It’s
important to keep your knees strong and healthy so that your mobility doesn't deteriorate as you grow older. We often take the health of our knees for
granted, not noticing there’s a problem until everyday activities like lifting
boxes or walking downhill become painful. Take the following measures to
strengthen your knees and ensure you’ll stay active for as long as possible.
Warm-up and stretch before exercising:
Warming up
and stretching can help the knee joint in many ways, including increasing the
circulation of the blood and lymph fluid into and out of joint structures and
the adjacent soft tissues and ensuring that the muscles and the ligaments
attendant to the knee joint are not too tight. As a result, tension on the
tendons is reduced, and pressure on the knee is relieved.
Develop muscle balance:
Strengthen
the muscles of the lower body to reduce the amount of force that goes through
the knees. Make sure that you maintain an appropriate muscle balance between
the quadriceps and hamstrings (i.e., a 3-to-2 strength ratio is recommended) to
provide an improved level of stabilization and strength for the knee joint.
Don’t overdo it:
Some
individuals hurt their knees because of the overuse syndrome. Simply stated,
cumulatively, they place excessive demands on their knees. The overuse syndrome is a common cause
for knee injuries. Too much repetitive
exercise can place excessive demands on the knees, causing wear and tear on the
ligaments.
Avoid sudden increases in the intensity
of exercise:
Allow your
body to gradually and progressively adapt to the demands that you impose on it.
Doing too much too soon can injure your knees. Keep in mind that some actions
that alter intensity level are not as obvious as others. For example, changing
your approach to exercising (i.e., running hills instead of jogging on a flat
terrain) may unduly increase your level of intensity.
Protect your feet:
Your feet
(particularly how and where they strike the ground when exercising) can have a
profound effect on your knees. In this regard, two of the most meaningful
actions you can undertake are to wear shoes that fit properly and provide
adequate cushioning and to immediately take care of any foot problem (e.g.,
blisters) that occurs.
Vary the mode of exercise:
Using several
exercise modalities keeps you from repeatedly stressing the same bones and
muscle groups, thereby keeping the orthopedic stress on your knees to a
minimum.
Avoid plyometric Exercise:
Be conscious
of possible load forces on your knees when choosing your exercise mode.
Whenever possible, avoid engaging in an exercise modality that places unduly
high impact forces on your knees (i.e., running stadium stairs, running
downhill, etc.). Plyometric (Or explosive) exercises will only place your knees
under high stress if your leg strength is not quite ready for these types of
exercises. Any “jumping” exercise will
require you to land softly and your leg muscles to decelerate the movement as
you land. If you use poor technique
during these exercises you may place undue stress on your knees. Avoid box jumps, basketball jumps, explosive
lunges, explosive jump squats etc.
Use exercise equipment properly:
Improper use
of exercise equipment can cause knee problems. For example, if you exercise on
a stationary bike, check the position of the pedal crank relative to the seat
post. If the crank is not relatively close to the seat post, you will place
undue stress on your knees while exercising.
Keep your weight down:
Maintaining
an appropriate level of weight can reduce the stress on your knees. Excessive
weight can increase your risk of degenerative conditions, such as osteoarthritis
of the knee.
Listen to your body:
Pain is your
body's signal that you may be placing too much stress on your knees. Reducing
or stopping whatever is causing the stress is the primary step in ensuring that
your actions don't lead to a more serious injury.
Keep your knees healthy with these
great 10 steps
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