19 Oct 09 Improving Your Knee Health

Strengthening your knee muscles is a good idea for anyone. By strengthening your knee muscles you protect yourself from injuries, and improve joint health as a whole. You’ll notice the difference of good knee health later in life. The good choices you make today to keep yourself in shape will have a huge impact on how well your knees treat you when you’re old. So get up out of your chair and try a few knee exercises!

Before you start make sure to do a proper warm up. Stretch your legs and then walk around briskly for a good five minutes. That will get your thigh and knee muscles ready for some action, and will prevent you from straining them while performing an exercise. Remember that each exercise should be done at a slow steady pace, one that’s comfortable to you for maximum effectiveness.

Start out by trying a few standing squats. Adding those to your routine will increase the muscle mass in your knees fairly quickly, and effectively. To do a proper standing squat, start out by standing up straight. You then want your feet to be shoulder length apart, and keep your head staring straight forward. Then slowly squat down to the point that your thighs are parallel to the floor. Hold the squat for a few seconds, then slowly return to a standing position. Remember to go slowly so that you don’t risk pulling a hamstring muscle from attempting the exercise too quickly. Three sets of five reps should be good for starters. Try adding using weights once your body adjusts to the resistance of your body weight.

Knee bends are another excellent way to strengthen your knee muscles. If you don’t have access to an exercise or machine, you can also do them at home with just a chair and some ankle weights. You need the weights because the resistance of your own body weight really isn’t enough to build up your knee muscles. So wearing the ankle weights sit so that your feet are directly on the floor in front of you. From there lift one leg until it sticks straight out in front of you, hold for a few seconds, then put your leg back down. Try doing ten of those with each leg for starters. Then increase your repetitions as your knees get stronger.

Those exercises are a great way to get you started, and as long as you keep at it your knees will get much healthier and stronger. Remember to exercise consistently, and frequently to maintain your health and develop your fitness.

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Tags: Ankle Weights, Build Muscles, Choices, Exercise, Five Minutes, Joint Health, Knee Bends, Knee Health, Knees, Legs, Maximum Effectiveness, Muscle Mass, Resistance, Risk, Shape, Shoulder Length, Slow Steady Pace, Squats, Starters, Thighs

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19 Oct 09 Improving Your Knee Health

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