The knee joint is made up not only of bones, but also of muscles, ligaments and articular cartilage, so exercise starts with the components of the knee joint. Considering that bones and ligaments cannot be exercised directly, the focus of exercise should be on the muscles of the knee joint, thus indirectly acting on the bones and ligaments.
Li Tuobo, a tuina physician at Beijing Gulou Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, introduced that the muscle exercise of the knee joint is mainly to exercise the quadriceps muscles on the front of the thighs and above the knee joints and the biceps femoris on the back of the thighs, of which the quadriceps muscles are the most important.
The specific method of exercising quadriceps is: lying flat or sitting, maintaining a fully straight position on one side of the lower limb knee joint, and then lifting it to about 10 cm from the bed or ground surface and holding still for 10 seconds; after a 10-second rest, repeat the action, 10 in groups. The action is then repeated on the other lower extremity. The number of exercise groups is determined according to their own situation.
Why exercise so much? Quadriceps contraction keeps the knee joint straight and immobile, and because the knee joint is not moving and there is no friction between the joint surfaces, the joint is not damaged. At the same time, after the quadriceps muscles are exercised and become strong, they can enhance the stability of the knee joint and play a role in protecting and delaying aging.
If you feel that this exercise is very relaxed, you can increase the weight at the ankle joint, such as with a small sandbag, the weight can start from 0.5 kg, gradually increase, and do what you can. This method is also an important exercise and rehabilitation method after knee surgery.
Courtesy photo: Visual China
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