Knee pain can severely limit your ability to live the life you want. Walking, running, climbing stairs, or working around the house can become frustrating and painful. Hip muscle weakness can actually be a cause of your knee pain. When your hip muscles aren’t strong enough, more stress gets placed on the knee joints and causes pain. Here are 2 easy exercises you can do to address the strength of these muscles and help resolve knee pain.
Squats
You might think squats are bad for your knees. They are actually a great way to build strength in the hip and thigh muscles when done correctly. Start by pushing your butt back as you lower down. Keep your weight over the center of your foot and your butt behind your feet. If your butt drifts over your feet, you won’t get the work at your hips and it will put more stress on your knees. Your knees should not collapse in either. As you can see in the video, your knees should stay lined up with the center of your foot. Start with 2 sets of 10 reps and hold for 5 seconds at the bottom. Do these every other day. Try to work up to 3 sets of 15 reps. You should feel this mainly in your butt and thighs.
Side Step Down
The goal of this exercise is to control the position of your hips and your knee. Your hips and pelvis should stay parallel to each other. The knee of your foot that is on the step should stay lined up with the middle of that same foot. Start easier by using a lower step or a curb and progress to a higher step as it gets easier.
Both of the exercises above can help your knees stop hurting. They may cause some mild muscle soreness, but they shouldn’t cause any sharp pain. If you’ve tried these and you’re still hurting, there’s still hope! At Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine, we’re experts at evaluating knee pain and can help you develop a plan to stop it.
Call our office at 703-299-3111 and a member of our team will schedule you an evaluation with one of our expert physical therapists.
Working to keep you living your best life,
The Solutions Physical Therapy & Sports Medicine Team
