A new year means a new you, right? While it’s good to make New Year’s resolutions to lose extra weight, it’s more important to do it without injury. If you suffer from knee pain due to conditions like tendonitis or if you have recently had knee surgery, then you may be wondering how you’ll get fit in the new year while still taking care of your knees. Let’s take a closer look at three exercises for you to consider trying in the new year that may help you relieve knee pain.
Swimming
Swimming is one of the best exercises that you can do for your joints while still getting your heart rate up.This low impact exercise won’t put any unnecessary strain or pressure on your knees which is just what you want. Plus, if you really want to strengthen your leg muscles, you can try a swimming exercise like kicking where you grab a kick board and just do laps while kicking; this will help you focus solely on your leg muscles.
Biking
Another exercise that we encourage our knee joint patients to try is biking. Unlike other cardio exercises like running that place a lot of impact and strain on your knee joints, biking won’t do that. In fact, a lot of physical therapists encourage their knee surgery patients to start biking a little bit to build up the muscles around the kneecap and knee joints. Just make sure that you don’t push yourself too hard and that the bike is the right fit; that way you avoid any potential injuries.
Walking
Walking, not running, can also be beneficial for your knees. Typically, after any of our patients undergo knee surgery, we have up and walking right away to get their joints moving. When starting out with walking, try to take it slowly. For instance, you can just walk around the block one day and then slowly increase it a little bit every day; that way you warm your body up to it.
Before you try any of theses exercises, make sure to contact one of our joint specialists. To learn more about other ways that you can take care of your knees, contact us at our Merrillville office today at (219) 795-3360.
