In the knee region, there are a large number of structures and correspondingly many associated injuries or diseases. Whether wear and tear of the joint cartilage, torn ligaments, torn menisci, overstrained muscles, inflamed bursae – all these cause unpleasant pain. Through regularly performed exercises, joint-gentle behavior in everyday life and preventive measures – summarized under the term knee school – these symptoms can be prevented or, after the onset of an illness or injury, a progression can be prevented and the structures can be strengthened again. In the following some exercises as well as tips from the knee school for a joint-gentle everyday life are described.
Physiotherapeutic intervention
In knee training, special attention is paid to building up muscles around the knee to support it and protect passive joint structures. Furthermore, the knee school gives joint-gentle tips for everyday life to achieve or maintain freedom from symptoms. It is important that not only one muscle group is trained in the knee school, but that a healthy muscular balance is built up around the knee joint.
In general, these exercises should be trained in the strength endurance area, i.e. three sets of 12-15 repetitions each. The static holding exercises can be held for 30-60 seconds, depending on the level of fitness. However, it should be increased slowly, everyone should practice at their own level.
Furthermore, never train into the pain. Pain is a warning signal and should not be ignored. Not even in the knee school.
To build up the supporting muscles around the knee joint, the following exercises from the knee school are suitable.
- A simple and pleasant exercise to move the knee and distribute the important synovial fluid to nourish the cartilage and at the same time relieve the structures is the so-called leg pendulum. When seated on a raised surface such as a table – the lower legs must be able to hang freely – the lower legs are simply swung back and forth in opposite directions, loosely and without effort.
Simple, effective and can be performed several times a day.
- Another exercise from the knee school to move the joints gently is “cycling” in the supine position. Lying on a mat, the hips and knees are each bent at right angles. Alternately, the legs are stretched out in a circle – like riding a bicycle – and dynamically brought back up again.
Attention, the back should not move into the hollow back, so that the spine is protected and the abdominal muscles are also trained.
- Also from the supine position, the feet are positioned hip-wide and the buttocks are forcefully raised, so that the upper body and thighs form a line. As an enhancement, a ball can now be clamped between the knees, which is pressed and held firmly together.
- In order to strengthen the back of the leg in the knee school as well, the patient lies (still on his back) flat on the floor. The legs are stretched out, under the back of the knees a thin blanket roll or a small soft ball is placed.
Now one leg is set up and the other builds up tension by pulling the tips of the feet towards the nose and pressing the hollow of the knee ,stretched out, down strongly. Hold for some time, repeat three times and change sides. To increase the tension, lift the tensed and stretched leg about 30cm off the ground and lower it again without completely putting it down.
Repeat several times and change sides.
- During a last exercise from the knee school in supine position, the soles of the feet are placed against a wall. The knee and hip joints are approximately at right angles. The back is kept on the floor and the feet press strongly against the wall.
Hold the pressure for some time, release and repeat three times.
There are also some exercises from the knee school especially for the front and inside of the legs.
- On the one hand, a ball or a pillow can be taken between the knees and squeezed strongly, just like in the supine position.
- In another exercise from the knee school, the small ball is clamped between the feet, pressed firmly together and at the same time the lower legs and feet with the ball are slowly moved upwards towards the knee extension and lowered again. The ball is pressed firmly together for the entire exercise and only released after a few repetitions during the break.
- In another exercise from the knee school, a raised seat is again required so that the lower legs can hang down freely.
In the upright seat, with a straight back and without any evasive movement – for example, tilting the upper body to the side or supporting it with the hands – a lower leg is stretched out until it forms a line with the thigh. The tips of the feet are drawn back towards the tip of the nose so that the entire leg is active and full of tension. Additionally, try to actively pull the kneecap towards the body.
The lower leg should be held at thigh level until the front strong thigh muscle begins to tremble. After some practice and depending on your level of fitness and health, try holding the exercise three times for sixty seconds each time.
- The last exercise in the knee school program is to turn the toes and knee of one leg slightly outwards in the same starting position (straight seat) and in this position to move the entire leg from the outside down to the inside up and back again.
Stretching exercises for shortened muscles should only be performed in the warmed-up state. The unheated muscle is much less flexible and therefore more prone to injury.
Some stretching exercises from the knee school are presented below. Stretching should not hurt either. As long as the stretching sensation is in the comfortable range, the position should be held for about 30 seconds.
Usually the stretching stimulus slowly decreases after this time and the structure “gets used” to the stretching. In order to protect the knee joint in everyday life, extreme flexions such as squatting should be avoided and the support of the arms should be used to stand up. Further exercises can be found in the articles
- To stretch the back of the leg, one leg is stretched forward from a standing position and the foot is placed on a stool.
Tilt the upper body slightly forward with a straight back until a stretch is felt on the back leg.
- The lower leg or calf can be stretched well with a small ball. When standing, a slight step position is taken. A small ball or roll is placed under the rear forefoot. The intensity of the stretch can be varied by the size of the step.
- In order to stretch the front of the thigh in the knee school, the prone position is taken. A towel is placed around the ankle joint of one leg and both sides are pulled towards the buttocks with the hands, so that the knee is bent and a pull on the front thigh can be felt.
- Stretching exercises
- Exercises for patellar pain
