The knee is, quite arguably, the crankiest joint in the body.
Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Center for Health Statistics shows that knee pain accounts for 19.5 percent of cases of chronic pain in adults age 18 and older. Looking ahead, a quarter of adults age 65 and older report having felt bothersome knee pain in the last month, according to a study published in the aptly named journal Pain.
Why so common? Because a vast array of musculoskeletal issues can trigger it, says Jacque Crockford, an exercise physiologist for the American Council on Exercise. “Osteoarthritis, tendon and ligament damage, overuse injuries, obesity and muscular imbalances can all be factors in knee pain,” she says.
But, if and when knees hurt, the knee-jerk reaction of skipping exercise doesn’t tend to make things much better. (Of course, there is a benefit to resting when recovering from acute injuries, but eventually you’ll want to get back into the gym. That’s where evaluation from a physical therapist or sports medicine doctor can come in handy.)
[See: 7 Exercises You Can Do Now to Save Your Knees Later.]
“When a car sits for a period of time without the engine being run and wheels turning, the gears begin to rust and firing up the motor becomes more difficult with time,” Crockford says. “The body works in much the same way: When movement slows down or stops, so does the ease of movement. The joints are not being well lubricated for movement, and connective tissue is less functional. There is always an inherent risk to physical activity, but the risk that one takes when remaining physically inactive is much greater.”
What’s more, Baltimore-based strength and conditioning specialist Erica Suter notes that strengthening the muscles that surround and connect to the knee can dramatically help take excess pressure off of the knee joint and therefore reduce pain. One University of Pittsburgh review shows that exercise, especially strength-training exercise, significantly reduces knee pain even in cases of osteoarthritis.
Here, experts share lower-body exercises that commonly give knee-pain sufferers trouble but, when performed with a few little tweaks, can ease pain during both your workout and the rest of your day. If you experience pain during these or any other exercises, consider talking to a physical therapist to find the best solutions for you.
Squats
Stop pressuring yourself to squat so low. “There is nothing magical about going to parallel,” meaning your thigh bone is parallel to the floor, says Minnesota-based certified strength and conditioning specialist Mike T. Nelson. “If you can only start at quarter, that’s fine.” He notes that differences in hip anatomy mean some people can naturally squat lower than others, and when you push past your hip’s natural range of motion, your knees can end up paying for it.
Also, it turns out that during squats, the knees are subjected to the greatest amount of stress when you’re at parallel. So even if you can squat to or below parallel, don’t pause at parallel.
[See: The 10 Best Exercises You Can Do for the Rest of Your Life.]
Lunges
Start with stationary lunges, keeping both feet fixed on the floor in a split stance throughout every rep, before introducing reverse, forward and walking lunges, Crockford recommends. “So many people lunge so hard that it sounds like there is an elephant landing on the floor,” Nelson adds. “That puts large impact forces through the knee joint.” Through stationary lunges, however, you can build the strength to then perform moving lunges under control and set, rather than drop, your foot to the floor.
To take further stress off of the knee joint, Suter recommends taking a greater step forward (or backward) before lowering into a lunge, while also allowing your torso to lean forward slightly so that your shoulders are directly over the middle of your front foot. Doing so will transfer some of the exercise’s stress from the knee and quads and onto the hips and glutes. Make sure to maintain a neutral spine (no hunching) when leaning your torso forward.
Step-ups
Start with a very short step or bench and increase height only when you’re able to perform all reps with proper form, Suter says. Speaking of which, many people don’t realize that during step-ups, your weight should be entirely in your lead leg; don’t push through your back foot to come off of the floor. Instead, she recommends pushing through the heel of your front foot to raise your body to stand.
When lowering, resist the urge to just drop, which will not only cause a lot of impact to the knee, but will also rob you of half of the exercise’s work and benefits. Instead, lower slowly and under control, keeping your weight planted in your front foot, Suter says.
[See: 7 Exercises Trainers Wouldn’t Be Caught Dead Doing.]
Lateral mini band walks
If you can’t immediately picture this exercise, it amounts to putting a mini looped resistance band around your legs and stepping back and forth to the sides. Problem is, many people perform the exercise with the band around the ankles. Doing so maximizes how far the band has to stretch with each step, and therefore how hard your muscles have to work with each rep. The problem is, it also increases stress placed on the knees. Specifically, it increases the amount of sheer (or side-to-side) stress, which can increase the risk of knee pain or even injury.
Crockford recommends anyone with cranky knees opt to place the band “on the thighs just above the knees — as if you put on pants and stopped halfway up.” To increase the difficulty of the exercise without stressing your knees, pick a “heavier” resistance band or try stacking two separate bands above your knees, right next to each other.
More from U.S. News
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The 10 Best Exercises You Can Do for the Rest of Your Life
Got Knee Pain? 4 Knee-Friendly Exercise Modifications originally appeared on usnews.com
