3 Simple stretches to do with knee pain
quad stretch for knee pain
Hip Flexor Stretch for Knee Pain
hamstring stretch for knee pain
3 Stretches that Won’t Flare Up Knees
3 simple stretches for knee pain
Quad stretch
Hamstring stretch
Hip flexor stretch
One thing I really hate is feeling sore from a workout, and I certainly hate being sidelined from working out.
Every once in awhile I get some knee pain when I run. This usually happens when I first start running again after not running for awhile. One reason to always stay in shape, right? But, that’s not realistic. I go in waves of wanting to run and just wanting to walk, so I just need to make sure my knee feels fine.
I do that by stretching regularly.
I stretch after strength training, I stretch after walking, I stretch after running. I stretch every day. If something feels tight I stretch.
One thing I don’t do, is only stretch. These stretches that I’m going to share with you today should be used in combination with a strength program and a cardio program, whether that’s walking, running, biking, etc.
Quad Stretch Helps Knee Pain
I’ve always liked the quad stretch. I remember doing this stretch at soccer, you line up in front of another player, one hand on their shoulder and they have one hand on your shoulder. You each grab your own foot behind you. Stay for 30 seconds.
This stretch helps knee pain because this is the muscle that goes directly across the front of the knee. The knee cap sits in the quad muscle. This muscle needs to be flexible and strong to do it’s job.
Hamstring Stretch Helps Knee Pain
The hamstring stretch I never really thought I needed to do when I was younger. I was a gymnast through high school and I was naturally flexible. My sit and reach test was laughable because of how flexible I was, I could reach beyond the testing limits. So I never really thought I needed to stretch my hamstrings. But, I was wrong. Now this is one of the stretches I love.
The hamstring stretch helps with knee pain because some knee pain is behind the knee. I’d say most people have knee pain in front of the knee, but it does happen behind the knee, too. Tight hamstrings can leave a knee in a bent position, stretch those muscles to straighten out the knee. Bonus, the hamstring stretch can also help anterior knee pain because of the added pressure tight hamstrings add to the whole knee.
Hip Flexor Stretch Helps Knee Pain
The hip flexor stretch I didn’t learn until I was a physical therapist. I didn’t have to stretch my hip flexor when I was a gymnast because those muscles got stretched out when I did splits. As the years have gone by I noticed that the front of my hips tighten up. So I love to do this stretch to keep them loose (peep a future post showing you the other exercise that is a MUST DO for when hips are tight in the front).
The hip flexor stretch helps with knee pain for a few reasons. The first is because one of the quad muscles is a hip flexor, too. Stretching this muscle transfers down from the hip, through the muscle belly and into the knee. The hip flexor stretch also helps the knee pain because if the hip is tight the whole leg and pelvis doesn’t move quite the way it should.
To recap: my 3 favorite stretches for knee pain are the quad stretch, the hamstring stretch and the hip flexor stretch. These 3 stretches help keep the muscles around the knee flexible and pliable to be able to move comfortably. For more tips and tricks follow along.
If you’re looking for knee pain relief check out this free guide I created just for you
