Peace Out to Your Cranky Knees
Some weeks as a performance physical therapist, you have gaslighting conversations with yourself, where you end up talking about eerily similar symptoms from one patient to the next and end up prescribing the same exercises. This past week life said, we’re talking cranky knees.
Now you can’t talk knee pain, without talking squats and lunges. Everyone should know by now Goblet Squats fix everything, ok not really but they should be near the top of your list. But today we’re highlighting a few other exercises we prescribed alongside our usual culprits that can be often overlooked and still pack a potent punch.
1) Reverse Nordics
Reverse nordics are a great complement to stiff and cranky knees. This exercise requires us to take our knee joint and control through a large range of motion that our knees love. Not only that, but the movement elongates and lengthens the quadriceps muscle crucial to long term knee health.
2) Split Squat Iso Holds
Split squat iso holds are all about exposure to cranky positions. Squats and lunges can sometimes talk back a bit when it comes to knee pain. Split squat iso holds allow us to access this range within our tolerance, exposing our knees to sensitive positions and over time allow us squat and lunge deeper without pain.
3) Multi-Directional Heel Taps
Similar to our split squat iso holds, multi-directional heel taps look to gradually expose our knees to sensitive positions. However, in contrast to the split squat, which is about depth, this one is about stability. By tapping and reaching to multiple directions, we incorporate the ankle and hip to help control and stabilize various positions and angles.
As with any case of knee pain, everyone can present a little differently, thus consulting with a physical therapist to identify your specific plan is recommended. But if you’re exploring and experimenting on your own, these couple options may help quite a bit!
If you’ve been dealing with cranky knees for a while and looking for guidance on how to best manage them, please reach out to consult with us at Tundra Performance and Physical Therapy where we are experienced at creating customized and individualized rehabilitation programs fit to you and your goals.
Helping athletes RESOLVE THEIR PAIN by CLEARLY DEFINING THE PROBLEM and IMPLEMENTING EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS to get them back doing the activities they love!
If you are currently struggling with an injury or unable to perform in the activities you enjoy. Please follow the link to schedule a consultation call to discuss how we can help you.
