Awesome Tips for Bulletproof Knees

We’ve established what workout practices might be causing your bad knees, so how can you go about fixing them?

1. Lay Off the Running

At least for the time being. If something hurts, it’s a good idea not to do it. If you’re returning home from every run feeling like your knees have been battered by a two by four, maybe knock the running on the head for the time being.

Or, rather than sack it off completely, refer to the above sections and seek advice regarding your running style. You wouldn’t just walk into a gym and try to perform an Olympic weightlifting exercise without expert tuition, so why would you do the same for running?

2. Get a Sports Massage

Sore knees can be due to tight muscles and tendons around the joint. The best way to ease these is with a sports massage. You can also perform self myofascial release (SMR) using a foam roller. Do this daily, focusing on your hamstrings, glutes, quads, abductors and adductors.

3. Learn to Squat Properly

Hips back, knees out – the two cues for the squat. Go as low as you can while maintaining perfect form and your knee joints, as well as the muscles, tendons and ligaments surrounding them will get much stronger.

4. Single Leg Moves and Hamstring Exercises

Weak knees can cause instability, and instability equals pain. Remedy this by adding more single leg exercises such as lunges and split squats to your program, along with more hamstring work. For every quadriceps-focused exercise, perform two hamstring ones, such as deadlifts, stiff legged deadlifts, glute ham raises, leg curls, cable pull-throughs or glute bridge raises.

5. Use the Right Type of Weight Bearing Exercises

If you’re overweight, running isn’t the best choice of cardio, but you do still need something to strengthen your knees.

The elliptical machine is a better choice, as you’re standing up, but not putting impact through your lower body. Swimming is a fantastic option too, as your knees have to work against the resistance of the water.

Take care of your knees – you only get one set and they have to last you a lifetime. If you’re starting to feel the onset of knee pain, go and see your doctor or a sports therapist and nip the issue in the bud before it gets any worse. Take a look at your program and ask yourself what stands out as being potentially detrimental on your knees.