Tai chi is an internal martial art with origins in China that became a popular group fitness offering in the United States during the early 2000s. For people with knee problems, it offers a combination of light-resistance, low-impact exercises that can strengthen your knees without exacerbating the injuries that cause knee pain in the first place.
Before You Begin
For some knee problems, the best treatment is a course of low-impact exercise to improve strength, increase flexibility and build range of motion. For others, however, any kind of exercise will do nothing but worsen the condition causing you pain. If you are considering a course of tai chi exercise to help with sore knees, check with your doctor before beginning.
Tai Chi Basics
A typical tai chi posture asks you to shift your weight and move slowly while in a shallow crouch. This motion puts slight pressure on your knees while also requiring that you rotate at the waist and ankles. The gentle increase in pressure builds knee strength without the pounding or heavy impact of running, cycling or lifting weights. Better still, you can control just how far you crouch on a given day, allowing you to tailor your level of impact to how you feel at the time. Although nearly all tai chi exercises work out your knees, three exercises that give particular focus to knee strength include "Repulse Monkey," "Snake Creeps Down" and "Needle at Sea's Bottom."
Alignment
Skeletal alignment is a key component of tai chi practice. This means that, throughout all postures, you keep your skeleton in positions where the joints work together and remain at healthy angles in respect to one another. Since some traditional exercises can twist knees or other joints into uncomfortable positions, this is another reason tai chi is often recommended for minor knee pain.
Aqua Chi
For people with severe knee pain, there is an even lower-impact version of tai chi available at some health clubs and swimming pools. Aqua chi --- tai chi done while chest-deep in water --- uses the natural buoyancy of water to reduce the impact of your tai chi workout even more. As with dry-land tai chi, you should consult with your doctor about whether or not aqua chi is a good choice for your particular knee situation.
References
- Kerry Collette; Tai Chi Instructor; Hillsboro Parks and Recreation; Hillsboro, Ore
- "Tai Chi For Busy People"; Dr. Keith Jeffrey; 2003
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