Suffer From Knee Pain? Try This Simple Exercise!
By Heather of the Cureve Team
Knee pain is so common but often ignored until it’s too late. The throbbing pain can stop you dead in your tracks, but it doesn’t have to. There is one simple exercise you can do each week to strengthen all of the muscles around your knees to help prevent knee pain.
Knee pain is most commonly noticed when going down stairs or moving down a hill during a hike or run. You might notice a sharp pain in your knee. Don’t let this all to common ailment hold you back from everyday life and the adventures you could be having. Get started today with this one simple exercise that will go along way to improve any knee pain you might have right now as well as prevent future pain: One Leg Dead-Lifts.
How To: Start in a standing position. Balance on the left leg and lift your right leg up and back. You can touch a high bench or step with your fingertips or touch the floor if you are more flexible. Be sure to keep a flat back and extend through the spine. It is also very important to keep your standing foot pointed straight forward and the foot on the leg that is lifting pointing straight down towards the ground. This proper alignment will protect your hips, knees and ankles. Do this 10x on each side. As you get stronger you can hold weights in your hands.
*If this is difficult for you or you experience back pain, start with simply balancing on each leg for 1 minute. Once you get stronger you can try the one leg dead-lifts.
The One Leg Dead-Lift exercise will increase the stability and strength of the knees. Add this exercise to your strength training regimen 1-2x per week. Remember to keep your breath flowing and the muscles around your spine, neck and facial muscles relaxed while doing this. As you progress work on keeping the mound of the big toe pressing into the ground. These tiny details can make a big impact to the exercises you do, so remember to focus and stay present as you do this.
Feel free to reach out to info@cureve.com with any questions. Remember to stay healthy out there, stay strong and adventure on!
Heather “Feather” Poast is a member of the Cureve team, a 500 hour trained yoga instructor, personal trainer, ultra-marathon runner and chef.