Need exercises to strengthen muscles around knees

Hi Folks,

  I am recovering from a knee injury and wonder if any of you out there know of any websites that give exercises to help recover after a knee injury.

  Any suggestions are very welcome.

Cheers,
  Natasha

i believe lunges and squats help the most. Some yoga poses too. I have never had a knee injury, but i would say my knees in general used to be pretty weak until i started walking and doing lunges. I'm not sure how much you can do after a knee injury though, don't overdo it.

NO LUNGES! it puts too much stress on the knees! start with leg presses, then SLOWLY start to integrate squats, and some very low weight leg extensions. And ride the stationary bike as much as possible to help get blood circulating to the knee area.

what type of injury is it?

i suffer from tendernitis (if that is spelled right)

one exercise i was told to do by a physio trainer was to put a phone book (or two) on the ground. and with one leg on the floor and the other on the books slowly raise the foot off the floor level to the other by using just the leg that is on the books.

sounds stupidly easy. the next day it hurt to walk, like i never used the mucsle before,

The exercises that I do (or am supposed to do, as taught to me by my physio?I don't do them often enough) are:

• Hamstring stretches: seated, leg straight out, stretch gently three times for thirty seconds each.


• Towel stretches for the calves: again seated, leg straight out, use a towel or a sheet to pull your forefoot back towards you until you feel a good (not painful!) stretch in your calf muscles. Three times for thirty seconds each.


• "quad sets"?leg straight on the floor, tense and hold the quads for a count of ten, then release for a count of five. Repeat 3 sets of ten.


• straight leg raises (without ankle weights at first). Concentrate on not letting your knee bend at all, especially at the beginning of the lift. If your quads are week in this particular end-range of motion, you will be surprised at how difficult this is at first. Raise the leg 12-18", pause a moment, then lower it. 3 sets of ten. Add ankle weight as you are able.


• abduction/adduction. Lie on one side, back against the wall, and raise the affected leg, pause, and lower it in a controlled fashion. You should not feel the muscles of your back tensing?you should feel a burn in the outside of your buttocks and to a lesser extent down the outside of the leg. You also need to cross one leg over the other, and raise the lower leg up to strengthen the inside groin muscles.


• "Wall slides", where you clasp a small beach ball or the like between your knees, put your back to a wall, and do shallow knee bends, are also good. Do them at a medium to slow speed, two sets of ten.


• "Step ups," as cliques described, are also part of the program, if you can tolerate them. Lowering your weight slowly is as important as raising it (and, in fact, it's harder).

These are the classic exercises for patellofemoral syndrome (pain around the knee, where it glides of the end of the femur). There are also stretching techniques for the fascial tissues that hold the kneecap in place (in the case that you have "lateral patellar compression syndrome", caused by tightness of the tissues that hold the lateral side of your kneecap in place), but you really need to have someone show them to you in person.

Apply heat for ten minutes prior to doing the exercises, and, if available, warm up with some gentle cycling for 10-15 minutes. Apply ice packs for ten minutes after finishing exercising.

Thanks everyone!

I am doing leg presses and riding a bike.

I was already pretty strong doing lunges, squats, leg extensions, leg curls, calf raises with weights.

It is the lateral side of my knee, so all your advice was really good.

Cheers,
 Natasha

My physical therapist gave me a very effective exercise to strenthen muscles around the knees: First: Lie on back, knees bent and up facing ceiling, feet flat on floor. Second: One leg stays in that position. The, extend other leg and rest it on the floor. Then, keeping it straight, bring it up, so it's parallel to the other knee. Hold 3 seconds. Then lower it slowly to floor.

I'll leave number of reps and sets up to you. For me, physical therapist recommended 2 sets of 10 reps. When you've finished your sets, switch legs and repeat.

When I do these, I notice a significant difference in how I'm able to climb stairs. When I'm not doing these exercises and I climb stairs, my knees hurt and it takes great effort. When I am doing these exercises, it's just the opposite. I hope this helps people out there.