Exercising your knee muscles and ligaments can help you strengthen your legs and add stability to your lower extremities over time. Increased strength and stability in your legs can also help lower the risk of injury to your knees. You can complete a few simple exercises in the comfort of your own home or in a gym setting to accomplish this goal.
Ligaments
Your knee is comprised of many different ligaments surrounding the knee joint. These ligaments include the medial-collateral ligament, or MCL; anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL; and patellar collateral ligament, or PCL. These ligaments work in unison to prevent your knee from hyperextending or becoming unstable during normal daily activity, such as walking, running, or climbing stairs. All ligaments help connect bones to other bones within your leg, including your femur, tibia, and fibula bones.
Knee Extension
One exercise you can complete to help strength your knee ligaments involves knee extension, or extending your leg at your knee joint. While lying on your stomach, bend one knee towards your buttocks. Swing a towel around this ankle and hold on to either end of the towel with your hands. While attempting to extend your lower leg, provide resistance via the towel by pulling with your arms. Hold this position for a few seconds before releasing the hold and returning to your start position.
Knee Flexion
Another exercise to increase knee joint strength includes knee flexion, or bending your lower leg at the knee joint. While lying on your stomach, wrap your ankle with an ankle weight. This weight will provide the resistance needed to complete this exercise. Next, focus on using your buttocks and hamstring muscles to bend your lower leg at your knee joint towards you backside. Hold this position for a few seconds, then slowly release the hold and return to your starting position. Repeat this exercise with your opposite leg.
Lateral Exercise
While lying on your side and with an ankle weight secured on your top leg, slowly lift this leg up towards the ceiling. Hold this position at the top for a few seconds before lowering your leg back down to starting position. This exercise will help strengthen the muscles and ligaments around your knee that help prevent lateral sheer displacement within your joint, which can be a cause for injury otherwise.
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