Exercises to strengthen knees?

[Hannahclear]

When I first skated, about ten years ago, I fell on my knees all the time. They are even dented! I haven't been skating for ten years, but for the past five months, I've been skating more intensely than I have in years.

I've noticed that my knees are aching. If I don't stretch every day, regardless of whether I'm skating or not, the back of my knees, especially the left, really ache when I lock my knee. Additionally, if I turn my knee a bit too suddenly (like spin on my heel), I get an unpleasant twinge.

Stretching and regular treatments with the hot water bottle really have improved matters, but I would like to do some exercises to build up the muscles around the knee, hopefully to stabilize them a bit more.

Any suggestions?

[sue123]

Well, I'm not really sure what muscles you're talking about, maybe the hamstring? I went to PT for my knee and needed to strengthen my quads to help stablilize my knee.

The home exercises I do are:
-straight leg raises with an ankle weight
-side leg raises. If I'm working on my right knee, I'm lying on my right side, with my left leg bent and crossed over my right leg. Then I'm keeping ym right leg straight and raising it.
-lie on your back with your knees bent. Put a pillow between your knees and squeeze and hold for 10 seconds. You can also do a bridge when you do this to work the hamstring.
-With your legs straight, put a rolled up towel underneath your knee. Then flex your quad and hold it for 10 seconds.

All of those exercises you do for 3 sets of 10.

Other things I've done is to balance on a wobble board with a bent knee, leg press machines, etc.

II think if it hurts tha back of the knee, it might be a hamstring issue if I remember my PT correctly. But maybe someone else can use the quad exercises?

[EastonSkater]

Have you seen a doctor or had x-rays to check out the knee? It's hard to say what is causing the pain. Sometimes it might be the cartilege being worn, or it might be some other kind of knee damage because you fell before.

But anyway, there's a lot of rub-on products out there that give a deep heat treatment to relieve aches and pains around the body. Some might work a little, or not at all. But this stuff here is the most effective drug-free and absolutely safe product I've ever come across....

http://www.wle.com/products/TD87.html

http://www.herbalgy.com/

For sore ankles and things, this stuff works incredibly good for me.....you rub it on, and in about 10 to 30 minutes......soreness gone. Maybe you can try this stuff on your knee, provided you can get hold of it. But if you can't get it, then I'd say you'd be missing out on a good product. I wouldn't recommend this stuff if I didn't think it was good....since I'm usually skeptical of deep-heat rub-on treatments. But this stuff must have something that the others haven't got.....no joke about that.

[Hannahclear]

I haven't yet seen a sports medicine person. I will discuss the knee soreness with my GP when I have my physical this summer.

I do think it's cartilage though. Specifically, my cartilege isn't where it belongs any longer.

I'm more concerned about long term problems. Right now, it's mild pain and stretching does wonders. I'm just afraid as I get older, I may be in for more serious knee trouble.

[nerd_on_ice]

I also had PT for my knee this past summer--my therapist seemed to think that my super-tight hamstrings and my knee problems were related, so I did both stretching and strengthening exercises. Some exercises I did that sue123 didn't mention:

-- Stepping up & down on a step, from the side rather than head-on
-- Sitting on a wheeled stool and propelling myself with the leg in question
-- "Monster walks": tie a Dynaband into a loop about 16" in diameter. Place loop around ankles. Bend your knees to a 90-degree angle. Take diagonal steps: step out, bring feet together, step out with other foot, bring feet together.
-- Wall sits: flatten your back against the wall and slide down so your knees are bent to 90 degrees. Hold 30 seconds.

Strengthening the muscles to take the "load" off my knee has made a huge difference. At its worst the pain was waking me up at night but I no longer have any trouble with it.

[Hannahclear]

So when the back of my knee, right between the thigh and calf gets very tight and painful when fully straightened, is that most likely a hamstring issue?

That's why the hubby thinks.....

[nerd_on_ice]

So when the back of my knee, right between the thigh and calf gets very tight and painful when fully straightened, is that most likely a hamstring issue?

I am not a doctor, so no definitive opinion to offer. But I feel my hamstring tightness higher up the leg, roughly midway between back-of-knee and buttock.

[jenlyon60]

You cannot strengthen knees, so to speak. What you can strengthen is the muscles in the upper and lower leg that support the knee.

There are lots of exercises to strengthen quads/hamstrings (muscles in upper leg) and your shins/calves (lower leg).

But, if you have some pre-existing instability or possible damage in the knee, it is very important that you do these exercises correctly. Otherwise, you can damage the cartilege and ligaments in the knee(s) worse than it may already be damaged.

Even with getting advice here and following along with exercise videos, your best bet (other than physical therapy) is to go to a gym and spend some time working with a certified physical trainer to ensure that you are performing the exercises correctly.

[jenlyon60]

So when the back of my knee, right between the thigh and calf gets very tight and painful when fully straightened, is that most likely a hamstring issue?

That's why the hubby thinks.....

It could be any of a number of things. The hamstring muscle runs from the back of the knee up the back of the thigh into the buttock.

If the pain is directly in the back of the knee, then it is most likely NOT the hamstring. If the back of the knee is occasionally swelling as well (feeling like there's a golf ball or ping-pong ball in the back of the knee) then there is some sort of damage in the knee, and you need to go to the doctor.

[Hannahclear]

No swelling, thank goodness.

[sexyskates]

I would recommend that you see a doctor. Then if everything OK, then see a physical therapist and learn which specific exercises and stretches will help with your particular pain. I had pain in my knees when I first started learning the loop jump. I had all sort of bad body mechanics going on with my knees. 9 months of exercises gave me the best knees I'd had in years - and I still have to do them. But it's better to take care of the problem now BEFORE you suffer a more serious injury.
And as I said in another thread, I always wear soft volleyball pads on my knees for practice. One good wack on the knee takes FOREVER to heal.
Oh, yeah, and for inflamation you should use ice, not heat. Heat is good for tight muscles, but ice is good for sore joints.

[Shinn-Reika]

hmm I've also been having some knee problems.

I talked to a nurse and she said it might be Patellar tendonitis.

Of course it's really minor. I don't have major symptons, it just feels "funny".

I have a question though. I read recently that the scar tissue formed around the knee cap is weaker than (non)-scar tissue.

I'm wondering, does this mean my knee will never recover?!

[skateflo]

Hannahclear - you give 2 strong hints: you increased the intensity of your skating, and you are only months back on the ice. You may be getting out of balance with your quads (thigh muscles) getting very strong while your hamstrings and gastrocs (calves) have not been equally exercised. The fact that stretching has helped is a good clue.

There are lots of exercises that can strengthen these back of the leg muscles. Some of us just naturally have tight hamstrings, gastrocs, and achilles tendons all our lives...I stopped swimming because of the spasms behind my knee when I kicked.

A good site for at least learning about the anatomy and some exercises is:
http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/index.html

[slusher]

But, if you have some pre-existing instability or possible damage in the knee, it is very important that you do these exercises correctly. Otherwise, you can damage the cartilege and ligaments in the knee(s) worse than it may already be damaged.


See a sports medicine physio, if possible, one that works with skaters. I think you've stretched a ligament.

At the moment, I spend more money on physiotherapy than skating lessons. I got some bad advice from a physio a few years ago, who maybe didn't understand when I said I skated meant I SKATED, which gives different stresses, and I over developed one side of the quads more than the other which gave me a lovely case of patellar tendenitis two years ago as my kneecap got pulled out of alignment.

Don't take Advil (Ibuprofen), and continue to skate, it does a nice job of reducing inflammation but you want to get to the source of the problem, not cover it up.