“A weak muscle pumps less blood in and out of the joint, which means the knee won’t have enough nutrients and, over time, won’t be able to function properly,” says Mitch Torres, physical therapist and senior editor of knee strength. In addition, “strong muscles also act as shock absorbers. They protect the knee joint by absorbing the shock coming from the ground. Weak muscles will not be able to do this, so all the impact will be received by the tissues of the joint. With the time, this also makes them prone to injury.
So when muscles like you quadriceps or glutes they are weak, Joseph Rayner IV, PT, DPT, A Texas-based physical therapist says your knees can take over, becoming responsible for an intolerable amount of stress that leads to pain.
“When the gluteus maximus or gluteus medius is weak, the quads will have to work harder to handle the demands of an activity,” says Dr. Rayner. “If the quadriceps is also weak, then the patellar tendon will also have a hard time handling the loads of activity. Finally, when our muscles and tendons have reached their maximum capacity, the passive stabilizers in our knee, like our ligaments, will have to shoulder the rest of the burden.
Keep in mind that when you’re managing knee pain, the exercises you do should only cause mild pain, no more than three out of 10. And if things don’t improve, it’s time to see a professional.
“If you have pain that starts right away with or without a pop, and you notice swelling soon after, there’s a good chance you’ve had an injury that needs to be looked at by a doctor or physical therapist,” says Torres. “The more severe your symptoms, the more likely it is that you should see a doctor. If you have pain that comes on gradually without a very obvious and abrupt incident, you may or may not have an injury. In this case, see a physical therapist would probably save you time and money to solve the problem.
To control knee pain due to weak surrounding muscles, the solution is, you guessed it, to strengthen those muscles. Explore some knee strengthening exercises to try below.
5 exercises to strengthen the knee
1. Wall Squats
Ryan Balmes, DPTa board-certified sports and orthopedic physical therapist and spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Associationsays wall squats are great for strengthening your glutes and quads. You can perform a wall squat grip or wall squat for reps. For each, start with your back against the wall and slowly walk your feet out, keeping your back against the wall, bending at the hips and knees until you are sitting in a position where your knees are in line with your hips. and ankles. they are directly below the knees pointing g forward in line with the toes. To hold, stay in that position for 30 seconds, then rest again. Repeat this five times. For reps, once you slide down the wall and into a squat against the wall, come back up. Repeat three sets of ten.
2. Isometric lunge
An isometric exercise is one that is performed while maintaining a muscle contraction, explains Dr. Rayner. Stand up straight, step one foot back and lower yourself into a lunge position until you feel a slight level of pain or until the bottom of your knee almost touches the ground. Make sure your front knee is in line with your front ankle and your back knee is just below your hips. Hold this position for 30 to 45 seconds and repeat three to four times.
Watch this to learn proper lunge form:
3. Deadlift
The deadlift helps strengthen your hamstrings and glutes, and “it also helps stabilize your knee, so the stronger you are, the more secure the joint will be,” says Dr. Torres. He starts standing with his feet shoulder-width apart and his toes slightly turned out. Then he slightly bends his knees and leans forward at the hips, keeping his back flat, with most of the movement in his hips. He stand back up, squeezing his hamstrings and glutes to do so.
4. Lateral decubitus hip abduction
This exercise targets the gluteus medius. Dr. Balmes says for him to start lying on the side opposite the sore leg with his hips and legs stacked on top of each other. He lifts the top leg up, making sure it stays in line with the bottom leg and doesn’t slide down in front of you, and then lowers it back down. He repeats three sets of 10 reps.
5. Lateral dips
Work your quads by working backwards with lateral reductions. Start with one foot on a 12-inch step and the other foot hanging off the side of the step, says Dr. Rayner. Take about three seconds to get down to the point where you hang up
the foot touches the ground. For the leg that stabilizes you on the step, be sure to keep your knee from bending inward; it should stay in line with the second toe. Complete two to four sets of six to 10 reps.
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