Help your knees: Get these exercises going

If you are suffering from a knee injury, you may think exercising could worsen the condition leading to much more discomfort. But the reality is otherwise. Strengthening the muscles that support knee and keeping them elastic is the perfect way to prevent further damage. Start slowly and build your muscles steadily. You may experience some soreness when you start, but that’s normal. If you still feel the pain, stop immediately and contact your orthopaedic.

• WARMING UP: Stretching can improve your leg functionality. Remember to warm up before stretching. You have the option of 5 min cycling or 2 min brisk walking while stretching your arms and doing 15-20 push-ups. It will significantly lower your risk of injury.
• STRAIGHT LEG RAISES: If your knee is not functioning appropriately, commence with an easy stretching of your quadriceps, the front thigh muscles. This move hardly puts any sort of pressure on the knees. Lie on your back straight and bend one knee and place your foot flat on the floor. Keeping the other leg in a straight line, elevate it to a level similar to the opposite knee. Repeat it multiple times.
• CALF RAISES: Stand facing the back of a chair and take support of another one or back of the wall is also an option. Slowly raise the heels as high as you can. Do this in three sets of 10-15.
• STEP-UPS: Place one foot on a bench or a lower staircase. Keeping your pelvis level, bend your knee and steadily lower the other foot on the floor. Touch your toe slightly to the floor and then rise back up. Repeat it 10-15 times and do vice-versa. If the exercise suits you, you can try touching your heel instead of toe.
• STRICT NO FOR YOUR KNEE: No exercise can cause pain but a little soreness after the workout is completely normal. But any kind of sudden pain in the joints or muscles is a sign that something is wrong. If you feel such a thing, stop the exercise and visit your nearby orthopaedic.