4 Exercises To STRENGTHEN Arthritic Knees WITHOUT More Pain
- chelsie462
- May 27
- 9 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July of 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/0eK6jYdhuuY
Mike: Do you struggle to find strengthening exercises for your arthritic knees?
Brad: Well, I tell you what, today, we're going to go over four, not three, but four exercises you can do safely without increasing knee pain. So by strengthening the muscles around the knee, it stabilizes the joint, and it can decrease the arthritic pain. Mike, can you elaborate?
Mike: So we're going to work on strengthening four different muscle groups. First, we're going to focus on the quads, the big muscles in the front of the thigh. Then we're going to work on the hamstrings, which run from your buttocks to the back of your knee. You have three on each side. Then we want to focus on the glute medius and minimus, which are on the side of your hip. And lastly, we're going to do the glute max.
Brad: That's right. So that's all going to come into play. We're going to show you in just a second.
Mike: So for the first couple of exercises, you can either do it in a seated position or a long sitting position like I am here. You're going to need a pillow of sorts, or you could possibly do it with a rubber ball. The first exercise is actually going to work on your terminal knee extension, or how far you can straighten your knee. So what you're going to do is get in a long sitting position and push the back of your knee into the pillow. You're going to actually hold it for about five seconds and then relax. We want to try to repeat this five to 10 times.
Brad: Now, if you're doing it in a chair at home, you're going to need a stool like this or an ottoman. And you go on, and we're really working the quads, doing the same thing. I'm really pushing down straightening the knee, and you actually feel the quad muscles. You can feel them contract. That's really getting your maximum strengthening, just like Mike said, five seconds. How many reps?
Mike: 10 repetitions if possible.
Brad: There you go.
Mike: The next one you want to focus on is the hamstrings. Now, to do this, you don't necessarily need the pillow there if you don't want, but you're going to actually push your heel into the mat. Again, just an isometric hold. You should feel the hamstring muscles engaging here. And then relax. Try to do five to 10 reps of that exercise.
Brad: There you go. In this situation, you might want to get the stool or the ottoman farther out and push down. You can see my heel pushing into the cushion. And again, you can feel the hamstrings work very well. It's going to be good feedback.
Mike: Now, exercise number two is going to engage the quads, the hamstrings, and the glutes. And what we're going to start with is basic, and then go to advanced options with this. So the first thing is simply to sit on the stands. If you really have a lot of knee pain, sitting on a higher surface or in a chair with armrests can really help. Push up with your arms, try to go up nice, slow, and controlled. And also try to sit down slowly and controlled. Don't just fall over into your chair. Again, start with five repetitions, work up to 10 if possible.
Brad: Yeah. And one thing you want to keep in mind is your mechanics. Try to avoid a rocking motion if you can. If you want to isolate and strengthen those muscles, just take your time, use the armrest. Depending on your knee pain, of course, work with things. If your knee pain is really bad, you may only go partially down and then push back up. That's okay. And after a few, hopefully, it loosens up and you can do the full squat down to the chair surface.
Mike: Now, if this seems simple, you can do it to a normal chair. No arms are needed. You can advance to what we call a split squat. It's sort of a lunge. With these, I like to have something I can kneel on, preferably a pillow if you have it, or if you happen to have some type of foam pad. So you're going to get into a staggered stance. Hold on to something if you're new to this. And you can just start with partial lunges. You don't have to go all the way down, just getting those knees bending a little bit and straightening. Once you feel comfortable, you can try to lower all the way down, slowly and controlled, and then come back up. If this is too painful, you certainly don't have to do this. You can just stick with the sit the stands. Again, I'm trying to keep a nice upright posture with my trunk, not leaning forward. Try to do five to 10 repetitions on each side.
Brad: So I put the chair here. If you need more assistance, you can do that. Or you could actually use a cane or a stick to hold onto. Start out with it being easier as opposed to getting too aggressive. There is one option from the chair before you get to that. You can simply stand without using your arms and do that. That makes quite a difference. And then if that's too easy, do the squat to the chair but don't touch the chair, and go back up. Make sure you have good balance, of course, and you feel very stable.
Mike: The third exercise here, you're going to need a wall to do it. It's better if you actually have a physio ball of sorts or a little kickball, but you don't need one. It's just a wall slide or a wall squat. So I'm going to place my back against the wall. My butt is touching as well. Bring your feet out as far as you comfortably can. I'm going to touch my head to the wall too, and I'm going to squat down. Go to where you feel comfortable. If it's only partway, that's fine. And then come back up. Over time, as your knees limber up and don't hurt as much, you can try going a little bit deeper. This will strengthen your knees through more of a greater range of motion, which can help with your arthritic pain.
Mike: Now I would prefer a ball to do this, that Brad is now sitting on.
Brad: Yeah, you can't have it.
Mike: But the ball allows you to glide up and down a little bit easier versus just using the wall.
Brad: A couple of things that you can do to make this easier. If you go against a door, if your walls are rough, have a smooth door that can help you, if you have a Booyah Stik or a cane. I advise using that first until you get used to it. And you know how it feels. And really important is what kind of footwear you using. Do not do this with socks on. Make sure you have shoes on and your feet do not have a tendency to slide out, because you will go right down to the ground and have a difficult day.
Mike: Now, with the ball, simply place the ball behind your back. The larger balls are a little bit easier to roll up and down on. So again, get my feet out to a comfortable distance. Don't have them right underneath you. Feet shoulder width apart, roughly. And then go down, see what feels comfortable for you for depth. If you're feeling some knee pain, you can also mess with the angle of your toes. That might help you as well.
Brad: Good point. And again, use a stick. And actually you may want to put a nice solid chair to one side. You can use that if it's available right there when you start out. And where you place the ball will make a difference. You can actually go back up, Mike. You may want to start with the ball closer to your belt line. May feel more comfortable. And those are all little tricks that you'll learn quickly after you work with it. Did you want to show them, if they don't have the big ball, how to use a smaller kickball?
Mike: You go ahead.
Brad: Oh, I get too? So it's important that you use a ball that's soft. If you choose something like a soccer ball or a basketball, it will not be very comfortable. A nice eight-inch soft one. Go out and get it from the neighborhood kids. They'll be happy to help you out. Feet shoulder-width wide. Again, I'm wearing socks. It's okay on this carpet because they don't slip. But you certainly wouldn't wear socks on a smooth floor. I like to start with it at my belt line. Good posture. And again, oh, let's use this cane. Makes a big difference, a little help. And just start mini, same thing, same concepts as Mike. I would never go lower than my femurs going horizontal or my thighs. If you go this far down and you've got knee pain to start with, it might be a good way to irritate it. So just be very cautious with that. Really good way to work those quads and glutes.
Mike: And the last exercise is going to focus on the glute medius and minimus. These are actually the hip abductor muscles. So what they do is they kick out to the side if you're engaging them. They also keep you upright, standing tall when you are walking. So for beginners, don't want to stand with locked knees. Have a slight bend in your knee, and you're going to keep an upright posture and just kick out to the side as far as you comfortably can and back in. You can hold onto a countertop, walker, or chair for support if needed for beginners. Try to do 10 reps and make sure not to teeter to the side like this to get your leg up higher. Also, do not let your leg rotate out. That's a different muscle group. So again, focus. Try to do 10 repetitions.
Mike: Once you do one side, do the other side as well. 10 repetitions. If this seems easy, you can certainly add resistance right away. You can either use cuff weights or some sort of resistance band. If I'm using a band like this, simply stand on it, put it roughly in the middle of your foot here, to get it a little tighter, pull up on the bands. And then again, we're just going to kick out to the side and back in. Try to do 10 to 15 repetitions on each side.
Brad: If you have the large loop bands, they actually work well. Now, you really have to have good balance for this if you're using this, because you need both hands to hold this. So it's a little more challenging that way.
Mike: And this exercise actually works your standing leg as well, because in order to stand up like this, I'm engaging the same muscles. And when you have a band, you can definitely notice it more. So, give each exercise a try and pick whatever level you need to start out and slowly progress over time. If any of those exercises increase your knee pain and make it worse, and it's not for you, just pick the ones that feel good.
Brad: Right. And if you want to look at some more exercises, check out our video, "Best 5 Exercises to STOP Arthritic Knee Pain." It's a nice video. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
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