Pain in knees when you walk? Cult Fit founder shares 5 exercises to strengthen joints

Don't just focus on your knee joints. Instead, also pay attention to leg muscles for painless mobility.

Your knee joints play an important role when it comes to movement. Whether it's a high-intensity run, brisk walk, or even getting up, the knees are silently working to make your every move seamlessly smooth. Knees have become essential in keeping your movements fluid. But despite it, often knee health is neglected. Only when pain sets in do you give them attention, not otherwise. And even when you do pay attention, the exercises you do to improve knee health are typically limited to only the joints, despite there being much more to the picture when it comes to knee pain.

Rishabh Telang, fitness expert and Cult Fit founder, took to Instagram to share how even the muscles around the knees, when weak, can affect the knees.

Why should your exercises target surrounding muscles?

It’s common to focus only on exercises that target the knees, because many people believe that if there’s pain in the knee, the problem must be in the joint itself. But when it comes to knee health, it goes far beyond just the joint. The muscles around the knees play a major role in how your knees feel and function. These muscles are just as important for movements as the knees themselves.

Rishabh explained, “Weak knees are like a ticking time bomb in your entire movement system. When your muscles around your knees, like the quadriceps, hamstrings, tibialis, calves and even your glutes, are not strong enough, every step puts pressure on the joints.”

5 exercises for knees and leg muscles

Rishabh shared these 5 exercises:

• Grab a dumbbell in front of your chest and get into a split stance. Keep your foot floating on an elevated surface and drop your knee all the way down and bring it all the way back up. Do this for 10 repetition on each side.
• Lie down on your back and place your heels on an elevated surface, slightly away from the body and raise your hips all the way off the ground, feeling the burn on your hamstrings and slowly bring it back down. Touch and go a total of 20 repetitions.
• Stand straight and get into a split stance and put the knee all the way down, just a little off the floor and hang in there for 30 seconds to feel the work happening in your quadriceps. Do the same thing on the other side.
• Get into a wall sit and then raise your heels off the ground as much as you can. Slowly bring it back down. Touch and go, a total of 10 repetitions.
• Place your back on the wall and lift toes off the ground and place them back down, and repeat, do a total of 20 repetitions.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.