Strengthening your knees for better balance and support: A four-exercise regimen from a physiotherapist to enhance your knee power and stability
Dr. Chloe Costigan, a physical therapist, has designed a knee-strengthening workout that could help improve knee stability, reduce pain, and enhance joint support. The routine, consisting of four exercises, is designed to be repeated four times daily for a duration of 30 days.
The Workout Routine
The workout involves a structured sequence of exercises. Here's how it works:
- Perform 4 squats.
- Follow with 20 pulse squats, which are small up-and-down movements at squat depth.
- Then do 7 more full squats.
- Repeat the entire sequence 4 times per day.
Exercise Details
This workout is recommended to be done as a circuit, with three rounds of the four exercises. The modified single-leg Romanian deadlift requires performing reps on each side (5 on each side), helping to connect knee and hip stability and strength. The modified single-leg Romanian deadlift is a compound exercise that requires balance and control, building strength and stability.
The hip thrust exercise, which strengthens the gluteus maximus, requires performing 10 reps. The side-leg lift, which isolates and activates the glute med muscle, is the first exercise in the workout. This exercise is important for maintaining proper knee alignment, as a weak glute med can cause the pelvis to drop and excessive force on the inside part of the knee.
Frequency and Duration
The workout is designed to be done four times daily. The challenge or program lasts for about 30 days. Regular, frequent practice enhances strength progressively over the 30-day period.
Benefits
This structured squat routine helps to strengthen the knee muscles, improving knee stability and potentially reducing pain or dysfunction. Pulses target the muscles around the knee with controlled, repetitive movement, which aids muscular endurance and joint support. Strengthening the gluteus maximus helps reduce pressure on the quadriceps, potentially preventing knee pain.
The single-leg eccentric chair squat, an exercise that improves knee and hip stability and strength, is also part of the workout. Strengthening the gluteus maximus helps it play a role in offsetting excessive use of the quadriceps on the knee, particularly during the propulsion phase of walking. The four exercises in this workout focus on strengthening muscles around the hip and knee to improve knee mechanics.
The workout should be performed three to five times a week for noticeable improvements in stability and strength within three to four weeks. Strengthening the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius, which are two muscles targeted in this workout, is crucial for proper alignment and body mechanics. The two compound exercises in the workout incorporate movement in the hip and the knee, improving overall movement and teaching the body to find stability from the hip.
The single-leg eccentric chair squat helps teach the brain the correct position for the knee during movement, further enhancing the benefits of this workout. By following this routine, you could potentially experience improved knee stability, reduced pain, and enhanced joint support.
[1]: Source for the workout routine [2]: Source for the exercise details [3]: Source for the frequency and duration [4]: Source for the benefits and potential improvements
Yoga, as a health-and-wellness practice, can complement this fitness-and-exercise routine by helping to increase flexibility and balance, which may aid in enhancing knee stability, reducing pain, and improving joint support. Independently, the science of biomechanics suggests that a stronger gluteus medius, a muscle targeted in this workout, can assist in maintaining proper knee alignment and improving overall fitness by reducing excessive force on the knee joint.
The exercise details provided recommend the single-leg Romanian deadlift and hip thrust as compound exercises that build strength and stability. Incorporating yoga's bodyweight movements alongside these exercises may further enhance muscular endurance and postural alignment, solidifying the potential benefits of this fitness and health-and-wellness routine.
