10 Knee Exercises for Runners

Running and jogging are great ways to keep fit. But make sure you keep the risk of knee injury and long-term joint problems to a minimum with these simple knee exercises for runners and tips about running.

 In this article we discuss why you might be experiencing knee pain, ten of the best runner’s knee exercises to help prevent it, and some pointers on other factors that may also contribute to knee pain or injury in runners.

Why do runners experience knee pain?

Runners can be prone to knee pain due to the repetitive and high-impact nature of running. There are some factors that can make a runner more likely to experience knee injuries and pain.

• Running surface - if you run on hard surfaces like pavement or uneven terrain, your knee joints undergo repeated stress, which can strain your muscles, tendons, and cartilage.
• Running posture and weight - such as overstriding, poor alignment, and carrying extra weight can increase the load on your knees, leading to imbalances and potential injuries.
• Weak glute and hip muscles – can reduce the stability of your pelvis and legs which can shift pressure onto your knees.
• Inadequate footwear - poorly fitting or worn-out running shoes that lack proper support can alter your stride and amplify stress on the knee joint.
• Joint and cartilage stress - repeated impact from running can wear down your cartilage, increasing the risk of conditions like Chondromalacia patella.

By addressing these factors through softer surfaces, strength training, better posture, and suitable footwear can help protect your knees from pain or injury.

10 best knee strengthening exercises for runners

From stretching to calf raises, here are some of the best knee strengthening exercises to help keep you running. Incorporating these runner's knee exercises into your routine, can support you with knee stretches and strength exercises for runners to stave off knee pain and injuries.

1. Stretching

Regular stretching can enhance your overall knee function, improve mobility, and support better posture and movement patterns, leading to a reduction in knee pain.

Knee stretches for runner’s knee help improve flexibility and range of motion in the muscles around your knee, such as the quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. They reduce the strain placed on your knee joint, promote better alignment and can also help to prevent stiffness and tightness, which can contribute to discomfort and injury.

Hamstring Stretch

1. Stand and place one foot on a chair or Swiss ball keeping your leg straight.
2. Pull your toes and ankle towards you. You should feel a stretch behind your knee and your calf muscle and into the back of your thigh. Hold for 30 seconds.
3. Complete 3 repetitions. Repeat on the other leg.
4. For a stronger stretch, push your leg downwards into the ball/chair, or rest your foot on something higher.

ITB (Iliotibial Band) Stretch

1. Stand and cross your legs. Run your arm down the side of your leg. You should feel a stretch in your back, and slightly on the outside of the opposite leg.
2. Hold for 30 seconds.
3. Repeat 3 times

Glute Stretch

1. Lie on your back, and bring your knee towards your opposite shoulder. You will feel a stretch in your bottom. By changing the angle you take your leg, you will change the position of the stretch. Try different positions to find your optimum stretch.
2. Hold for 30 seconds.
3. Repeat 3 times.

Quad Stretch

1. Lie face down. Bend your knee bringing your heel towards your bottom. Use your hand or a towel to create extra pressure. You will feel a stretch into the front of your thigh.
2. Hold for 30 seconds.
3. Repeat 3 times.

2. Lunges

Lunges are a great warm-up exercise for running and jogging. They are also a highly effective exercise for alleviating and preventing knee pain. They target key muscle groups (quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves) that support and reduce strain in your knee during movement, improve your stability and flexibility, promote proper alignment and posture, and provide low impact strength training. By incorporating lunges into your runner’s knee workout, you can build stronger, more resilient knees and alleviate pain over time.

How to lunge

1. Start by standing with your hands on your hips and your legs a comfortable distance apart.
2. Take a step forward and lower yourself forward, keeping your back straight, until both knees are at around 90 degrees.
3. Repeat 3 times.
4. Try reverse lunges by taking a step backwards and lowering yourself until your knee is just touching the floor.

3. Squats

Squats are a powerful exercise for strengthening the muscles that support your knee joint. They can enhance knee resilience, prevent injuries, and alleviate pain. Squats target the surrounding muscles including quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and calves and build knee strength and stability. By promoting proper alignment and increasing joint flexibility, squats help distribute forces evenly, reduce strain on your knees, and protect the cartilage and ligaments.

Standard squat

1. Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart and your arms by your side.
2. Keep yourself as upright as you can as you bend your knees and squat down. Push your bum out and keep your weight on your heels. Raise your arms to a horizontal position as you squat, or keep them held out in front of you.
3. Repeat 10 times.

Single leg squat

Builds single-leg stability and helps to improve strength and balance.

1. Rest your hand on a sturdy surface such as a table or counter top.
2. Lift one leg off the floor. Bend through your knee as you lift your chest slightly towards the floor. Hold in the squat position.
3. Push through your foot to straighten.
4. Repeat 6 times on each side for 3 sets.

Split squat

Helps to strengthen your legs and knees by targeting your quads, hamstrings and glutes. Improves mobility and balance.

1. Step forward with your right foot. Bend your right knee slightly and keep your left leg straight.
2. Transfer your weight forward into your right leg. Bend deeper into your right knee and slowly move your whole body forward and down. Keep your left leg straight with your toes on the ground, your back straight and your eyes forward.
3.  Using your right leg to push, return to the start position.
4. Repeat 6 times on each side for 3 sets.

4. Bridge

Bridge exercises are low impact and effective in helping alleviate knee pain. They build stability and support your knee joint by strengthening your glutes, hamstrings, and core muscles. These muscles support proper knee alignment and reduce strain by stabilising your pelvis. Bridges also improve hip flexibility and balance, which can correct movement patterns that contribute to knee discomfort.

How to do a bridge

1. Lie on your back on a mat with your arms at your sides, palms down, and your knees bent with your feet flat on the floor.
2. Lift your hips while tensing your stomach until your torso is in line with your thighs, and hold for a few seconds.
3. Repeat 3 times.
4. To increase the difficulty, try the one-legged bridge and hold your other leg straight into the air.

5. Wall sit

Wall sit exercises help relieve knee pain by strengthening your quadriceps and stabilising the muscles that support your knee joint. This low-impact exercise improves joint stability, enhances muscle endurance, and promotes proper alignment, reducing strain on your knees and aiding in pain management.

How to do a wall sit

1. Stand with your back to a wall, leaving a small gap, and plant your feet hip-width apart.
2. Slowly bend your knees and start sliding your back down the wall in a shallow squat.
3. Slowly come back up feeling the tension in your thighs and bum.
4. Repeat 10 times.

6. Leg raises

Leg raises help alleviate knee pain by strengthening your quadriceps, the key muscles that support and stabilise your knee joint. This exercise improves muscle tone and reduces strain on your knee, enhancing joint alignment and function. By increasing strength without putting pressure on your joint, leg raises promote better stability and can aid in managing or preventing knee discomfort.

How to do a leg raise

1. Sit on a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your back straight.
2. Raise one leg at a time so that it’s fully horizontal.
3. Move your leg up and down without touching the floor. Keep your muscles tensed during the movement.
4.  Repeat with the other leg.
5. Complete 10 reps for each leg.
6. To increase the resistance and the challenge add an ankle weight.

7. Single calf raises

Single calf raises can help with knee pain by strengthening the calf muscles, which play a crucial role in stabilising your lower leg and supporting your knee joint. By improving calf strength and flexibility, this knee strength training exercise helps reduce strain on your joint. It also promotes better alignment, balance and mobility, which can alleviate knee discomfort and prevent further injury.

How to do a single calf raise

1. Stand with one hand on a table or wall for balance.
2. Keep your target foot flat on floor and lift your other foot off the floor.
3. Push up onto your toes to lift your heel off the floor and squeeze your calf muscles whilst holding the position. Relax your heel down.
4. Repeat 10 times.

8. Hamstring curl with a dumbbell

Your hamstrings are a group of muscles in the back of your thigh. They bend your knee and move your thigh back. The hamstring curl exercise strengthens your hamstrings. This exercise uses a dumbbell for extra resistance.

How to do a hamstring curl with a dumbbell

1.  Lie down on your stomach and fold your arms in front of you. Place a light dumbbell in between your feet.
2. Bend your knees, moving your heels toward your bottom.
3. Return to a starting position.
4. Repeat 12 to 15 times.

Step ups

Step-ups and step-downs strengthen the muscles that support your knee, including the quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes making them great exercises for knee pain. By improving the strength and stability of these muscles, these exercises help enhance knee stability, reduce stress on your knee joint, promote better alignment, and improve overall function. They also help develop balance and control, which can prevent compensatory movements that might lead to further discomfort or injury.

Step-Up with Knee Drive

1. Stand with your feet hip-width apart in front of a box, bench, or step.
2. Step your left foot onto the box and drive your other knee up towards your chest at a 90-degree angle to your hip. Slowly lower your left foot back to the floor and step down.
3. Repeat 10 times then swap sides.

Single-Leg Box Step-Down

1.  Raise your arms in front of you at shoulder height.
2. Stand with your left foot firmly planted on a bench, box, or step and your other foot close to the edge.
3.  Bend your left knee and slowly lower your right foot straight down the side of the box and touch the floor with your heel.
4. Use your left leg to extend and push into the box, lifting your right leg off the ground and back onto the box.
5. Repeat 10 times then swap sides.

Clamshells

Clamshell exercises are effective for alleviating knee pain as they strengthen your hip abductors, particularly the gluteus medius. By improving the strength and stability of your hips, clamshells help maintain proper knee alignment, reducing strain and preventing improper movement patterns that can contribute to knee discomfort. Improving knee strength for runners also supports better balance and mobility, which can reduce the risk of knee injuries and promote more efficient movement, ultimately helping to manage and prevent knee pain.

1. Lie on your side with your hands resting under your head and your knees bent at a right angle and stacked on top of each other.
2. Keep your feet together while you raise your top knee upwards. Hold at the top of this upward movement and then return to your start position.
3. Complete 10 repetitions.
4. Repeat on the other side.
5. Use a resistance band around your thighs to advance this exercise.

How to prevent knee pain when running

To prevent and reduce knee pain while running, it's important to focus on other factors as well as a runner’s knee workout. These include:

• Proper warm-ups and cool-downs help prepare your muscles and joints for running, reducing the risk of injury.
• Maintaining correct form, such as avoiding overstriding and keeping a proper alignment, minimises stress on the knees.
• Wearing well-fitting, supportive footwear with adequate cushioning helps absorb impact and prevent unnecessary strain on your knee joint.
• Running on softer surfaces like grass or tracks instead of hard pavements can also reduce the impact on your knees.
• Regular rest and proper recovery are crucial to avoid overuse injuries.

Read more in our article 'how to run without damaging your knees' here.

Knee pain treatment options with Ramsay Health Care UK

If you are experiencing knee pain and knee exercises for runners are not relieving it, then you it’s advisable to speak with a healthcare professional. They will be able to help diagnose and treat your knee problem, prevent it getting worse and help you to keep running.

Ramsay Health Care has experienced knee surgeons who can investigate your knee pain. They offer individual treatment advice aimed to get to the bottom of your knee pain and to get you running without pain. Learn more about our knee services.

For advice and to discuss treatment options, contact Ramsay Health Care today. Contact us to enquire how we can help your knee pain.