You have been inside your home for more than a month. This means less physical activities like walking, running, swimming including other exercises. Being less active can have a major impact on your knees. It may lead to knee stiffness and cause pain in the long run.
1. Straight Leg Raises
It is a very simple exercise and doesn’t put much pressure on your knees. Just lie on the floor, keeping one foot flat on the surface and bending the other one. Now, raise the resting foot to the height of the opposite knee. Check this out to understand it better.
2. Standing Hamstring Curls
This is also a very simple exercise but super effective. You don’t have to bother about any equipment in order to do this, you don’t even need a yoga mat. Just stand straight and lift one knee at a time. Here’s the full procedure to carry out this exercise.
3. Wall Squats
Simple yet powerful. This exercise helps your upper leg muscles a lot. You just need to stand against the wall with your feet out in front of you and squat. Check out the proper steps here.
4. Calf Raises
It is a great stretching exercise for leg muscles. This exercise is generally done by raising the heel as far as possible. Weights are commonly used, but the exercise is also effective with body weight alone. Here’s how you can do it properly.
5. Step-Ups
This is a fun exercise. Just use a step or platform (even staircase) raised high enough, and place your foot one by one. Now, what can be simpler than this! Check out the proper steps here.
6. Side Leg Raises
It’s pretty easy and can be done anywhere. This exercise strengthens your outer thighs and the hip abductor muscles. Here’s the detailed procedure to do this exercise.
7. Prone Straight Leg Raises
This exercise strengthens your hamstrings as well as gluteal muscles. Hamstrings are any of five tendons at the back of a person’s knee, while gluteal muscles are a group of three muscles which make up the buttocks. Here’s the procedure.
8. Half Squats
It’s a variation of squat that focuses on your hip and knee joints and strengthens your quadriceps, glutes, and hamstrings. Here’s how you reap benefits of this easy exercise.
9. Leg Extensions
This exercise is usually done with a lever machine but you can use your body weight too. It strengthens your quadriceps and if you don’t use the machine, there’s no pressure on your knees at all. Here is how to do it.
10. Quadriceps Stretch
This is a stretching exercise which works in quadriceps muscles, that is, the muscles at the front of your thighs. It’ll improve the flexibility of your lower body. Here’s the full procedure of this exercise.
