Most of us have goals in mind that, to us, may seem unrealistic…until they’re right in front of us, tangible, and certainly something we can feel. Maybe that’s eating healthy, traveling to a certain number of states or countries in a year, or running a certain amount of miles in a week. For me, I wanted to run 26.2 miles in the world’s largest marathon. There was only one problem…my body rarely cooperates.
Trying to train without getting injured was a journey within itself. You could find me bandaging my knees, icing my shins, dumping turmeric and ginger into every meal I ate for their anti-inflammatory effects (yes, everything was orange for a month of my life), or lying on the couch because walking out of the house just seemed too dangerous. Terrible, right?
It took me a few months of training, physical therapy, and reflection to realize how none of that would have been necessary (except maybe the ice) had I followed these few exercises to strengthen my knees. Because any good runner knows: Strength training is key!!
What Is Runner’s Knee?
Runner’s knee is an injury that causes a dull and achey pain in the front of the kneecap, right below the patella. It is common in runners, cyclers, and those who participate in jumping sports. Runner’s knee often improves with exercises, increased stretching, and rest and ice.
Can’t rest? Fear not! I’ve compiled a list of the best 5 exercises you can do at-home to increase strength and prevent runner’s knee.
Squats to Prevent Runner’s Knee
This is hands down the best exercise to build strength in your quads and stabilize your knees. Building up this muscle will lead to less injury involving your knee. Think: NO MORE RUNNER’S KNEE!!
When squatting, be sure to follow the criteria below to ensure that you are strengthening your quads, not hurting yourself even more.
- keep your back straight and chest up
- put your body weight into your heels (you should feel as if you’re about to fall over)
- your knees and butt should be parallel if not further to the ground
Clamshells
This exercise is a strange one…and also has a secret killer burn. As with many exercises, this one will make you look silly. But in the fitness world, silly means some serious business. Staying consistent with this exercise will strengthen an important part of your glutes, and in turn your hips, to prevent unstable distant running.
Ready to look silly? Start by lying on your side with your legs together. Bring your knees up so they are perpendicular with your stomach at about a 45 degree angle. Keeping your feet together, raise your top knee up slowly, and return back down. Repeat this on both sides 30x. To make this more difficult, feel free to add a resistance band around the knees.
Bridges
Many knee injuries stem from a lack of muscle strength in your hips and glutes. Doing bridges before a run, or about 5x per week, will build muscles in your glutes, which takes pressure off of your knees. For added resistance, add a resistance band around your knees.
Bridges should be done while lying flat on your back and abs tucked. Lift your butt off of the ground and hold for 2-3 seconds in the air. Slowly release back to the ground. Repeat.
Tiny Leg Lifts (Front)
I’m not sure if there’s a legit name for this, but my title seems to describe them pretty well so we’ll go with that. Another exercise that helps to strengthen the quad, and ultimately strengthens around the knee, is a little leg lift with a resistance band.
While keeping your back on the ground with your abs tucked, put a resistance band around your ankles. Keep one heel on the ground and slowly lift the other one as far as you can go (about one foot in the air with the band). Slowly bring it back down. Repeat this, one leg at a time, for 30x per leg.
Tiny Leg Lifts (Back)
I think this exercise describes itself. You’ll be doing the same thing as above (front tiny leg lifts), but instead, you’ll be lying on your stomach in superman position. Lift one leg slowly at a time, and repeat.
While I cannot magically cure runner’s knee, I did manage to train and run a marathon with it by focusing mainly on these five exercises. If these don’t work paired with stretching, don’t hesitate to go to physical therapy as it is a life saver!