Knee-strengthening exercises you won’t hate

Let’s be honest about physical therapy exercises. We leave our appointments optimistic and enthusiastic to continue our rehab between sessions, and make a plan to build daily PT into our schedules. But within a few days, how often do we head to bed and realize we’ve forgotten our exercises? A couple more days pass and we return for another session, then have to face up to our therapist that we missed “a few” days. There’s got to be a way to stick to the routine!

One of the biggest issues for PT patients is compliance. The exercises aren’t exciting compared to the chance to head up to the Catskills for a hike or run along the East River. But if we don’t take care of ourselves, these activities may cause or aggravate a recurring knee issue. After work we’re worn out from the day and want to relax and watch some TV, so why not find some exercises that fit into that kind of after-work routine? Here are three knee exercises you can do in the time it takes to watch an episode of your favorite Netflix show. And better yet, you can do them while you’re watching TV or reading.

Clamshells: Lie down on your side and bend your knees to 90 degrees. If it helps, start in fetal position and then sit up from your torso upwards and support yourself with one forearm on the ground. Open and close your knees while keeping your ankles touching the whole time. Repeat 10 times on each side, for 3 sets.

Side-lying hip abduction: The starting position is similar to the clamshell position. Lie down on your side down with your head resting on your arm or in your hand. Bend your bottom leg about 90 degrees and keep your top leg straight. Lift your top leg about 2 feet and slowly descend without touching your foot to the floor.

Straight leg raise: Lie down on your back and bend one knee. Keep the other leg completely straight. Lift your straight leg about 2 feet and slowly lower it without touching your heel or calf to the floor. Repeat 10 times on each side, for 3 sets.

If you’re doing them properly, you’ll notice these exercises working your glutes and hips. It may be counter intuitive to target the areas around the knee instead of the knee itself. But the stronger and bigger the muscles around the knee, the less the knee joint itself has to work. We want to strengthen the big muscles in our body so that the small ones can take a break. That’s why we always target the hips first when patients have knee pain.

Check us out on Instagram if you want to learn more about these or other exercises and to see our patients in action!