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Exercises to strengthen the knees can be indicated for healthy people, who wish to practice some physical activity, such as running, but also serve to combat the pain caused by arthritis, osteoarthritis and rheumatism, for better muscle strengthening due to the wear of the cartilage.
The exercises should be prescribed by the physical educator or physiotherapist personally after checking the need that the person presents, because they can be very varied, and depend on whether there is an injury or not, but here are some examples of exercises that can be useful for strengthening the quadriceps, which are the thigh muscles.
1. Bridge
bridge
- Lie on your back, bend your legs
- Lift the trunk off the ground, keeping the pelvis elevated. Then it must descend slowly.
- Repeat the exercise 10 times. Rest a few seconds and then perform another series of 10 repetitions.
2. Leg extension, in the air
- Lying on his back with his hands at his sides
- Fold both legs
- Lift only one leg, keeping it straight
- Repeat 12 times with each leg
3. Leg extension in 3 supports
Leg extension in 3 supports
- In the position of 4 supports, with your elbows and knees on the floor
- Fold one leg and raise this folded leg, as shown in the image
- Repeat 10 times, taking care to keep the leg in motion, always straight.
- Remember to imagine that you are pushing the ceiling upwards, using the heel, because this facilitates the movement at the correct angle.
- You should do 2 sets of 10 repetitions with each leg.
4. Squat
Squat
The squat is a great closed kinetic chain exercise for strengthening your knees.
- Standing, you should imagine that you will sit on a chair, flexing your knees to a 90º angle.
- When doing this exercise, you must be careful that your knees do not extend beyond the big toe, so as not to create injuries to the knees. P
- To facilitate movement, you can stretch your hands in front of your body, as shown in the image.
- 20 squats in a row are recommended.
5. Squeeze ball between knees
This isometric exercise consists of:
- Remain lying on your back,
- Bend your knees keeping them bent and slightly apart
- Place a medium-sized ball between your knees
- The exercise consists only of squeezing the ball between your knees 10 times in a row
- This exercise should be repeated 10 times, totaling 100 squeezes, but with rests every 10 repetitions.
In case of knee arthrosis, other more specific exercises can be indicated, check out what they are and other care needed to recover faster in this video: