Knee injuries can affect those in all walks of life. People who are out of shape and overweight are susceptible, but so are athletes, weightlifters and bodybuilders. Serious knee injuries can drastically affect your life since it will be irritated every time you walk. Even mild knee injuries can knock you out of important functions, practices, competitions or games, or at the very least, make activities you took for granted beforehand a misery to complete. Therefore, taking the necessary precautions and actions to maintain healthy knees and avoid knee injuries is well worth the effort.

10 Knee Health Tips

1. Reduce Weight – Lifting with too heavy weight places a lot of unnecessary stress on your knees, causing them to develop degenerative conditions or become injured.

2. Warm Up Prior to Exercise – When your body has been inactive, the muscles, tendons and ligaments become rigid and stiff. If you jump into full fledged exercise without first warming them up, you can experience knee injuries. By warming up first, you prepare the knee joints and surrounding tissue by increasing the circulation of lymph fluid and blood. This preparation loosens up the muscles, tendons and ligaments so that they can withstand the stress of the exercise.

3. Listen to Your Knees – As with any part of your body, if you experience pain in your knees then pay attention and reduce or stop whatever is causing the pain. By continuing through the pain, you increase the risk of further injury.

4. Use Proper Technique – Regardless of whether you’re lifting weights, using pulley machines, or riding an exercise bike, make sure you use the correct techniques and utilize the equipment properly. Poor form and incorrect machine usage can cause knee damage or other joint or muscle injury.

5. Develop Lower Body Strength – Balance your strength training program with equal muscle building exercises for the lower body as well as the upper body. Targeting the lower body will strengthen the leg muscles, which will decrease the amount of stress placed on the knee joints.

6. Consider Load Forces – Take care in choosing your modes of exercise. Certain fitness activities, such as running downhill, can place extreme force and impact on your knees. Instead, choose exercises that will accomplish the same goals, but reduce the risk for knee injury.

7. Avoid Doing Too Much – Many knee injuries occur because people try to do too much too soon or too often. Placing too much demand on the knees can cause injury. Don’t try to squat 300 pounds or run 3 miles when just starting out.

8. Avoid Sudden Increases – Resist the urge to show off at the gym by showing the boys that you too can leg press 400 pounds when your best press is 300 pounds. Both your muscles and bones need time to build up to certain stress levels. Therefore, increase weight or exercise intensity in reasonable intervals so your body has a chance to adapt.

9. Your Feet Are Important Too! – Keep in mind that you feet are just as important to knee health as anything else. Be sure to wear the correct footwear when performing fitness exercises, playing sports, or any other activity (the correct types of shoes should even be worn at work). Shoes should fit properly and have the correct amount of cushioning (or lack thereof). You actually want to avoid heavily cushioned shoes when powerlifting, squatting, and other forms of weightlifting that are done from a standing position and involve a great deal of weight. Cushioning can cause you to move off balance and shift the heavy weight which your knees will try to compensate for. Go with something like Converse Chuck Taylor’s during such exercises.

10. Vary Your Exercises – Don’t get stuck in performing only a couple of exercises. If all you do is ride a bicycle then you can easily overstress the knee joints through repetition. Vary your exercise program to include other strength training methods, which will utilize all muscles surrounding your knees as well as the rest of your body.