Most of us have experienced knee pain at some point in our lives and exercising a sore knee may seem as counterproductive. Should we exercise with knee pain, and will it improve our well-being? Is it a good idea to try and find some physical therapy exercises for knee pain? Here are some of the best concepts that you need to keep in mind, if you want to know how to exercise with a knee injury!
Try to stay active as much as you can
Despite the fact that some people will tell you not to exercise with knee pain, the reality is that you should not listen to that. There’s a reason for this because the physical pain will be eliminated or at least alleviated with correct exercises. Sure, knee pain and exercise is not always a good combo, and you need to avoid putting a lot of pressure on the affected area. But movement is life and you have to keep moving, so try to improve knee strength and stay active as much as you can.
When you learn how to correctly rehabilitate a knee injury or how to strengthen knees for running, any medical professional will tell you to go ahead and exercise with knee pain. Exercising in general brings you a lot of great benefits, which include increasing your overall happiness, better confidence, improving memory, and so on. When you follow a regular fitness routine, you also get to boost your energy and sleep. In time, this will also help you manage heart disease, diabetes, and many other health issues.
You can exercise with knee pain, but resting is still very important
So if you want to do knee friendly cardio, it will be worth it. But do remember that you should still rest from time to time. Exercising works great as long as you offer your knee some time to recover. So, talking to the doctor and entering a recovery period can indeed help you quite a lot in the end.
There are various activities you can do to help you exercise with knee pain. Walk, do some water aerobics and use a cold pack or a warm compress on your knee whenever you need it. If you are not sure which one will work best, read this guide.
How to exercise with a knee injury? What leg exercises for bad knees are the best?
Knee strengthening exercises that gently work all muscle groups around the knee joint are the best leg workouts for bad knees at this point. You can do the knee strengthening exercises at home, and they don’t require a lot of time or effort, which makes these a great investment for sure.
However, opting for a variety of exercises for stronger knees and starting with the simplest workout for knee injury is a priority. You don’t want to opt for something too complex. Most of the time, wall holds to strengthen the quadriceps, and bridges to strengthen the glutes and hamstrings can work very well if you decide to exercise with knee pain. Just try to start off slow, and then work your way up from there! Some around the world leg raises can do the trick as well. These are ideal leg strengthening exercises for bad knees.
Once you did these exercises to strengthen muscles around the knee, you can opt for the more complex ones. These include squats, lunges, single leg bridges, and so on. When your muscles are strong enough, throw in some knee friendly cardio such as an elliptical machine or a stationary bike. There are some other types of exercises you can check out too, which include pilates, yoga, and many others. Be patient, focus on finding the best exercise for knee pain and create a program around the top options you find. Also, do remember to rest often and results can be very good in the end!