Strengthening your leg muscles with seated exercises stabilizes knee joints and helps protect ligaments and cartilage from injury. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons states that people who have strong leg muscles have less pain and fewer functional problems with their knees than people with weaker knee muscles. Because excess weight creates additional stress on your knees, losing weight also helps protect your knees. An additional benefit is that maintaining a healthy weight and doing knee exercises make your legs look better in shorts.
To strengthen your knees, select weights you can lift with correct form for at least eight but no more than 12 repetitions. Do one to three sets of each exercise two or three days a week. When you do strength training, you damage muscle fibers. As your body repairs the damage, it builds stronger muscles. Since you actually make your strength gains on your recovery days, always allow 48 hours between strength workouts. While mild muscle soreness the day after you work out is normal, if you feel any pain in your knee joint during or after exercise, consult your health care provider.
Leg Press Machines
The seated leg press targets the quadriceps, muscles that straighten the knee. On seated leg press machines, you position yourself in a seat with your legs bent and feet flat on a metal plate in front of you. Begin the exercise by pushing against the plate either to move the plate or to slide the seat backward, until your legs are straight, and then return to your starting position. To protect your knee joints, your leg should be bent no more than 90 degrees in the starting position and you should not hyperextend your knees at the end of the lift. You can position your feet parallel to one another or you can turn out slightly from the hip. However you position your feet, it is important that your knees remain aligned over your second toe throughout the movement to avoid stressing the knee ligaments..
Leg Curl Machines
Seated leg curls work the hamstrings, the muscles running along the back of your thighs. The starting position for a leg curl is seated in the machine with your back solidly against the back rest and your legs straight out in front of you with your calves resting on top of a padded lever or roller bar. Bend your knees to a 90-degree angle and then return to your starting position.
Thigh Abductor Machines
Work the muscles on the outside of your thighs by sitting in a thigh abductor machine. Start with your legs together, the outside of your thighs against the pads and your feet on the footrests. Keeping your upper body still, move your legs apart until they end up making a V-shape, then return to the starting position.
Thigh Adductor Machines
Strengthen your inner thigh muscles on a thigh adductor machine. Position yourself on the seat with your legs spread out in a V-shape, the inside of your thighs against the pads of the leg rests and your feet on the footrests. Squeeze your legs together and then return to the starting position.
Leg Extension Machines
Many bodybuilders use seated leg extension machines to isolate the quadriceps muscles. Although these machines are effective, they place significant stress on the knee joints. As the seated leg press is equally effective for developing the quadriceps muscles and places less stress on ligaments and cartilage, it is a better choice for knee strengthening.
- ExRx.net: Sled Seated Leg Press
- BodyBuilding.com: Seated Leg Curl
- ExRx.net: Lever Leg Extension
- BodyBuilding.com: Thigh Adductor
- BodyBuilding.com: Thigh Abductor
- Nick Tumminello's Performance University: Are Leg Extensions Good or Bad, Safe or Dangerous, Effective or a Waste of Time, Functional or Nonfunctional? – Exercise Expert Brad Schoenfeld Has the Surprising Answers!
- HealthLinkBC: Meniscus Tear: Rehabilitation Exercises
- Fowler and Kennedy Sports Medicine Clinic: Physiotherapy ACL Protocol
- American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons OrthoInfo: Knee Exercises
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