Knee strengthening is extremely important especially if you want to protect your knees from injury or pain. There are specific exercises to strengthen muscles that support the knee. Exercises to work your hamstring and quadriceps are critical to enhance knee stability and motion.

Knee Strengthening Exercises – For Quadriceps and Hamstring

Quadriceps pertains to knee straightening and kneecap movement and hamstring relate to knee bending. Knee strengthening exercises focus on these two major muscle groups. Strengthening contractions involving quadriceps involve sitting on a chair and extending legs while heels touch the floor and knees kept straight. Tighten and loosen thigh muscles alternatively and hold for 10 counts. Strengthening leg lifts involve lying with your back on the floor and bending knee at ninety degrees with foot placed flat on the floor. Straighten other leg and lift it to the height of the bent knee. Hold and repeat with other leg. Strengthening knee dips are done in a standing position with knees slightly bent. Point kneecaps and toes straight and while lifting one leg and balance on the other. Perform 10 dips for each leg. Similarly, knee strengthening exercises for hamstring involve strengthening contractions while sitting and strengthening curls in a lying down position.

Strengthen Knees – To Prevent Injury

Joints wear and weaken with age and knees are the most susceptible to this condition. Strengthen knees to prevent risk of injury. This can be achieved through specific exercises done in the right manner and following a nutritive diet that is conducive to making your knees stronger. Leg raises are one of the beneficial exercises to strengthen knees. These raises can be done in a seated or lying down position. Understanding the right technique is important to achieve positive results. Nutritive diet involves intake of plenty of vitamin C, which helps body to repair connective tissues and joints. Pineapples, grapefruits and oranges are good sources of vitamin C. Vitamin E present in kiwi, mangoes, peanuts, broccoli and spinach hinder enzymes responsible for breaking cartilage in joints. A diet rich in vegetables and fruits helps to make your knee stronger.

Knee Stretches – Some Effective Workouts

Effective and easy knee stretches protect and keep your knee joints healthy for a long time. To perform the ilitotibial band stretch, stand upright and cross legs. Lean to one side until you feel a stretch outside your thighs and hold. A quadriceps stretch is done while standing and holding onto a firm object. Bend your knee backwards as far as possible while grasping your ankle with one hand. For the hamstring stretch, sit on the floor and stretch legs out. Extend arms to reach for your toes. Keep knees straight and hold in this position for 10 seconds before relaxing. During the calf stretch, sit with legs stretched in front and hold two ends of a towel in two hands and put the loop on your toes and pull them towards you. Hold this position and relax.