Shop
Stretches for Knee Pain
Body Part:
Knee
Equipment:
The Knee Hero & Stretching Strap
Level:
Beginner
From Knee to Shining Knee: 4-Minute Stretches for Knee Pain
Knee pain doesn’t discriminate. It affects the young and elderly, men and women, the athlete and the couch potato. Of the 360 joints in our body, the knees are the largest – and most complex. In addition to carrying our body weight, the knees are our legs’ very own hinge. They allow us to walk, run, stand up, kick, jump, squat and kneel. These workhorse joints suffer a lot of daily wear and tear, which leaves our knees prone to aches, pains, and injuries. Most of us will experience knee pain at some point in our lives.
We’ve developed a 2-step stretching routine for knee pain that only takes 4 minutes. Our stretches can help if you are experiencing a general ache or sustaining an injury to your knee. To perform our exercises, you’ll need the Knee Hero, the Stretching Strap, and a chair.
Just 4 minutes a day will help you knee the light: stand up with a smile, sit down with an “ahhh…,” and walk with a spring in your step. Keep reading to learn about knee pain symptoms, causes and common conditions or scroll down for our follow-along video and step-by-step instructions.
Do you need the Knee Hero or the Stretching Strap?
You can buy both in our online shop. You’ll also discover our full range of tools and products that we’ve developed to help relieve your pain.
Take me to the shop.Fight Pain with Information.
Subscribe to The Pain Relief Advisor
Sign up for our free newsletter and discover how to manage your pain yourself. Every two weeks, we’ll deliver follow-along videos and articles to your inbox.
Your Personal Pain Scale
While you are exercising, pay attention to your personal pain scale. This is your body's gauge that measures the intensity at which you exercise from 1 to 10.
One would be like pushing your finger into your forehead. You'd feel a little pressure, but that's it. You've gone above a 10 if your breathing becomes irregular or you feel yourself tense up. For each exercise, aim for an intensity between 8 and 9. If you find that you are experiencing pain that's higher than 9, reduce the intensity so you can continue exercising without pain.
Stretches for Knee Pain
Exercise 1: Back of the Knee Stretch (Popliteal Fossa)
For this exercise, you’ll need the Knee Hero and a chair.
- Stack your Knee Hero as high as you can and place it so that it’s facing the back of a chair.
There should be a distance of about 1.5 metres between your Knee Hero and the chair.
- Step onto your Knee Hero with both feet, grab the top of the chair, and lock your knees.
- Arch your lower back and bend your upper body toward the chair until you feel a stretch along your calf muscles.
It’s important that you keep your buttocks aligned. Do not push them back.
- You’ll feel a good stretch in the back of your knees.
- Intensify the stretch by leaning closer to the chair and pressing the tops of your feet into the Knee Hero.
- Keeping your knees locked, let your feet slide down the Knee Hero until your heels touch the floor.
- Hold the stretch for about 2 minutes.
- Slowly come up and finish.
Exercise 2: Front of the Knee Stretch (Patella)
For this exercise, you’ll need the Knee Hero and the Stretching Strap.
- Lie on your stomach and straighten your legs.
- Lift your left leg and wedge the Knee Hero under your thigh so that your left knee is resting near the tall end.
- Place the Stretching Strap around the bridge of your left foot.
- Using both hands, pull the Stretching Strap toward your buttocks.
- Check to make sure that your groin is against the floor.
- You’ll feel a stretch from your hip flexors down your thigh muscles into your knee.
- Create resistance against the pull of the strap by trying to extend your leg straight. (Do not actually straighten your leg.)
- Hold for a count of 5 and relax. Repeat twice.
- Intensify the stretch by pulling the Stretching Strap closer to your buttocks.
- Hold for about 2 minutes.
- Release and repeat on the right leg.
Steady as Knee Goes.
The secret to knee pain relief? Keep to a consistent routine. Perform our knee stretches for an initial sprint of 6 days a week for 2 weeks. When you notice that your pain is going away, your range of motion has improved, and it’s easier to move, adjust the frequency as you see fit.
Fight Pain with Information.
Subscribe to The Pain Relief Advisor
Sign up for our free newsletter and discover how to manage your pain yourself. Every two weeks, we’ll deliver follow-along videos and articles to your inbox.
Did this contribution help you?
Then we would be happy if you shared it with your friends: