Knee Strengthing

[bigdamnhero]

I've had several problems with my knees for the past few years, mainly the fact that I sprained my right knee 5 years ago and my left last year and never really took care of them after nor get them checked out other then a quick trip to the walk-in clinic on both occasions. Since I started going back to the gym I was trying to walk and run on a treadmill to help my endurance for my indoor soccer team but I'm realizing this is too much on my knees, especially with my weight. I've switched my cardio to the elliptical and stationary bikes but playing soccer is still rough since if I do a quick stop or move a certain way my knees give out and I really feel it.

So I think I need to do more exercises for my knees and was wondering what anyone thinks would be the best to strengthen the muscles around the knees. Thanks in advance.

[Waldo]

A knee sprain implies ligament damage in the knee. Anywhere but the MCL usually requires surgery, the MCL (inside of the knee) heals on its own in a couple weeks, even if completely torn.

Tendonitis is often misdiagnosed as a sprain but it is a completely different injury with completely different rehab. Unlike a sprain, tendonitis rehab includes stretching and strengthening, not rest and ice. Tendonitis feels like someone has a knife to your knee and/or like your kneecap is going to pop off (or a low grade ache, especially when standing up, if not as severe).

Ligament damage often includes cartilage/meniscus damage, but not always, and these things can be injured separately.

When you say "with my weight" and aggravating it with running, it sounds a lot like tendonitis. There are various knee stability (ligament damage) and cartilidge/meniscus tests out there that you can perform at home (forget what they are called, google and youtube will get you there); they can't totally rule things out, but they can aid in identifying the problem.

The best exercise to strengthen the knee muscles - the squat, in all its various forms.

[DrJWilson]

I second the squat, I used to have bad knees from an overzealous wrestler, but they feel a lot better now that I started barbell squatting.

[bprime]

See if this helps: http://www.mobilitywod.com/2010/09/episode-33-fgb-push-press-prep-hot.html

[bigdamnhero]

According to my friend who has a degree in kinesology who was there when I hurt my left knee last year, he doesn't think its anything too serious since I can still walk without pain and have a large range of motion. Unless my knee locks when I'm running or I do a quick motion to the side with it, it's generally fine. Just after running, like my whole body, my knees are just tired.

I'm going to add squats without weights to my workout as well as lunges and wall sits. Once I lose some more weight I will try to add some weight to the squats.

Thanks for the tips and suggestions.

[Katamay]

Be careful with squats. I have ligament problems in my knees and hips, and adding only 15 pounds to my bodyweight squats left me injured and unable to support myself on a bent leg for two weeks.

As someone who's spent years in physical therapy, I can tell you that quadriceps exercises (leg extensions, straight leg lifts), exercises for tibialis anterior (foot flexing exercises), and wall sits are supposed to help most. But I've also read the peer-reviewed research, and we basically know zilch about patellofemoral pain and how to deal with it.

Take it slow, and listen to your body. It's not going to happen quickly, especially if walking is still too high-impact for you. Best of luck!

[Waldo]

On the tendonitis thing, I was actually just reading up on it a little more this morning (due to a recent flare up that feels a good bit better today), if you can squat, doing slow negative 1 leg squats then popping back up on 2 legs quickly is supposed to be the very best exercise for knee tendonitis, especailly if your plant foot is at a downward angle (such as standing on a curb or a declined surface).

I can say with certainty that squats do help more than any other exercise I've done, but doing them eccentrically and on an angled surface is supposed to increase the effectiveness for knee tendonitis rehab a great deal.

My flare up is definitely a result of one-legged squat pursuit (which I finally got), in the process making my hammy really sore and stiff (and likely weak), magnifying in the short term the muscle imbalance that I'm trying to correct. As the soreness and stiffness goes away, my knee is feeling a lot better. Hopefully a couple months of pistols will demolish this issue for good and fix the muscle weakness that wasn't targeted nearly as well with 2 legged squats or split squats (though both helped somewhat).

[bigdamnhero]

I did a few squats and lunges the other day, and by few I mean just 2 sets of 5. I'm still feeling it as I haven't done anything like that in years because I was always afraid of reinjurying my knees. I will be doing some more today and slowly but surely (I hope) this should help when it comes to playing soccer and my overall fitness.

Thanks to everyone for your input!

[Waldo]

I did a few squats and lunges the other day, and by few I mean just 2 sets of 5. I'm still feeling it as I haven't done anything like that in years because I was always afraid of reinjurying my knees. I will be doing some more today and slowly but surely (I hope) this should help when it comes to playing soccer and my overall fitness.

Thanks to everyone for your input!

If it is a tendonitis issue, a little bit of pain is a good thing. Obviously you want to stop well short of serious pain. You can actually use the pain as a tool both to develop good form (should hurt the least) and to identify things that target it the best. If you get some tightness in your tendon that is a good thing, the whole point of doing exercise rehab, in addition to correcting muscle imbalances, is to induce inflammation which promotes healing. Chronic tendonitis does not heal on its own without it (one treatment method is to use injections to induce inflammation).

It won't work overnight, it does take several weeks/months of rehab exercises to fully eliminate the issue, although it should get noticably better within a couple weeks.

[bigdamnhero]

What I'm feeling is tightness and soreness not actual pain like when I hurt my knees. I was expecting it since it's been years since I've done a lot of the exercises. I think I'm on the right track now, I just have to know when to push myself and not to over due it just because I want results. Patience is key here for me.

[Waldo]

Very much so. When dealing with ligaments/tendons, its better to ease in too slow than to go at it too fast. These things take a long time to heal on their own due to lack of blood flow, rehab is a lenthy process.

5 months ago I couldn't stand up without arm assistance and walked with a slight limp (I did make it much worse for a short while by running when way too fat and out of shape, and had a severe limp for almost 2 weeks, that is when I figured out the issue and how to rehab it). About 3 months ago I did my first bodyweight squat. Some days I think I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, (some days not), being totally pain free no matter what the activity. I still feel it squatting/lunging, but that's about it now (though last week it was bothering me quite a bit). The hard part now is undoing the biomechanical compensation (as I got in shape, I basically learned to walk and run with a slight limp (something I recently figured out); when learning to do the pistol squat, I realized I had forgotten how to use some muscles with that leg properly (something I couldn't tell when regular 2 legged squatting)).

[Pat G]

I've not sprained my knee, but i had my right patella dislocated. I didn't work my legs for years for fear of reinguring it. getting th e massive recurring pains etc etc. Since strength training, starting off doing bodyweight squats and moving up barbell squats, the pain has diminished heavily. I still feel the tightness, but no more crazy pain on the underside of the patella or the muscles/tendons on the inside.