10 minutes every morning: How to beat knee pain!

Do you also suffer from knee pain? It can eventually affect everyone, especially as you get older, but also athletes, whether you're jogging or playing soccer. It's just uncomfortable when you can't really run anymore because your knees start to hurt. Did you know that devoting just 10 minutes every single morning can actually be enough to alleviate knee pain or even to prevent it from developing in the future? Whatever the best preventive measure is, let's incorporate these 10 minutes into your morning routine so that you have a different, a pain-free day. That's the goal. Before we start with the exercise, we need to test something briefly. Let's get into the quadruped position and now see how far you can go back. Are you able to stretch yourself out like that? That would be ideal. If not, the preliminary exercise involves stretching as far as you comfortably can and then allowing yourself a couple of days to ease into it. To gradually and carefully keep stretching yourself downward until you've comfortably reached and maintained this position. For the very first exercise, you will sit down comfortably on the floor and position your right shin so that it is parallel to the right edge of the mat. Afterwards, gently move your ankle downwards toward the ground and then strive to position your buttock as close as you can manage to your heel. Then you notice the tension building up here and that's already the stretch. This whole area is now being elongated and as it continues to stretch, it will increasingly offer more relief to your knee and it feels so good for the knee that the pain will most likely decrease. That's been our experience so far and if you then also move your pelvis backwards and pull your belly button inward, you'll notice that the tension becomes significantly much, much greater and now it's not limited to just the thigh area but also a little here into the groin. You might even feel it in your back because these muscles that are being stretched there might also have something to do with causing back pain. Then you keep going further into the stretch, adjusting it so that it's just at a level you can comfortably tolerate and you notice the stretch is intense and just as intense as the relief for the knee. So enjoy that experience because everything that's pulling right now is also pulling the tension and the excessive strain out of your knee, so to speak, yes, further and deeper into the stretch and now you begin to engage in a unique form of strength training and that is you firmly push with your foot against the ground as though you're attempting to straighten your leg really firmly. You are allowed to do that. Then you relax and loosen up and notice that you go even further into the stretch and with this strength this is essential for the knee since it is directed by the muscles and the fascia and the more you can exert force at all angles the more stable your knee will be. Now push with your lower leg, pressing with your foot as firmly as you can manage against the ground and then ease up and stretch a little bit further into the position and you can really feel how intense it gets here but make sure not to overdo it just keep it at a level where you can still handle it comfortably and to wrap up turn onto your side for a moment maintain the position and really actively engage once more then your joints will start to learn how to fine tune and adjust tension all around the knee and now we are going to proceed by doing the exact same exercise on the opposite side. Place your left leg carefully at the very edge of the mat ensuring that your lower leg remains in a parallel position. You bring your ankle closer to the ground closer the buttocks your heel as close as possible just enough that you can still comfortably endure it and then you pull your belly button back and you immediately notice this intense stretch tension that arises here again. You continue to move back gradually increasing as your fascia and muscles naturally yield more and adapt to the strong stretching. Yes and with this exercise what we're doing is essentially taking the strain away when the thigh becomes overly tight it pulls the lower leg directly into the knee joint. We alleviate the stress on the joint the cartilage feels much better and the menisci feel more comfortable because they are being relieved from this ongoing constant pressure. Keep moving further back pulling your navel inward then it extends higher up reaching even into the groin area. Incorporate your breath into the process depending on how well you can manage to control it. Take a deep breath in and as you exhale go even deeper. This is the moment where our strength training truly begins to unfold. Firmly press your left foot against the ground with as much strength as you can muster. Make sure you're pressing it quite firmly against the floor. Relax and move slightly deeper into the stretch. Once more make sure that your left foot is pressing firmly against the ground as tight as you can. Press down against the ground as hard as you can. Release and extend even further into the stretch with intention. Gently retract your belly button inward. Once more firmly press downward with your foot. Press firmly, press down and release. Relax and allow yourself to go deeper into it. Take deep steady breaths. Feel how it starts to give way and remember keep in mind that when it's nicely stretched this pressure issue that affects the knee can be relieved. We'll do the rest from below with the next exercise coming up right away and then you'll also briefly move to the side here and pull the finger behind the foot towards the buttocks in an active tension and then relax again. For the second exercise please stand as follows. Stand shoulder width apart and step back with your right foot so far that you already feel a stretch in the upper calf when your right knee is straight. Then gradually bend your left leg more and more increasing the stretch in your calf until you feel a comfortable tension ensuring you maintain a level of stretch that you can manage without discomfort. Be certain that your foot is pointing directly forward and doesn't turn outward in any way. This common mistake tends to result in the stretch being far less effective than it could potentially be. So go deeper, stretch in there and give the muscle and fascia some time and now we address the pull exerted upwards by the calf muscles. The tension built up in the large calf muscles. We'll work on that now. Previously the pull was directed from top to bottom but now it's moving from the bottom to the top so that the knee is comfortably and nicely relieved from both above and below from this pressing pressure. Now gently press your forefoot which is the front section of your foot steadily into the ground in case your balance isn't very stable. You can hold on to a chair or perhaps a steady table to prevent any unnecessary wobbling or slight imbalance. Then you relax your foot and go further into the stretch and then you repeat the action once more. Push your right foot down against the ground, press it really firmly against the floor. You can feel your calf muscle working hard now. This exercise effectively strengthens your large calf muscle. Then you release the tension again allowing yourself to go a little further into the stretch. If that is too difficult you can also lean against the wall and you press down against the ground again. Loosen up and move further in, shifting and transferring every bit of your weight completely onto your left foot. Step outward, extend and stretch your right leg and actively pull the entire foot upwards as tight as you can and more and more and then release. Now we'll do the same for the other side. You take a step back with your left foot ensuring that you thoroughly extend and completely straighten your left knee all the way and then begin to gradually and increasingly bend your right leg even further and as you move deeper into the position now you will notice even more the gradual stretching sensation in your calf. Lower yourself as much as you can comfortably manage. Additionally keep extending and straightening your left knee consistently making sure it doesn't bend and I just want to get off this train. Keep going deeper. As I mentioned earlier on if that's proving too exhausting for your right leg then feel free to push yourself against the wall so that your right leg doesn't have to work quite as hard. That's how it is. A good knee stabilizing workout that you automatically do at the same time and you can see that I'm going deeper as the left calf gives way more and now I press the left foot specifically the forefoot as firmly as I possibly can against the ground. Simultaneously I extend the left knee. Please follow along in exactly the same manner. I press the foot firmly into the ground while simultaneously straightening the left knee. Relax once again and sink a bit deeper and one more time ensure that the left foot presses very firmly against the ground. Be sure to press really firmly against the ground. Tighten a little more then loosen and go a bit deeper. Make sure to fully straighten your left knee completely and again press the left forefoot against the ground. Relax and go even deeper. Shift your weight carefully onto your right foot. Extend your left leg out straight in front of you and slowly steadily pull the ball of your foot upwards even more and pull a bit more and a bit stronger then gently allow it to relax once again. I will now show you another variation of this exercise for stretching your right thigh which is very very effective however you do need a stretching strap, a belt or something similar. Using the stretching strap carefully loop it around your foot then take a roll or maybe two or three sturdy books to slightly elevate your knee to the desired height. Lie down on it positioning the hip bone towards the ground and only then do you begin pulling the foot slowly towards your buttocks. You do it gradually for around one minute and starting from the second minute you try to fully straighten your leg, relax a bit, keep pulling and eventually pull your foot even closer once more. And now I'll show you a very very intense and efficient variation for your calf and the back of the leg with our knee hero. You carefully step onto the knee hero then gradually move forward until you can feel the absolute maximum tension in your calf muscle and then you bend the hip and at this point you'll notice that you experience a significantly intense stretch practically extending right from the Achilles tendon over the calf muscle across the back of the knee and all the way to the rear part of the leg and this provides the maximum possible relief to your knee joint. After patiently waiting for about a minute proceed to press your forefoot against the knee hero here as well. If you don't have it simply stack some books underneath to comfortably pre-stretch your foot. Let go again, move forward with the hips, downward with the torso and so forth until you've also successfully completed the two minutes. If you choose to incorporate our tools into the routine then simply use the exercise time and perform the alternative exercise. To incorporate tools into a 10-minute routine just replace the exercises with those involving the tools adding an element of variety to your workout and no matter which exercise execution you choose now, whether without aids or with aids, what's definitely important is to do them daily for your thigh and calf muscles. To ensure you consistently and regularly do this it's best to save the video so you can easily find it when you need it again.