Strength Training for the Knee

Strength Training for the Knee

This handout is to help you rebuild the strength of the muscles surrounding the knee after
injury. It is intended as a guideline to help you organize a structured approach to
strengthening the knee.

Precautions When Exercising
• Avoid pain at the patellar tendon
• Avoid pain and/or crepitus (grinding) at the patella (kneecap)
• Build up resistance and repetitions gradually
• Perform exercises slowly, avoiding quick direction change and impact loading
• Exercise frequency should be 2 to 3 times a week for strength building
• Be consistent and regular with the exercise schedule

Before Staring Your Workout
• Warm-up prior to exercising by stationary cycling, elliptical machine or treadmill
walking uphill
• You are "warmed - up" when you have started sweating
• Gently stretch all muscle groups next (see attachment for recommended stretches)
• Do exercises involving multiple muscle groups first and individual muscle groups
last
• Do aerobic workouts after strength workouts
• Cool-down by stretching after exercise

Progressive Resistance Exercise (PRE) Principle
• To build muscle strength and size, the amount of resistance used must be
gradually increased
• The exercises should be specific to the target muscles
• The amount of resistance should be measurable and gradually increased over a
longer period of time
• To avoid excess overload and injury, the weight or resistance must be gradually
increased in increments of 5 to 10 %
• Resistance can be increased gradually every 10 to 14 days when following a
regular and consistent program
• Adequate rest and muscle recovery between workout is necessary to maximize the
benefit of the exercise
• If the PRE principle is followed too strictly, the weights potentially will go higher
and higher
• At a certain point, the joints and muscles will become overloaded and injury will
occur
• This eventuality can be avoided by refraining from using excessive weight during
strength training