7 Moves for happier knees

Forget not your Knees

Knee pain can be jolting for which exercise may be the best medicine. Moving the knees can strengthen the muscles around the joint and protect you from injury by decreasing stress on them. But, a good form and right technique is needed for doing exercises for knee pain like, a person with knee pain should never bend his/her legs to a point where the knees stick out past their toes. Here are some of the best exercises for relief from knee pain; do 10 to 12 reps of each twice or thrice a week, except where stated.

Image Courtesy: Getty

Partial Squats

Stand 12 inches from the front of a chair. Keep your feet hip-width apart and put your toes forward. Now, bend at your hips and slowly lower yourself halfway down to the chair. Keep your abs tight while doing this and check that your knees should stay behind your toes.

image courtesy : physioimages.com

Step-ups

For this exercise, you will need an aerobic step bench or a staircase. Using your right foot, step onto the step. Now, with your left foot, tap the top of the step and then lower. Keep in mind that while you step up, your knee should directly be over your ankle. Repeat this exercise with feet switched.

Image Courtesy: Getty

Side-lying Leg Lifts

Wear ankle weights above your knee and lie on your left side. Keep your legs straight and together. Support your head with your left arm. Now, keeping your right foot flexed and your body straight, lift your right leg slowly till about the height of your shoulder and then slowly lower it. Switch legs and repeat.

Image Courtesy: Getty

Hamstring Stretch

Lie on your back and keep your left leg on the floor. Now, loop a towel or rope around your right foot and pull it as close to your chest as comfortable. You can slightly bend your knee while doing this. Your back must throughout be pressed to the floor. Hold the position for 10 to 30 seconds and release. Switch legs and repeat.

Image Courtesy: Getty

Inner-thigh Leg Lifts

Wear ankle weights above your knee and lie on your left side. You can slightly back on your butt. Now, bend your right leg and place it behind your left leg with your right foot flat on the floor and your left leg straight. Supporting your head with your left arm, slowly lift your left leg about 3 to 5  inchesa nd lower again. Switch legs and repeat. image courtesy : media1.onsugar.com

Calf Raises

For this exercise, you will need a chair or a wall for balance. Stand with your feet hip-width apart and keep your toes ahead. Now, lift your heels off floor slowly and rise up onto your toes. Hold the position and lower them back.

image courtesy : cloudfront.net

Straight-leg Raises

Sit and put your back against the wall. Your left leg should be straight and right leg bent and your foot flat on the floor. Slowly raise your left leg straight up about 12 inches off the floor. Hold, and then slowly lower. Switch legs and repeat. Image courtesy : utahshoulderknee.com