Workout that strengthens the knees?

I'm Juls. I am really trying to get into good shape (and also lose a little bit of weight) for crew season. However, last winter, my knees began to hurt.

I haven't been to see a doctor for my knees, because the pain is not severe at all. What I get is minor twinges of pain whenever  I bend my knees. The pain is right below the kneecap on my left knee, and to the right of the kneecap on my right knee.

It hurts during leg circuits, aerobic circuts, and when I run, bike, or erg (rowing machines). It also hurts after swimming breaststroke for a while in the pool.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to what workouts I could to that could strengthen my knees? I've heard it said that you should strengthen the opposite muscle of the injury (back injury, work on abs...) but what muscle is opposite the knee?

Weight training is the only thing I can think about. The point is to strengthen and build your joints up. I had fairly normal shins until I weight trained, and now when I run, I almost never get shin pains.

Frog squats don't use the knee, but it still uses the range of motion of the knees. Modified squats could help as well. Sissy squats, as an example.

Your quads are on the 'front' of the knee and are strengthened by squats and squat variations.  The hamstring is the muscle on the 'back' of the knee and is strengthened by deadlifts and deadlift variations.

If you're having any sort of knee pain, avoid exercises like leg extensions and leg curls like the plague.

I'll venture a guess here.  I have bad knees from a combination of activities I did in college.  I think the opposite muscle in this case would be the left side of your knee.   The logical answer to strengthen it is to do the opposite exercise of what hurts it.  In my case, I was told to run backwards :)  Now, I'm not that coordinated, but I did walk backwards on a treadmill and it seemed to help.  Good luck!

You might want to talk to a physical thearaphist about it, though it sounds like patellofemoral syndrome to me - you kneecap's not tracking properly in the groove it's supposed be in because of muscle imbalances. A PT (or the other kind, a competent personal trainer with some clinical experience) should be able to diagnose the issue and give you a set of exercises to adress the muscle imbalances.Though a squat-centric workout with squats to below parallell tends to correct quad imbalances and a hip-dominant deadlift-based program works to correct hamstring imbalances, you'd want to have a pro look at your legs and tell you what you really need; sometimes knee problems are due to ankle or hip issues!

I agree with melkor. I had patellofemoral syndrome and had to have knee surgery about 6 years ago for it. All of my ortopedic surgeons have consistently told me that biking is the best thing to do to strengthen the correct muscles. It took me a LONG time to be able to build up to physical activity again after surgery but I'm now able to bike everyday of the week outside! Definitely go talk to a doctor or physical therapist, though, because you don't want to further injure your knee.

Definitely see a doctor! If we leave little pain, until it's big pain, usually the problem's gone to far!  

"it hurts during leg circuits, aerobic circuts, and when I run, bike, or erg" - a.k.a., It hurts when I use my knees.  

Like said above, could be knee, hip, foot arch.  I had incredible knee pain, and eventually discovered - from a doctor - that it was from a flexible flat foot that was torquing my shin with every step.  I have orthotics now in every shoe, and I'm fine.

Good luck!

I ran for years and last year had to have my right knee replaced after over 20 years of pain.  I'm probably going to need the left replaced as well one day.  Definitely see a physical therapist or a sports doctor.  Biking is what they recommend in place of whatever exercise you are currently doing but my orthopaedic doctor said that strengthening leg muscles takes pressure off the joints so work to do various types of leg exercises that strengthen the thighs, front and back and the calves front and back, even your back and stomach muscles need to be strengthened evenly or you can experience pain. 

You are going to want to get some PT if you can. I suffered from this too, and what we (me, my physio, and the 2nd doctor I saw) finally figured out is that there was a muscle imbalance problem (the lateral quads were stronger and tighter than the medial side--the vastus medialis oblique--which keeps your kneecap tracking properly), and the fascia on the lateral side were tight, which pulls the kneecap laterally off track, so that instead of riding in the groove at the end of your femur, it tracks over the lateral condyle, creating pressure where you don't want it. This irritates the back side of the patella, and you get pain.

Therapy involves stretching (by gently tilting the kneecap until you feel the stretch on the lateral side) and strengthening (straight leg raises, abduction/adduction, "step ups", etc.). Some of these exercises are tricky (like the kneecap stuff), so it pays to have someone show you how to do it.

Stretching the lateral side quad is also beneficial, but it's tricky, too, because that muscle and its tendons span two joints (hip and knee), so the old "hold your foot back" stretch won't cut it. You need to prop your foot up behind you, and then move your body forward (so that your leg moves backward) to isolate that muscle.

You might also try an illiotibial band stretch.  The band runs from your hip to your knee.  If it is tight, it makes your knee hurt.  Runners often have this problem.  There are 2 similar stretches.  They're not difficult to DO, but not terribly easy to describe. 

1.  You stand upright, one leg crossed in front of the other.  Bend toward the side of the front leg, sliding your hand down that side.  The back leg is the affected leg.  You will feel the stretch in that hip.

2.  This is basically the exact same stretch, but a bit more intense.  You stand upright, one leg crossed in front of the other, but about a foot from a wall or tall post--something you can lean your weight against.  You want the wall/post on the side of the affected (back) leg.  Lean your forearm against the wall, and do the side bend away from the wall, sagging your hip toward the wall.  Again, this is the exact same stretch as the first one, just more so.  Because you are kept from falling by the wall, you can do a deeper bend/stretch. 

Another thing I have found that helps to actually strengthen your knees is bicycling.  If I do lots of bicycling during the summer, my knees never ache at the end of a long day of downhill skiing the following winter.  Those quads really support the knees, and bicycling builds quads like mad.

Hi there,

I agree with comments above - you definitely need to go see a doctor or physio to see what is wrong. 

However, I have had 'runners knee' before on and off - and have used physio, strengthening and biking to help it.  But the best thing I have tried (and I still do) is yoga classes.

I do bikram yoga (the one in a heated room) and I seem to get significantly better results (for my knees) than just doing the physio exercises - I was actually quite amazed even after the first class at the improvement - I had just assumed that I would always have a bit of a knee issue.

I dont know why - but it works!

Hope that helps

MJ