Leg Exercises for Bad Knees

Almost all exercises for lower body that burn body fat, require knee bending. But what if you have bad knees? You may be thinking that it is impossible to workout with bad knees. Bad knees can be a result of injury, surgery or mere genetics. Though bad knees can limit your workout to a great extent, it s not that you cannot do any type of leg exercises. You just need to take special care while performing these leg exercises. Squats and lunges which are considered as the best exercises for lower body should not be performed by people having bad knees.

Before moving on to exercises for a bad knee, here are some precautionary measures that you need to take. While performing these leg exercises for bad knees, take care that your knees do not bend beyond your toes. This is very important, because if you bend your knees beyond your toes, it will bring a lot of stress on the kneecap, which can worsen the condition of the knee. Given below are some of the leg exercises for people with bad knees.

Calf Raise
Calf raises are simple and easy leg workouts for bad knees, here are the steps to perform calf raise.

• Stand with the help of a support, like a wall or a chair.
• Stand on your feet with a distance of hip width between the two legs.
• Keep your toes straight in forward direction.
• Now, slowly raise your heels off the floor and rise on your toes.
• Now, slowly come down and repeat these steps for 10-12 times.
• Do this exercise twice or thrice in a week.

Lying Leg Raise
Leg raises by lying on an exercise mat is one of those good leg exercises for bad knees, that does not bring stress on your knees. Follow the steps given below to perform lying leg raises.

• Take an exercise mat and lie down on it with your legs straight.
• Now use your left arm to support your head and lie to your left side.
• Gently bend your left leg and lift your right leg up to a height of your shoulder.
• Then slowly bring down your right leg. Repeat for 10-12 times.
• Change your side and repeat the steps.

Ball Exercise
This knee workout with the help of an exercise ball is the one of the best knee exercises for knee flexors, core stabilizers and hamstrings. Read more on exercise ball workout. The steps given below will help you perform this exercise.

• Lie down on your back and keep the exercise ball between your knees, to make a 45 degree angle between your legs.
• For balance, stretch out your arms in a T shape.
• Now, slowly raise your hips and stabilize the ball properly between your legs and feet.
• Then roll the exercise ball in an inward direction, by bringing a bend in the knees.
• Do 15 repeats.

Straight Leg Raise
Straight leg raise is similar to lying leg raise, only initial positions are different. The steps to perform straight leg raise are given below.

• Sit straight by leaning your back against a wall.
• Keep your left leg straight and bend your right leg.
• While bending your right leg, keep the foot on the floor.
• Now gently raise your left leg in a straight manner, about 10-12 inches from the floor.
• Hold the left leg for few seconds and slowly bring it down.
• Repeat the steps 10-12 times and then do the same steps for right leg.

Read more on:

• Knee Exercises for Arthritis
• Leg Exercises at Home

These were some leg exercises for bad knees, for those who have bad knees and want to perform lower body exercises. It is recommended that you should consult a physician before performing any of these exercises.