Part 3 of 4 · How to Relieve Knee Pain
You decide to start losing weight, so you think: I will go for a walk or a run on my lunch break. Sensible. You keep it up for a week, and then your knees start aching in a way they never have before.
The reason is usually that the muscles around your knees are tight. The answer is not necessarily to stop walking, but it might mean easing off the running until your knees are in a better place.
Why stretching comes now and not first
Last week you spent time rolling those muscles out, which calmed them down. Stretching a muscle that is still overactive and inflamed does not achieve much. Stretching one that has been released does.
The part nobody wants to hear
Stretching is the thing everyone tells themselves they should do and never finds the time for. The good news is that it does not need its own slot in your day.
If you are at your desk watching cat videos to pass ten minutes, stretch instead. If you are at home watching The Office for the fiftieth time, get on the floor and spend two minutes on this while you watch.
The four stretches
Butterfly stretch
- Sit with the soles of your feet touching each other.
- Rest your elbows on your thighs and press your knees toward the ground.
- Hold for thirty seconds.
Calf stretch
- Stand near a wall with one foot in front of the other, front knee slightly bent.
- Keep the back knee straight and the heel planted, then lean toward the wall.
- Hold for thirty seconds.
Hamstring stretch
- Sit on the floor with your right leg straight out.
- Bend the other leg and place the sole of that foot against your inner thigh.
- Reach forward over the straight leg, bending at the waist as far as you comfortably can.
- Hold for thirty seconds, then switch.
Abductor stretch
- Sit with both legs extended in front of you.
- Cross your right leg over your left and plant the right foot flat on the floor.
- Place your left hand on your right knee, press the leg to the left and twist your torso to the right.
- Hold for thirty seconds, then switch.
Hold everything for a full thirty seconds and breathe while you do it. Short holds do very little.
Next week is the part people actually enjoy, which is getting stronger. book a free discovery call if you want the sequence built around your knees rather than knees in general.
This is part 3 of four. Part four is strength, and it is what keeps the pain from coming back.
Written by
Kristoff "Kris" Warsaw
Kris is the owner and head trainer at Versed Fitness, training clients in their own homes across Baltimore, Towson and Pikesville. He specializes in working with people whose joint pain has made ordinary exercise feel impossible.
