8 Knee-Strengthening Exercises to Reduce Pain

Preventing pain

According to Orlandi, keeping active is the key to preventing pain: “One of the favorite things I say as a clinician is ‘motion is lotion.’ It provides a good exchange of nutrients for the cartilage. It helps to decrease swelling. It gets your muscles working. All of these good things happen when you stay moving.”

As we age, the amount of muscle mass decreases. “There’s nothing that can stop that,” Orlandi says. “It’s just the natural aging process. So exercise is really important to increase the muscle strength so that it’s load sharing with the joints.”

Losing weight if you are overweight also can help. Every extra pound in the body exerts 3 extra pounds of pressure on the knees and other joints, Orlandi says: “Even losing 10 pounds can decrease the amount of stress on your knees by 30 pounds.”

Other ways to minimize joint pain are to stay hydrated or consider an anti-inflammatory diet that emphasizes fruits, vegetables, lean protein, nuts, seeds and healthy fats, says Joseph Ciotola, M.D., an orthopedic surgeon with Mercy Hospital in Baltimore.

Strengthening the muscles around the knee joint can help your body tolerate pain and stress on the joint. One of the best overall exercises is bicycling, because it keeps the quadriceps muscles in the front of the thighs strong, Ciotola says. Weight training and resistance exercises are good, but you must do them with good form, he says. Walking also is helpful, Stewart says, as is swimming or aqua aerobics.

Best exercises for knee pain

A comprehensive exercise program should combine cardiovascular endurance plus flexibility and strength exercises, Orlandi says. There are many good exercises to strengthen the knee joints and surrounding leg, hip and buttocks muscles, she says. Aim for at least two 20-minute sessions a week. Orlandi suggests trying the following.

1. Quad set

Lie on your back on a bed with your leg straight. Push the back of the knee into the bed by tightening the thigh. You can place a small towel behind the knee and push against it to tighten your muscle. Hold 5 seconds. Relax. Repeat on other leg.

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2. Straight leg raise 

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Lie on your back on a bed with one leg straight, and the opposite leg bent with foot on bed. Keeping the leg straight, raise your leg 4 to 6 inches off the bed. Hold 3 to 5 seconds. Relax. Repeat on other leg.

3. Squat 

Stand next to a kitchen counter or the back of a chair for support. With your feet shoulder-width apart, squat down to a comfortable distance, keeping your body weight on your heels. Use only your legs — do not use arms to pull up and lower yourself down.

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4. Leg curl

Stand holding on to a counter or the back of a chair. Bend your knee and bring your heel up toward your buttock. Avoid bending at the hip. Hold for a count of 3. Slowly lower heel to floor. Repeat on other leg.

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5. Inchworm

Stand facing a wall. Take small steps sideways. Be sure to sidestep both ways. 

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6. Clamshell

Start by lying on your side with both hips and knees bent toward your belly. Slowly turn the entire top leg outward so that the hip rotates upward slightly, knee up. Do not let the pelvis or trunk move — the motion is at the hip only. Then slowly return the leg to the starting position. Repeat on the opposite side.

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7. Bridging 

Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet on the floor. Tighten your abdominals and pelvic floor muscles. Press into your feet and lift your hips up a few inches off the floor. Keep your shoulder blades in contact with the supporting surface. Tighten your buttock muscles as you slowly lower your hips. Repeat.

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8. Plank

Position yourself on the ground as if you were going to do a push-up. You can modify the move to rest on your forearms (bent) instead of your hands, or plank from your knees instead of having your full body extended and supporting your lower body by your toes. Hold 20 seconds. Relax. Repeat.

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