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ONE Simple Way To Reduce Knee Stiffness After Sitting
- chelsie462
- Jun 3
- 5 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/9XRk0qbTXsg
Mike: Are you finding it tough to stand up after you've been sitting for a while?
Brad: Oftentimes people's knees get stiff after long-term sitting, and that weight bearing and that movement up, just becomes painful. We're going to show you how you can easily get rid of that with just a simple exercise or maybe two, maybe three. So, Mike, let's talk a little bit about why the knees develop this stiffness and pain and why the remedies actually work.
Mike: So, typically when we're sitting for a prolonged period of time, we have no movement in our legs. This decreases the blood flow to them, the circulation, causing the muscles, tendons, and joints to stiffen up. So the longer you sit, the stiffer you're going to be.
Brad: And actually, if you have some arthritic pain, that happens to be increased, because the synovial fluid, the lubrication between the joints, also is not where it needs to be. So, doing these exercises spreads that lubrication out, which is a great benefit for your movement and weight bearing.
Mike: So, for some people, this can be more of an issue or concern when you sit for prolonged periods of time, especially when traveling, because that is a way to possibly develop a DVT. Obviously, if you're young and healthy, this isn't really a risk factor for you, but just keeping your legs moving, like we're going to show here in a second, can help with that as well.
Brad: Now, if you're not familiar with a DVT, it's a deep vein thrombosis or a blood clot, oftentimes formed in the calf muscle from long-term sitting.
Mike: So the first exercise we're going to show is going to activate the knee joint itself, the quad muscles and hamstrings, and it's simply kicking out straight. We call this long arc quad in the therapy realm. Very simple, easy to do. If you have a limited range of motion, just go to what's plausible or possible for you, move out a little bit, and then come back in. Try to work into the full range of motion. But there are some other options you can try as well.
Brad: That's right, and it's important to do these slowly and with some real definition as high as you can. If you want to move your ankles as well, we're gonna talk about some activity with that in just a little bit. But again, Mike really brought up the good points. Full range of motion or as close as you can. Now, depending on how your mobility and flexibility are, you may wanna actually work some flexion or bending of the knee as well. After you do 10 long arc quads like that, then you can bring the knee up and flex it so we get a little more range of motion, if it's comfortable, or you can start out a little bit and just bring it up. And sometimes that can be a real relief right there. So that way, you get the full range of motion and do five to 10 of those on each leg.
Brad: Sometimes it works better to actually put your hands underneath the knee and pull up, and that can actually distract or get the joints to separate just slightly.
Mike: Another option to get some circulation and movement in your legs. Say you're stuck in a car or plane or train, whatever, you're not going to be able to kick because there's a seat in front of you, most of the time, or the dashboard, whatever. So, a good option is to simply do some ankle pumps in a seated position. If you have your knees bent, you're going to end up kind of rocking up on your toes and then back on your heels like that. If you have a little room to stretch out, you could certainly do this in a straight leg position as well. But simply doing 20 to 30 leg pumps can help keep that circulation going in your legs when you're stuck in this position for a prolonged period of time.
Brad: I like to call them ankle pumps, Mark, not leg pumps, but you can call them whatever you want.
Mike: Pump it up.
Brad: Anyways. Yeah, it really does that because the circulation in the feet also takes time, it gets delayed, and it actually pools down there. So motion in the ankles is really beneficial to get that fluid up where it belongs.
Mike: So remember, these simple movements can make a big difference in how you feel, and they can keep you moving and make you feel better.
Brad: Yeah. So the stands are easier now.
Mike: If you want to check out more videos on knee pain specifically, watch our video, "My Knee Hurts Here! 10 Typical Pain Spots And What They Mean."
Brad: That's a nice one, because it gets right to the specifics.
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