Nothing is more frustrating than winding up injured as you go about your workout program. Keeping motivation for exercise is hard enough for most people if you add an injury into the mix, you may just call it quits for good.
One injury that’s all too common for many people is knee pain. Knee pain strikes, and soon, everyday tasks feel challenging.
Fortunately, with a few smart steps, you can avoid knee pain before it starts.
Here’s what to know.
Watch Your Knee Tracking
Whenever you do a squat, lunge, or another exercise that has you bending your knee, watch the movement of the knee over the toes. If the knee moves inward or outward, know that it’s only a matter of time before the pain starts to occur.
For best injury prevention, it should move directly over the toe and you should feel very comfortable throughout the entire exercise. Listen to your body. If something feels painful, you need to adjust your technique.
Be Careful With Leg Extensions
It’s also important that if you are prone to knee problems, you be careful with the leg extension. This machine does place a high degree of strain on the knee, so it could lead to knee problems, especially if heavy weights are being utilized.
Start light with this exercise and focus on higher reps instead. There’s no real need to go heavy here.
Strengthen Your Hip Abductors And Adductors
Finally, make sure that you are strengthening your hip abductors and adductors. These muscles that make up the top of the leg can help ensure proper knee tracking and allow you to avoid suffering from knee pain down the road.
Often when these are weak, it invites knee pain into the picture.
So keep these points in mind and make sure that you don’t start suffering from knee pain. Fortunately, this injury is largely avoidable with the right precautions.
