5 Simple Exercises to Help Prevent Knee Pain

There is always something that can be done to prevent knee pain. Studies have shown that strengthening exercises for the quadriceps and hamstrings, as well as stretching the hip flexors, can help alleviate symptoms of anterior knee pain.

These below exercises are best performed two to five times a week in 10-minute sessions with a rest day after every three days.

However, if you have any other underlying health issues, please see your doctor to make sure it's safe for you to exercise before proceeding.

Creating Your Routine

First, create a routine that you can stick to for at least 14 days. The repetitive nature of the exercises will help prevent knee pain in the joint by increasing muscle strength, stabilising joints, and alleviating tension due to poor movement patterns. Remember to rest and also do some gentle stretching before and after the exercises, which can be done for about 10 seconds each.

Warming Up First

When performing these exercises, it is best to warm up your legs by taking a leisurely stroll around the house before starting up with the routines. This will help prepare the muscles and joints for more strenuous activity and reduce your chances of injury.

First Exercise: Lunges & Squats

The first exercise is lunges and squats. Both of these exercises are great for strengthening the quadriceps muscles, and they can be done with or without weights.

However, you can get more out of the exercise by holding a dumbbell in each hand while working your legs. It may feel a little awkward at first, but this will help increase your strength and flexibility as you train. Start with three to five sets of 10 repetitions before moving on to the next exercise.

If you don't have weights, you can also do lunges and squats using your body weight. Lunges work the quadriceps and hamstrings, while squats work all four of the quad muscles, as well as the glutes.

The added bonus is that squats are also great for building lower body strength.

Make sure to switch your legs in between each rep to avoid putting excess weight on one leg over time. Start with three to five sets of 10 repetitions before moving on to the next exercise.

Second Exercise: Leg Extensions

The second exercise is leg extensions. This will help to strengthen the quadriceps, and it's much easier than traditional squats or lunges. You can use your upper body to aid in lifting the weight, but don't use your hands or rely on them entirely, as this can increase your risk of injury.

Start with three to five sets of 10 repetitions before moving on to the next exercise.

Third Exercise: Leg Curls

Leg curls are the third exercise. These help to strengthen the hamstrings and you can do them with your body weight. If you want to increase the intensity you can use some weight with your legs extended at a right angle with your body. Start with three to five sets of 10 repetitions before moving on to the next exercise.

Fourth Exercise: Hip Flexor Stretch

The fourth exercise is a hip flexor stretch. The hip flexors includes the muscles in the front of your hips, such as the iliopsoas, psoas, and rectus femoris.

These muscles can get tight from long periods of sitting or from poor flexibility. Perform three sets of 10 repetitions before moving on to the next exercise.

Fifth Exercise: Hip Flexor Strengthening

The fifth exercise is a hip flexor strengthening exercise. This will help strengthen the hip flexors, and it can be done with or without weights. Start with three to five sets of 10 repetitions.

What You Must NOT Do

You must not perform this routine if you have any other health issues, including kidney disease, diabetes, back issues, bursitis or arthritis.

Don't jump around or perform any high-impact exercises while you're doing these strengthening exercises if you're someone who is not use to exercising regularly.

One Last Word

The main goal of these exercises is to strengthen and lengthen the muscles around your knees so you can prevent knee pain.

Hopefully, with this routine, you will be able to stay pain-free for a long time!

Links & Resources

RESEARCHGATE - The Effect of Taping, Quadriceps Strengthening and Stretching Prescribed Separately or Combined on Patellofemoral Pain

WEBMD - 8 Exercises to Help Your Knees

Benefits of Foam Rolling

Written by female personal trainer, London based, Justina Triasovaite.

Foam rolling is an effective self-myofascial release (SMR) technique. A foam roller works by massaging the muscles to release tightness. They break up knots which helps to release fascial tightness as well. Foam rollers are a useful tool that can be stored and used in the gym or at home.

If you are looking for a convenient gym accessory that can relieve pain, tightness and improve flexibility the foam roller is the one for you. There are many different types of foam rollers. Most of them work by slowly running the roller across stiff muscles using your body weight to apply pressure.

It is important to understand how a foam roller can become a great addition to your fitness regime. Below we discuss some of the benefits of foam rolling:

Reduces Muscle Pain

Using a foam roller can ease muscle pain and alleviate soreness. Massaging the muscles with a foam roller will help to increase oxygen and blood flow. In this way foam rolling can aid the natural healing process.

If you incorporate a foam roller in to your stretching and cool-down routine, your muscles will probably begin to feel better and you will be able to begin exercising sooner.

Increase Flexibility and Mobility

Similarly, if you use a foam roller alongside your rehabilitation and stretching regime you may experience increased mobility and flexibility. It is important to have a large range of motion to maximise the effectiveness of your workouts.

Having increased flexibility and mobility will also aid your day-to-day routine. Using a foam roller can reduce the pressure on your muscles and joints by enabling greater flexibility and mobility.

Helps Prevent Injuries

Preventing injury and recovering fast is integral to maintaining a healthy body. If you often engage in intense physical activity and sport, you may be susceptible to muscle and joint injuries. It is important to development an exercise regime that takes into account the overall health of your body.

Foam rolling can help to prevent injuries. By enabling self-myofascial release you can reduce the immediate impact of exercise on muscles. Maintaining good muscle strength as well as blood and oxygen flow is key to preventing injury. This is one of the most important benefits of foam rolling.

Helps You Relax

Foam rolling can be a great way to relax after a stressful day. There have been studies that suggest that self-myofascial release can reduce physical stress. The time spent with a roller, even if it is only ten minutes, can help you de-stress after an intensive workout.

Your mind and your muscles will be more prepared for the rest of the day if you spend time using a foam roller. Dislodging knots and tightness in your muscles can make you feel less tense. Time spent quietly attending to your muscles will help you reach your fitness and health goals.

Get Rolling

We have discussed the many benefits of foam rolling above. In my opinion a foam roller is a great addition to your gym equipment. It is a quick and easy way of relaxing and relieving muscle pain. Whether you choose to get a smooth roller, a textured roller or some foam-covered massage sticks it is a good investment in your health and wellbeing.

Foam rolling enables you to go hard in the gym and recovery properly. Using the foam roll for half an hour everyday will also help increase your flexibility and mobility. It is an easy way of maintaining and improving your body. As a personal trainer with many years of experience I would definitely recommend acquiring a good foam roller.

Please feel free to get in contact!

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How To Tone Up

Written by female personal trainer, London based, Justina Triasovaite.

How To Tone Up?

How do I get toned up? This is probably one the most frequently asked questions I hear from new clients. But what does it mean? It is important to understand the limits and the capabilities of your body if you are looking to get fit.

In this article I'm going to discuss how to tone up if you are overweight, underweight or just average size. I will discuss exercise, nutrition and attitude.

What does it mean to look toned?

Wikipedia say that “the term toned implies leanness in the body (low levels of body fat), noticeable muscle definition and shape, but not significant muscle size”.

As a personal trainer I agree that a toned body means having low body fat percentage so your muscles become visible. It does not mean you need to have pumped, big arms or muscly thighs. It just means that you don't have any excess body fat on your stomach or hanging from your arms.

Does one size fit all?

When it comes to being toned there is not a lot of room for variance. In many ways becoming toned up is a one-size-fits-all process.

Think about it:

You need to lose body fat to get toned. The three different body types described above will all need to lose different amounts of fat. Fat loss is going to be your primary goal.

I do not usually like saying eat less and exercise more. I have been a female personal trainer for over 7 years. I have worked with a lot of people and I can firmly say that the ‘eat less, exercise more’ approach does not always work. As a matter of fact, it can lead some people in to bigger weight issues instead of teaching them how to make long term change.  

Let's start from the beginning!

There are a few key things to understand if you want to get toned up:

Do I need to count calories?

There is an old saying: eat less and exercise more. Or in other words: calories in and calories out. A golden rule of less calories in and more caloric burn. But honestly how many of you have tried this ‘golden method’ and failed, or how long have you managed to keep this approach?

At the moment there are two dominant schools of thought on the issue. One group say that it “doesn't matter how much or what you eat, as long as you are in caloric deficit you are going to lose weight”. Another group says, “you can eat as many calories as you want as long as your hormonal system is balanced”. Both statements can be backed up with evidence and they are legitimate.

But weight loss is not going to come only from one of those statements. You need to understand  that caloric intake is as important as balanced hormones and vice versa. There are a limited amount of people who can maintain an amazing body while following a strict caloric or hormonal approach.

Experiment

So start experimenting with your body and see what happens. You must treat your body like a complex mechanism. Nothing is straightforward when you try to change. You must account for all variables.

My ultimate advice on calorie counting is - get to know your food. Understanding nutritional value is going to give you an idea about serving size. It is important to understand how much sugar your food contains. If you want to get in shape quickly I suggest you stay away from refined sugar.

Calculating your basal metabolic rate

There is no need to analyse your daily food caloric intake if you don't know your basal metabolic rate. That means how many calories you are burning daily. You can check it out quite easily HERE.

But what is basal metabolic rate?

It is the amount of calories you are burning without any extra physical activities. It is the amount of calories you are using to maintain your body.  In order to get a more accurate reading of your daily caloric expenditure you need to understand your daily activity level.

Your next steps depend on your goals. If you are looking for fat loss you need to create caloric deficit. For muscle gain you need to create caloric surplus.

Calories equal calories?

In the first stage of your toning journey all calories are the same. If your goal is to lose fat, once you have decreased your caloric intake you will see some results. If your goal is to become bigger and gain more muscle you will see a results after increasing caloric intake.

These results will not last long. Calories are not the same. If you bought the most expensive car in the world which petrol are you going to use to maintain its performance? No doubt, you will go for the best option available. So why when it comes to fitness do so many people choose to fill their body with poor nutrition and unhealthy calories?

Difference between calories

Being in calorie deficit while eating sugar is going to make you tired very quickly. Your performance at the gym and at work is going to decrease. You are going to start losing muscle and not fat. Think wise!

This is the same if you are trying to gain muscle and eating takeaways which have low nutritional value. You will struggle to get toned and build muscle. Your bad habits will lead to muscle loss, low energy, poor performance and bloating.

Exercising

The best way to tone up is to work your full body in every single workout. Compound or multi-joint exercises are the best for toning your body.

Make sure you are working every large muscle group in every workout. If you are a beginner start with learning and exploring. Below are the 10 best exercises for toning your body:

  1. Squats
  2. Lunges
  3. Leg press
  4. Step ups
  5. Pull ups
  6. Press ups
  7. Shoulder press
  8. Chest press
  9. Rowing
  10. Deadlifts

Most of the exercises you can do at home with resistance bands to start with and move to the gym when you are ready to add some weights.

It is extremely important to perform these exercises with perfect form. If you have bad form you will be risking injury. Be very mindful with the weights. Whilst progressive overload is a must, your body has to be ready.

How many times a week I should train?

You should understand that 40 min of exercise and 12 hours of sitting down is not going to give you results.

What is going to give you results :

This will give you results. You have to be active throughout the day. Sometimes people go to the gym and use it as an excuse not to move during the day. It has been scientifically proven that being active during the day has a more positive effect on body composition than a 30 minute high intensity workout. So keep moving.

Getting Toned

Hopefully, the above tips have given you a good idea of how to get toned up. A good combination of measured nutrition and thorough exercise will get you there. Throughout your fitness journey you must have a good attitude to setbacks and be persistent if you want your toned body to stay!

Please feel free to get in contact if you would like more information or if you are interested in booking a session.

Need more info? 

Email: [email protected]

Mobile (text or call): 07944 916 9906

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Contact Justina: justinatraining.com/contact

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Top Leg Exercises: An Anatomical View

Written by female personal trainer, London based, Justina Triasovaite.

Top Leg Exercises: An Anatomical View

It is important that you know which muscles you are exercising when you work out. If you lack a basic knowledge of your body and approach exercise without any method, you may overwork some muscles and neglect others.

I have been a female personal trainer for many years, and I am always happy to share some of my expertise. Today we will be focusing on the best exercises for your legs. We will approach these exercises by taking an anatomical view of a few key muscles.

We will be using simple exercises to target your Quadriceps, Hamstring, Gluteus and Calves.

Anatomical Breakdown

The quadriceps (or quads) is an important group of muscles situated at the front of the thigh. The group is comprised of four separate muscles: the vastus medialis, vastus intermedius, vastus lateralis and the rectus femoris. These muscles make up the four heads of the quadriceps.

The quadriceps help to extend the knee. They are a vital group of muscles that are often at risk of injury because they are used for common activities like walking and running. The best way to prevent injury is to exercise and stretch them on a regular basis.

The hamstrings are large muscles located at the rear of your thigh. Similar to the quadriceps femoris, the hamstrings are a group of muscles: biceps femoris, semimembranosus and semitendinosus. The purpose of the hamstrings is to extend the thigh, flex the knee joint and to adduct the leg.

Similar to the quadriceps, the hamstrings are susceptible to injury and are quite commonly injured in sports. Hamstrings are primarily used for walking, running and jumping.

Now for the glutes. The gluteus is mainly comprised of the gluteus maximus, medius and minius which are situated in the buttocks and are supported by a host of other smaller muscles around the hips and pelvis.

The gluteus maximus is the biggest and most notorious of all the gluteals. This muscle is the chief force in providing thrust as your walk and run. It helps to extend and rotate your hip joint. The gluteus minimus assists abduction and internal rotation of the hip. The gluteus medius is located just under the gluteus maximus and helps you perform moves like the side step.

The calf is situated on the back of the lower leg and is comprised of two muscles: the gastrocnemius and the soleus. Common injuries involving the calves include muscle strains, pulls and tears.

The gastrocnemius forms the visible bulge on your lower leg and is the larger of the two muscles. The soleus is located just underneath the gastrocnemius muscle and is comparatively small and flat. They work together to pull the heel up which enables forward movement and activities like running and jumping.

Exercises for Your Legs

Here are a few simple exercises that can be achieved with little to no expense and without much experience.

Deadlifts are a multi-joint exercise and will work out several groups of muscles at the same time. It is important to place deadlifts later in your leg-day workout and to choose the appropriate weight to avoid injury and unnecessary fatigue.

Variations include: stiff leg deadlift, resistance band deadlift, sumo deadlift, single leg deadlift, Romanian deadlift.

Squats are another great way to completely exercise your leg muscles. They work the glutes, hips, quads and hamstrings.

Squats are an easy exercise, but they are often done incorrectly. It is important to develop a good form if you want to exercise your muscles properly. Ensure that when you bend your knees you also move your butt backward, keep your knees in line with your toes and control your upper body by looking straight ahead.

Lunges are a great single-leg bodyweight exercise that work all the muscles we have discussed above. It also engages the core.

Variations include: reverse lunge, walking lunge, lateral lunge, clock lunge, curtsy lunge and the split lunge jump.

The hip thrust is a fantastic exercise that is often under-utilised. It is glute exercise which is designed to improve strength and speed through repetitive hip extension.

Choose your appropriate weighted barbell and a low bench. Place the bar along your upper thigh and rest the middle part of the back on the edge of the bench. From this position you can thrust your hip upwards in to a bridge position and begin your reps.

Get Exercising!

Hopefully you now know a little more about exercising your legs. Having a look at your anatomy is both interesting and informative. Now you never need to skip leg day again!

All of these exercises should aid your fitness and muscle goals. To ensure you meet your goals you should incorporate them in to your exercise regime on a regular basis.

Need more info? 

Email: [email protected]Mobile (text or call): 07944 916 9906Say hello on Facebook!: facebook.com/justinatraining Contact Justina: justinatraining.com/contact

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