25-10 - Flipbook - Page 29
October 2025
and then lowering again.
Calf raises help to improve the muscle balance around your knee so that they all work well
together, he says. "If one muscle is weak, you're going to have an imbalance which will put
more strain on the knee."
Getting up from a chair
This one works the core muscles deep within in your abdomen, back and pelvis. While they
might not appear to be directly related, Colvin says that this large muscle group plays a
somewhat underrated role in maintaining knee health. "Your core muscles really go from
your mid chest down to your knee," she says.
Simply sit in a chair and repeatedly stand up and sit back down again without holding onto
anything.
"It's definitely harder than you expect," says Colvin. "And you can also make it harder either
by getting a lower chair or doing it one-legged."
If you're new to doing these kinds of exercises, Chhabra recommends booking an initial appointment with either a physio or a strength and conditioning coach to first practice each
one with them, to ensure you're doing it correctly, and determine exactly how many sets
and repetitions are appropriate for you.
"As you get stronger, you can certainly add weight, by doing some of these exercises wearing weighted vests, or holding weights if you have access to them, but that also depends
on your age and your strength level," he says. "As we get older, body weight alone tends to
be best. I also tell patients to monitor worsening pain. Muscle soreness is normal, but worsening pain in the joints is not good, as that indicates something going on inside the knee
that needs to be seen by a doctor."
Overall, taking the time to do knee strengthening exercises serves as a valuable investment
in your long-term health. We might take our knees for granted, but they let us walk, skip,
jump and run, until they fail. As Baz Luhrmann wisely advised in the song Everybody's Free
(To Wear Sunscreen): "Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone."
