Introduction
In this article we are going to tell you about ten exercises that you can do at home to strengthen up your knee joints and what I mean by that is strengthening up the muscles surrounding the knee joint so that those muscles take the impact and support the joint so that all your body weight is not going fully on your knee joints, which can cause injuries and just a detriment to your performance if they are not strong enough. You want to include exercises that work on one leg at a time individually such as
- Football
- Basketball
- Tennis
You are on one leg at a time in above mention games. If you think about when you are striking the ball, you are balancing on one leg and the opposite leg is swinging through. So you want to have stable balance and you also want to make sure you are strength up the muscles surrounding the knee as many of them as possible. So do not just go for the quad receipt. Make sure you are get in the gluteus, the hamstrings and trying to get a complete lower body workout at home.
Now we are going to tell you ten exercises in total. In which you would require no equipment at all. You can do it with just your body weight and some equipment at home. But let’s get right to the first exercise.
Wall Sits Exercise
So we are going to start the workout with wall sits so you just need to get a wall for a little bit of stability and then you are going to get into a seated position and hold it there for a long period of time. So we are going to be working the muscles isometrical which just means without movements, so you are holding them under tension and over time this will strengthen those muscle fibers and as you can see from the side here, my knees are not going beyond a 90 degree ankle because that just puts too much stress on the knee joint which can cause injury.
Holding this angle we would like to go for a minute at a time. Start off with 20 seconds put up to 30 seconds if you can and then repeat three times and then you can increase the time duration as your legs get stronger.
Forward Lunges
The second exercise is forwards lunges so we are just bending both knees 90 degrees, try to keep your back and chest upright and also using your arm movements in synchronization with your leg movements just to get into good habits. So as you will see as your left leg moves forward, my right arm comes up and vice versa, so we are getting the quads and the hamstrings in there and we are just adding that little bit stability factor because you do have to balance slightly. Both legs are getting worked and for lunges we would just like to do ten on each leg, rest for about 20 seconds and then repeat for three sets.
Side Lunges Exercise
The third exercise is the side lunge so similar to the front lunge, but we are just moving laterally this time because in the game of football you are not always moving forwards and backwards. Sometimes you are moving side to side as well, so you need to be strong enough in all directions. So when you are moving from side to side, you use slightly different muscle fibers than you would do moving linearly forwards and backwards.
In that case we are going to go from side to side again. Iwe would also like to do ten in one direction, ten in the opposite direction and repeat this three times.
Revenge Lunges Exercise
Our third variation in our lunge series would be reverse lunge. So this time our forts going behind us and then both knees go back down into that 90 degree angle and again, just using those arms in synchronization with our leg movements just to get into those good habits. Because if we can get in these good habits syc, those arm and leg movements up, we are going to be more efficient with our running technique as well, so just like the previous two lunch variations, we are going to go for three sets doing ten reps on each leg, and we would recommend resting for about 20 to 30 seconds between each set.
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Controlled Sit Exercise
The 5th exercise is controlled sit so for this one, you just need a chair or a sofa. If you are doing these exercises at home just to act as a platform, but the goal with this is to go into that 90 degree angle with your knees and then as soon as you barely feel that touch, then you are going to go back upright and stand up once again and We are going to go for ten reps in total.
And if you want to add some intensity to this exercise, you can actually do these single legs and this is going to work on your stability and your balance as well. And working each leg individually is more effective for footballers because as we have already mentioned, you spend a lot of time on one leg in a match when you are sprinting. When you are kicking, all of your movements tend to be on one leg, so adding that balance and stability factor is just going to help your performance.
Single Leg Squat
Exercise six is the single leg squat, so again you just need a platform. This time you are put in your back leg just resting on there and all of the load is going on that front leg, so you are squatting down until you reach a 90 degree angle with your knee. Once again, you do not want to go deeper than that because it puts a lot of stress on the knee capsule which is not healthy for it whatsoever, but we are going down in a controlled movement again, using those arm movements to synchronize in with your leg movements as well, trying to keep your back straight and chest upright. Ten reps on each leg and then three sets in total.
Step Up Exercise
Exercise seven is step up so you are quite literally just stepping up onto a platform with as much control as possible. So again if you are doing these exercises at home, you can use a chair or your sofa or you can even use your staircase. Just make sure the platform is not so high that you have to go beyond that 90 degrees with your knee angle.
So again using as much control as possible, you are not pushing off of your back foot. You are lifting with your front legs, so really contracting the muscles in your leg and making sure they are the ones doing the work. You are not using momentum but trying to be as controlled as possible. Again, three sets of 10, ten on each leg.
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Single Leg Romanian Deadlift
Exercise Eight is the single leg Romanian deadlift and for this one you do need a lot of balance, so do not worry if you struggle at first you get better the more you do it, but you are trying to get as much stability in each leg individually as possible. Therefore, as you should drive your knee up, as your knee goes 90 degrees out in front then You should bend forward and extend the leg at the back and extend the arm at the front for balance, working in synchronization with each other. So you are getting a lot of work on the hamstrings here but all the muscles in the legs are going to be contracting, trying to stabilize give you that balance. So this is a great one to protect the knee joints and the ankle joints as well. Go for three sets of ten on each leg.
Bridges Exercise
Exercise Nine is bridges exercise. In this excercise, you are going to lay on your back then extend your hips up but make sure those knees do not go beyond 90 degrees as we have already mentioned in the other exercises. But you are going to hold this pose once again so working those hamstrings symmetrically. And then if you want to add even more of a challenge, you can do a single leg working, one leg at one time. So it’s going to add even more stability and balance to the exercise for this one. Again try and hold for 20 to 30 seconds and then repeat three times on each side.
Hip Thrust Exercise
And exercise ten is hip thrusts, so we are getting in that same position we got in for bridges. But this time, instead of holding the pose isometrical, we have adding movement to the exercise. In this case, we thrust our hips up and then we lower them slowly. Everything is done with complete control to really activate those muscle fibers, and if you want to add even more of a challenge, you can do the same exercise but do its single legs. So you are adding that stability and balance in there as well. But for these ones. I recommend going for ten reps, resting for 20 to 30 seconds, and the repeating three times.
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Conclusion
So there we go guys ten exercises that you can do pretty much anywhere. If you can just find a bench, you can use a chair or anything like that to complete or ten of these exercises. And if you want to increase the intensity, you can add weight to these workouts. But I would recommend starting with body weight until those muscles are nice and strong and you have got a good sensor of gravity, good balance before adding weight on top of it. But I hope you enjoyed this article and if you did make sure you share this article with your loved ones and fitness freaks.
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