends this exercise for people who are recovering from knee replacement surgery because it strengthens the muscles around the knee without placing any stress or pressure on it. Sit on the floor or a bed with your legs straight out in front of you and raise one heel off the ground by tightening your shin muscles and extending your calf muscle. Stretch your shin muscle and contract your calf muscle to point your toes. The Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons website recommends repeating these two movements in quick succession for up to three minutes on each leg a couple of times a day if you can.
Seated Leg Lifts
Sit on a bed or on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Tighten the thigh muscles of one leg to lift it a couple of inches off the ground, says the Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons website. Hold in the raised position for up to 10 seconds then gently lower and repeat on the other leg. Do as many lifts as you can on each leg. As your knee strength improves, aim to increase the hold time, but don't try to lift your legs higher than a few inches. For more of a challenge, the Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons website suggests doing this exercise sitting in a chair, with one foot on the floor and the other straight out in front of you. Hold your leg in this position without raising it.
Double Hamstring Curl
Wellsphere says to lie straight out on the floor on your stomach, with your forehead resting on both hands, palms facing down. As you breathe out, tighten your hamstrings--the muscles at the backs of your thighs--and slowly bend your knees to raise your lower legs off the floor. Stop when they are at right angles to the floor then, as you breathe in, slowly lower your feet back to the floor. Repeat as many times as you can, but don't rush the exercise--the slower you do it, the more strength your muscles will build to control the movement. Wellsphere suggests using ankle weights for even more of a workout.
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