I wanted to pass along some EXTREMELY useful tips if you are suffering from knee pain.
Here is what you need to know…
I know you have been told that exercise will help, which it will, but a lot of people just focus on strengthening and stretching for their knee soreness which unfortunately, is not enough to do the trick.
Today I wanted to share 5 quick tips you can start using today in order to alleviate some of that soreness and
pain your clients may be experiencing.
Tip #1 – Strengthen the Full Range of Motion for the Knee
Look at strengthening the knee through the full range of motion from standing
up straight to putting your heels to your seat.
You want to build strength within the knee muscles so they are strong and
your knees are protected throughout the full movement of the knee. Doing this
will decrease the stress on the knees.
Tip #2 – Get Full Range of Motion for the Knee
Work on getting full movement back in the knees. This is moving the knees
from straight to heel to seat.
In your body, joints lubricate themselves with movement. If you do not have
movement in the joint or avoid certain movements in your joints, the joint will
end up getting stiff and that movement will not be smooth.
When we have lost a specific movement or are stiff in a movement, other
areas of the body have to pick up the load and this extra work will be okay
for a while but it will lead to other injuries such as pain in the foot, ankle,
hip, and back. Plus it will prohibit you from strengthening the knee as you will
not have a full range of motion.
A great exercise that I like to build full range of motion in the knee is the rowing
machine. I use this for clients that are recovering from a knee or hip replacement
surgery as it allows you to work on full ranges of motion in the knee under very
low load.
Tip #3 – Improve Your Single Leg Balance
A lot of trainers focus on squatting when attempting to overcome knee pain
but what is more important is how the client’s balance is on one leg.
We were not meant to sit still and do nothing. We were meant to walk, run
and chase. Looking at movement, it does not involved standing on both legs;
it involves standing on one leg. Therefore this is something we need to work.
I would suggest working on the single leg balance. Stand on one leg
with the knee and hip slightly bent. Hold this position for 30 seconds and
make sure to keep the pelvis parallel to the floor and don’t let it tilt to the floor.
Tip #4 – Foam Roll Over Stretching
When it comes to knee pain, the common things recommended are strengthening
AND stretching. What I find is more beneficial foam rolling.
When you roll over the muscle it helps improve circulation, which helps with
healing and recovery. It decreases the tension of the muscle because when we
are injured, the muscles around that injury tighten up in order to protect that joint.
We need to relax these muscles in order to decrease the tension that this protection
creates around the joint. All this leads to less knee soreness.
I would suggest foam rolling out the quadriceps and IT bands.
You will roll from just above the knee to just below the hip joint. Do this 5 times.
Then after the foam rolling, I would go right in knee stretching.
Tip #5 – Improve Your Core
People with a weak core have a greater risk of getting knee pain and end up
putting unnecessary stress the knee.
In your workouts, incorporate core stability work which leads to better control
of the upper body and decrease the stress on the knees, which helps with
knee soreness.
Doing front and side planks will help but also progressing to Olympic lifting exercises.
Add these 5 exercises to programs and it will help alleviate knee soreness.
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