[jothefanbeing]

Knee Stability

Hi all - as you may be growing tired of hearing lol, I have an old leg injury. Recently I overdid it a little on the leg front, and today while walking about where I was acutely aware of how my knee was moving. It's not my knee that is hurting, that'd be my thighs, but I had a day today where my knee just felt off. It felt like things were not aligned correctly, and when I was on uneven ground it was worse. There were about half a dozen instances where my knee just slightly buckled or was... I don't know quite how to describe the sensation? But things were just not quite lining up right. These days occur way less frequently than they used to, but given that exercising aggravated it in this instance, I'm going to assume it can in the future. I'd like to do what I can to prevent that. I know probably the best thing would be to see a physical therapist, but that's not an option for me. I've been poking around in the workouts that are geared towards knees, and a lot of them are described as for knee strength or pain. Given that this is not exactly knee pain, would they still be helpful? I was thinking about adding Knee Saver to the end of my routine, or maybe before bed. If anyone has other suggestions for exercises/stretches that would help, please do share!! Thank you

 

[Dyneti]

If anyone has other suggestions for exercises/stretches that would help, please do share!!

Your description with old injury and instable/buckling knee made me think of this youtube channel that someone around here recommended (iirc) for stuff like hypermobility and strengthening weak ankles. No clue if you like exercise videos, but maybe their Beginner Knees or Intermediate Knees playlists can give you some context about what healthy knees need?

 

[MasonHale]

Hi all - as you may be growing tired of hearing lol, I have an old leg injury. Recently I overdid it a little on the leg front, and today while walking about where I was acutely aware of how my knee was moving. It's not my knee that is hurting, that'd be my thighs, but I had a day today where my knee just felt off.

Yes, the knee strength and “knee pain” routines can still be useful, even if the issue feels more like tracking, wobbliness, or confidence than actual pain. A lot of knee stability comes from the stuff around the knee: quads, hamstrings, glutes, calves, hips, and your balance/proprioception. Knee Saver is a sensible gentle add-on, especially if you keep it easy and treat it more like maintenance than a workout. I’d also look at slow step-ups, glute bridges, clamshells, calf raises, wall sits if tolerated, and single-leg balance near a wall or chair. Main thing: no pushing through buckling or weird “not lined up” feelings. If it shows up, back off, shorten range of motion, and give the leg a quieter day. Uneven ground is the final boss for dodgy knees, so no shame in training the basics first.

 

[XiaoHua]

Helloooo,
I have hypermbobility so I have been working a lot on trying to improve stability, my knees are especially bad.
There's a lot of info out there so it's hard to know what's right for your specific case.
However, here are some key things no matter workout you decide to do.
Make sure movements are slow and controlled. You should not go your full range of motion on your knee that is off, always stop just before you feel any signs of lack of control or stability in any exercise, (or pain!) and hold it in that range of motion for a bit. Isometrics are really good because you are teaching yourself to stabilize the joint. You have to slowly re-educate your body that certain movements are "safe" or else your nervous system gets triggered and you will not recover properly.

@MasonHale is right all those exercises suggested and strengths exercises are still important, I would suggest adding isometric holds at the end of sets to train the stability factor a little more. For example if you do 3x15 glute bridges do a 10-20 count hold at the end of each set of 15 for example. I think the recent glute forge challenge does just that actually if you want to check it out.


I really like this guy, his channel is called squat university

He's a physical trainer and he has a book about diagnosing and fixing various issues throughout your body. I find a lot of his vids to be helpful, my biggest problem is just the overwhelm at the amount of info and choosing what's right for me. But if you have the time and patience, this video of a live diagnosis of knee issues might be helpful.

Other content I've found helpful on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_nS0VwRfOqjA4bIjRFpPw/videos

I know you probably don't have hypermobility and these are geared to hypermobility, but I think they will probably still be useful.

Hope you find something helpful!

 

[jothefanbeing]

Thank you all! I think I will add Knee Saver, along with some step ups (I remember doing so many of those when I did PT after the accident), bridges w/hold, and clamshells w/hold. Not a lot, probably only like 2 sets of 10 w/15 count hold after a set, since I mean this to be an everyday addition & I have limited time haha.

 

[aerochic]

While i'm definitely not in shape and am barely getting back to regular exercising, I regularly suffer from instability in my ankles and knees (and surrounding muscles, tendons, ligaments,etc0. have found that foot placement helps a ton. If for instance, I point my toes in more say while doing step-ups or squats I feel it on my inner knee// lower inner thigh well before my normal range of motion Once I straighten my toes out (straight forward) and sometimes adjust the width of my feet, the immediate pain goes away.

The other thing that actually seems to increase my lower joint instability strangely enough is shoes with "max cushioning" , even walking on flat paved surfaces. If you do an exercise barefoot or with minimal shoes, and the instability isn't there or is slower to occur, you might consider different shoes.

I know this won't help with the strengthen portion but it might help with some of the pain.

 

[Rrr]

Helloooo,
I have hypermbobility so I have been working a lot on trying to improve stability, my knees are especially bad.
There's a lot of info out there so it's hard to know what's right for your specific case.
However, here are some key things no matter workout you decide to do.
Make sure movements are slow and controlled. You should not go your full range of motion on your knee that is off, always stop just before you feel any signs of lack of control or stability in any exercise, (or pain!) and hold it in that range of motion for a bit. Isometrics are really good because you are teaching yourself to stabilize the joint. You have to slowly re-educate your body that certain movements are "safe" or else your nervous system gets triggered and you will not recover properly.

@MasonHale is right all those exercises suggested and strengths exercises are still important, I would suggest adding isometric holds at the end of sets to train the stability factor a little more. For example if you do 3x15 glute bridges do a 10-20 count hold at the end of each set of 15 for example. I think the recent glute forge challenge does just that actually if you want to check it out.


I really like this guy, his channel is called squat university

He's a physical trainer and he has a book about diagnosing and fixing various issues throughout your body. I find a lot of his vids to be helpful, my biggest problem is just the overwhelm at the amount of info and choosing what's right for me. But if you have the time and patience, this video of a live diagnosis of knee issues might be helpful.

Other content I've found helpful on Youtube

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCE_nS0VwRfOqjA4bIjRFpPw/videos

I know you probably don't have hypermobility and these are geared to hypermobility, but I think they will probably still be useful.

Hope you find something helpful!

Hello!
Hope it's okay to reply to this.
I'm curious about this book you mention in regards to the squat university guy but the video shows as unavailable. Could you tell me the name of his book on diagnosing and fixing body issues please?