How to End: Problem Of Working Out With A Knee Injury In 2020

Are you looking for weight loss, working out hard every day, and are very passionate about it? And Knee injury is slowing you down!

But are you still hiding that knee pain or unknowingly avoiding it?

If ” yes “, then please read this article before continuing your workout.

People use knee heavily as most of the physical activity depends on it.

One of the largest essential joints in the human body. People of all ages experience pain in knees, number of times throughout their lives. 

Working out with a Knee pain is not a cup of tea for everyone.

There are lots of reasons by which knees get pains or gets injured like running, jogging, lifting heavy weights, playing high-intensity sports, etc.

A knee injury can damage your legs muscles very severely. If not treated properly, it will be tough for you to work out again.

So, here you will discover some critical facts about knee muscles, how to avoid it, what precautions you need to take and resume your work out in a safe manner.

Let’s dive in…

What Causes Knee Injury

If you are working out for a long time in the gym, or doing cardio exercises, playing any high-intensity sport.

And suddenly twisted your knees, then there can be some kind of strain, pain, or stress on your knees.

This is quite natural for anyone, as your body tries to grow your muscles, it stretches itself.

Also See: https://www.health.harvard.edu/topics/knees

But continuing exercise while sustaining the knee injury can be very damaging for your legs. Osteoarthritis is also one of the reasons what causes knee injury.

Few common symptoms of a knee injury are next, let’s see them…

Symptoms

Mostly very common in young adults, athletes, or anyone who is performing some kind of physical which work which is putting tremendous pressure on the knees.

Here are some common symptoms of knee pain-

• Swelling in the legs or slight stiffness.
• Not able to properly bend the Knee.
• Some kind of crunching noise is coming from the knees.
• Difficulty in walking or standing for a long duration.
• Feeling unstable while walking.

Some exercises are suggested by physio, check them out in next section…

Physiotherapy Exercise For Knee Pain

Physiotherapy can reduce the pain in joints, remove the stiffness, and any kind of swelling. It is also beneficial in improving the functioning of joints.

Some important physiotherapy exercise for knee pain are-

1. Knee march
2. Quadricep stretches
3. Hamstring stretch
4. Lying Butt-kick
5. Calf-raises
6. Wall-squats

These exercises are suggested by the physios, and it helps in reducing the pain and building strength in your joints and legs. 

But some exercises are prohibited by physio if you have knee pain, Let’s find them…

Knee Pain Exercises To Avoid

If the pain or injury is severe or its been for more than 2,3 weeks than avoid all the workouts, sports activity, or any work that causes tension on the knees.

If you are serious about your injury and trying to recover, below you will see some of the Knee pain exercises to avoid while you are suffering from the knee injury- 

1. Squats
2. Deep-lunging
3. Running up-stairs
4. Running
5. Back exercises

These are the main exercises you have to avoid; otherwise, they can damage your joints even further.

Also See: https://www.medicinenet.com/knee_injury_and_meniscus_tears/article.htm

Moving on, let’s see some exercises you can perform while taking precaution…

Knee-Friendly Leg Exercises

Recovering from a knee injury can take 2-3 weeks or maybe more, sometimes it may take a year, all depends on the type of injury you have gotten yourself into.

But hey, here is the positive side of it some exercises are quite simple to perform even you are recovering from a knee injury. 

Here are some knee-friendly leg exercises–

Quad set exercise

It helps in building and maintaining strength in the muscles on your thighs.

Also helps in strengthening your Knee, if you are feeling any kind of pain, then stop the exercise.

Method:

• It can be simply performed by sitting down on the floor.
• Keeping your back against the wall or any solid material.
• Keeping one leg straight which had knee pain, and bend the other leg. 
• Now try to squeeze the joint into the floor which has knee pain, and try to touch the floor with your joints back portion.
• Repeat 10-12 times.

Straight leg-raise exercise

The leg raise is a strength training exercise that targets the anterior hip flexors. In knee pain, try to perform the straight leg-raise task.

Method:

• Lie on your back straight, on the floor.
• Keep both legs very close to each other while holding it straight. Start lifting them towards the ceiling.
• While holding it straight make 90 degrees with the floor.
• And back to the original position and repeat the process.

Swimming

It is an excellent cardiovascular exercise that uses our whole body and keeps the heart rate up. Swimming helps in relaxing joint muscles and improves swelling and strain.

• Takes impact stress of the body, builds endurance, muscle strength, and increases lung capacity.
• An overall body exercise that tones our muscles and builds strength.
• Very relaxing and peaceful of all the aerobic exercises.

Side leg-raise

This is similar to regular leg-raise exercise, but a slight change is that you have to lift your legs by getting sideways.

Perform on both legs alternatively. It is a great exercise that targets the anterior hip flexors.

Calf-raise

This exercise is performed while standing, where we lift our feet and try to hold on toes and maintain this position for 5-10 seconds.

Calf-raise can be achieved only when knee pain is minimum, as, in this exercise, the pressure goes to heels and calves.

• Start with the standing position in which the feet are separated at hip-width.
• You can keep your arms at your waist.
• Then lift your legs and try to stand on your toes, then go back to the original position.
• And come back to the same place and repeat the same process.

Hamstring stretch

It’s quite difficult for many people, but essential for having a good posture. This is also important for preventing yourself from any back-injury.

Only perform this if you are not feeling any kind of a pain in joints. 

There are different types of hamstring stretch you can perform like-

• Standing hamstring stretch
• Doorway stretch
• Table or Chair stretch
• Lying on floor hamstring stretch.

Low-impact Jumping jack

Jumping jack is the best exercise for warming-up your body, and it focuses on the whole body muscles.

The low-impact simply slows the regular jumping jack, and by doing this, you create less stress on legs and joints muscles.

Method:

• Stand straight while keeping your hand close to your thighs.
• Move your right leg outwards and push your right arm over your head.
• And try to maintain your balance while performing this, and repeat it with your left leg.
• Do 10-12 repetitions.

Upper Body Workout With Knee Injury

If suffering from a knee injury and still want to continue workout, which is not a good idea, but again you can do some upper body workouts.

Nobody likes getting injured, but it’s quite natural to hurt your body muscles while workout, running or any kind of heavy lifting, stretching.

So there is no denying the fact that it is not easy for you to perform upper body workout with a knee injury. 

Though, there are a few workouts which you can try-

1. Lying Chest press (with a dumbbell or with water bottles)
2. Seated Twist
3. Seated upper body crunch
4. Upper body seated-sprint
5. Standing-sprint

These exercises really work your upper body muscles like shoulder, biceps, triceps and strengthen them.

The pressure on joints is very minimum in these exercises, if you feel pain, stop the workout and rub ice or warm water on your joints or where the pain is more severe.

But many people are still looking to lose weight while their knees hurt, let’s find what they can do…

How To Exercise With Bad Knees To Lose Weight

If you are looking for weight loss and have injured knees, then it’s the worst-case scenario for you! Because losing weight is already not a piece of cake for anyone, as it takes time and patience.

And if you have gained a few extra pounds and are looking to shed it, then it can be very tricky for you.

But if you are really passionate about it and dedicate yourself entirely then “how to exercise with bad knees to lose weight” is a possibility for you!

Aren’t you excited? Let’s find out…

Strength training 

Research has shown if you are suffering from a joint injury. Strength training is considered to be really helpful in easing the pressure of the joints and strengthen them.

As you get older, body starts slowing down, you lose muscles, by strength training, you can actually decrease muscle loss.

And burn more calories to lose fat. Having strong muscles improves your joints shock-absorbing capacity.

Cycling

It is also great for overall body strength and helps in toning your legs and core muscles. 

Cycling helps to burn more calories as your lower body muscles ankles, hip, and knees feel a range of motion.

Always vary your cycling pace and never bulge out your knees outwards as it will put less strain on joints.

Walking

A relatively low-impact exercise compared to running and also creates less strain on the joints.

Considered best for calories burning, walking daily for 35 minutes is considered excellent for weight loss as it improves your cardiovascular muscles, tones leg muscles.

Try to walk on grassy land as it will create a low impact on your joints.

Yoga

The best form of cardio exercise that helps in weight loss while creating the minimum level of strain on your joints.

It burns calories and also relaxes your injured joints muscles.

Inflammation is considered to be the reason for swelling and stiffness in your joints, yoga helps in reducing that.

Tai-chi

It is said that people suffering from knee osteoarthritis can reduce their pain by tai-chi exercises.

Also improves your postures, strengthens the core muscles, releases tension from it, and focuses mainly on the form.

But professionals like athletes have to start workout again , so here are few exercise that strengthens the knee…

Knee Strengthening Exercises For Athletes

A knee injury can hamper any athlete’s future and defer their career in a short time.

If you are an athlete and looking to strengthen your Knee, you must understand that it can take time, as it depends on how severe your injury is.

The Knee strengthening exercises for athletes requires them to follow-up with their therapist after the discovery of the damage and follow all the workouts and the directions.

If in the initial stages of an injury, it’s better to start the recovery process at the earliest.

So Are you guys excited about it! let’s dive in…

1. Isometric quad exercise
2. Sit-stand chair exercise.
3. Wall squats.
4. Hip extension.
5. Isometric hamstring workout.
6. Leg-stretch (with a band).
7. Lying leg stretch (with a band).

The most crucial part of these exercises is to again start range of motion in the joint muscles, without feeling any pain.

How quickly you recover from it will depend on the severity of your injury.

Well if you really want to excel in your athletics career, you must take these exercises and recovery processes into consideration.

Now let’s take some frequently asked questions on the web…

Working Out With A Knee Injury: FAQs

The Bottomline

At last, working out with a Knee pain can be very damaging to your joints, so always try to be smart and active about this.

If you have come this far, promise yourself ” you will get out of it and can get your strong joint muscles back again “.

Go out and make a strong comeback and inspire other people’s lives or try to bring positivity in them through your actions.

Share this article if you liked it, with your family and friends guys.!

“ Never stop believing in yourself, as you don’t know what future holds for you, No matter what happens never let the fire inside you stop igniting “.