Knee strengthening exercises stretch and strengthen the surrounding muscle groups to prevent injury, decrease recovery time from an injury, and maintain alignment of the joint. These exercises help athletes, seniors, and invalids increase support of the knee joint and help reduce or eliminate knee pain.
Strong flexible joints are better able to handle the stresses and demands of sports like running, football, and cycling. Specific exercises focus on rehabilitating the injury to get you back on your feet faster. And just like the front end of a car, knee joints function better and last longer when they’re properly aligned.
Athletes, seniors, and anyone recovering from injury or illness can benefit from knee exercises. Gymnasts, runners, and cyclists understand the importance of maintaining proper conditioning of the knees and other joints. They know how an injury can set back their training programs and even prevent them from competing in major sporting events.
Seniors and invalids recovering from a long illness are two groups that can really benefit from exercises to improve their overall condition and mobility. Seniors may not realize how much strength, flexibility, and balance they have lost over the years as their activity gradually decreases. It is amazing how muscles atrophy so quickly when people are sedentary for long periods. And most people do not realize the many simple exercises they could do to improve their quality of life.
People who have been seriously injured are usually under the care of a doctor or physical therapist and have an exercise program to help them recover. It is especially important to do exercises correctly and at the right time. Do things too early, incorrectly, or too often and you can cause re-injury; too late or too little and you may have to undergo more therapy to regain proper function and flexibility of the joint.
Muscle groups must work together (the knee bone is connected to the thigh bone) as a system to support the knee and any imbalance in strength or flexibility will cause problems. Knee exercises focus primarily on the large muscle groups in the legs, hips, and buttocks. Don’t worry, all the other muscles will be exercised in the process.
In conclusion, knee strengthening exercises increase the strength and flexibility of muscle groups that support the joint and prevent injury. Athletes, seniors, and invalids can all benefit from these exercises. There are many simple exercises you can do to improve and maintain your physical condition. You need to exercise all muscle groups to balance the knee support system. And it is very important for you to do exercises correctly, at the right times, and not overdo them. Remember you are doing knee pain exercises to avoid injury not to cause yourself more.
Knee Pain and Body Basics
I have been researching the effects of differences in leg and foot lengths to learn if they can cause problems, especially knee pain, while running. I’ve found several websites that discuss these issues but nothing that clearly states it will or won’t cause problems.
Are You Causing Your Own Pain?
When our joints or muscles ache, our first reaction may be that we worked too hard at some physical task and “it will go away”. Later when it hasn’t, we may visit the doctor to identify the cause of our pain. Unfortunately the doctor has many patients to treat and doesn’t always have the time and patience to discover the underlying problem of which the pain may be only a symptom. The doctor can help us to understand where the pain is and what hurts but many times it is up to us to figure out what is really causing the problem.
Does Exercising Have to Be Boring?
When you exercise, does a nagging voice keep repeating in your mind “Do I have to do this again? I don’t want to…” Exercise doesn’t have to be boring. It’s more than push ups and sit ups. You need to find a program that works best for you and your lifestyle.
