Leg Work for Overworked Knees
Many people would love to train their legs hard and heavy, but have nagging knee injuries or pains. If you’re struggling with this, there’s no need to throw your hands up and resign yourself to having the legs of a starving chicken. Below I’ll take you through some brutally tough, yet gentle on the knees, exercises that you can do to blow your legs up and ditch the bean poles.
Split Squat. This is nearly always my first choice for people with bad knees. You’re using half the weight, but still getting the same effect. It’s also very easy to adjust your position so you’re putting as little stress on the joint as it can handle. The farther back your knee stays relative to your big toe, the less stress you’re putting on the joint. How I tell people to execute this one is to kneel on the floor with your left foot in front and your right knee on the ground. Make sure you’ve got a towel, pillow, or some other soft thing on the ground so you’re not smashing your back knee into oblivion. Your left leg, the floor, and your right thigh should make a rectangle. This is the start position. From there, push through the front foot to stand up. Lower yourself back down under control. Do not fall back down. This will turn your kneecap into powder and your doctor will be very happy about his bank account. This is a good exercise to do for 6-20 reps. I wouldn’t advise going below six because most of the time it ends up looking like a seizure instead of an exercise.
Backward Sled Drag. For making your quads (front of your thighs) scream for mercy and pump up like crazy, this is a real winner. It’s also nearly impossible to do wrong. Get a sled, throw some weight on, grab the rope or handles, and walk backward. Make sure you push through all the way with your feet. Fifty feet is a good starting distance. Once you can get that, add more weight. You’ll surprise yourself with how much you can pile onto the sled. Enjoy the burn.
Sled Push. Equally simple yet terrible as the backward sled drag is the sled push. On top of getting your legs to blow up like balloons, this little gem also gets your heart racing through the roof if you keep the pace high. Because there’s no lowering phase, the stress on the knee is minimal and the use of muscle is amazing. Make sure you keep your arms and spine straight and extend the leg all the way as you drive the sled forward. Just like the backward drag, start with about 50 feet and see what you can do from there. Once you get up off the floor and catch your breath, you’ll thank me.
Romanian Deadlifts. Now it’s time to smash your hamstrings (back of the thigh.) The knees stay nearly straight, but there is a slight bend. Hold the bar in your hands like the top of a deadlift. Now, break at the hips and push your butt back as far as you can while keeping your knees soft. You should feel your hamstrings start to scream at you for mercy. This is good. When you get to just below knee level, squeeze your hamstrings and butt and push your hips under you. For this exercise, keep the reps somewhere between 6-12. There’s nothing wrong with going a bit higher, but I’ve noticed by the time you hit the 15th rep, your low back and/or grip are the things giving out, not your hamstrings. And that seems pretty pointless. Lower than six reps and it gets so heavy that most people just turn it into a deadlift. Again, not the point.
These are just a few, but they happen to be my favorites. Whenever something hurts, don’t try to be a hero and push through the pain. I’ve done that and every time it’s ended with injury. Be smart, find a different way to hit the same muscle or pattern. Even if you’re not banged up, give a couple of these a try and see how your knees and legs feel. I have a feeling you’ll be both cursing and praising me at the same time.
