In my last blog post, I went over my 3 steps to maintaining healthy knees. In particular, steps 1 and 2 stressed strengthening certain muscle groups, namely the muscles around the knees. But if you’ve never done this before, it can be difficult to figure out which muscles and specific exercises to start with. So let’s begin with two great starting points, shall we?
Knee Extension Stretch
Assessing and treating loss of knee extension range of motion is an important component of rehabilitation following any knee surgery or injury. There are many ways to treat loss of range of motion in the knee; however, proper assessment of range of motion is even MORE important. Allowing gentle, frequent, and progressive load to the knee is usually more tolerable for the person, especially those that are sore or guarded in their movements.
How It’s Done:
While Sitting, tighten your top thigh muscle to press the back of your knee downward towards the ground. Hold for 30 seconds. Alternate legs and repeat 5 times
Quad Stretch
The quad stretch is a tremendous bang for your buck move that can be done just about anywhere. Got a chair? Good! You can do this exercise. The beauty in this stretch is that it hits the front of the foot, ankles, shins, quads, and knees.
How It’s Done:
Sit on a standard chair sideways with your right side facing out and feet flat on the floor. Balance on the chair on your left buttock so that your right leg is outside of the chair leg. Hold the back of the chair with your left hand. Bend your right leg and grab onto your ankle with your right hand. Pull your heel back toward your butt until your knee is pointed down at the floor. Hold the stretch for 10 to 20 seconds, then repeat on the other side.
Dr. James Pumarada is a licensed Physical Therapist with over 18+ years of experience. He is a Sports Therapy Certified therapist, focusing on treating and training runners of all levels, and is a certified Vestibular therapist, specializing in the treatment of all dizziness, vertigo, and imbalance issues.
He is the co-owner of Complete Physical Rehabilitation, a Physical Therapy practice based in Elizabeth and Jersey City, NJ.