Exercise For Achy Knees From Basketball

Basketball is a high impact sport that places a lot of pressure on your knee joints. In many instances, too much pressure is placed on the knee and injury results. To prevent knee injury or soreness, you must build up strength in all of the muscles that support the knee. These include the muscles of your calves, hips and thighs. Increasing the strength of those muscles relieves the workload of your knees.

Pre- Exercises

If you have pain in your knees, consult a physician. In most cases, knee pain is due to light strain or overworking, but consult with your doctor to rule out any structural damage. You should be pain-free before exercising. Remember to adequately stretch and warm up to avoid injury.

Calves

Exercises including calf raises, step-ups, wall squats and seated calf raises strengthen the muscles of your calves. These exercises also provide stability to your ankle joint. The right amount and intensity of calf exercises vary depending on your goals. To increase the size and strength of your calves, choose a resistance with which you can do no more than eight to 10 repetitions. If you do more than 10 repetitions, you are toning the muscle. Basketball is a sport with a lot of jumping. Lower body strength is essential for jumping.

Thighs

The muscles of your thighs are called the quadriceps. These are the largest muscles of your body. If these muscles are not well developed, your knee will be placed under considerable pressure. Leg presses, squats, lunges, leg curls and leg extensions will develop and strengthen the muscles of your thighs.

Hips

Many knee problems may be traced to an unstable hip joint. Strengthening your hip muscles is achieved by performing dead lifts, sumo squats and hip abduction exercises. Developing the hip abductors, gluteal muscles and the hip flexors will considerably cut down on the instability of your knee.