Knee and ankle exercises

Since starting with weights, my knees and ankles are feeling stressed, weak and achey. Any suggestions for strengthening knees and ankles?

Replies

  • Cherimoose
    Cherimoose Posts: 5,208 Member
    It might be from doing too much too soon, or from incorrect form.. or both. The solution depends on the cause of the problem. Which program are you following?
  • cmcmlb29
    cmcmlb29 Posts: 25 Member
    Just weights at Planet Fitness. Really thinks it's lack of support in my dress shoes. But one of my ankles is rolling in quite a bit.
  • rejectuf
    rejectuf Posts: 487 Member
    wait, are you exercising in dress shoes? please stop doing that immediately if so.

    You need to find someone who knows what they're doing and go to the gym with them, or at least watch some youtube videos that can help give you some cues to do exercises properly.
  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    For ankle strength as well as balance, I stand on one foot while brushing my top teeth and on the other while brushing the lowers.
  • cmcmlb29
    cmcmlb29 Posts: 25 Member
    rejectuf wrote: »
    wait, are you exercising in dress shoes? please stop doing that immediately if so.

    Oh no, sorry to confuse you! I definitely wear athletic shoes at the gym. I meant that during the day, if I haven't replaced the insoles or added arch support in my dress shoes, I ache from ankles to knees.
  • cmcmlb29
    cmcmlb29 Posts: 25 Member
    This will let your heels contact the ground better and let you push through in order to complete the motion. While it may seem counterintuitive, this helped my ankles a lot. So do heavy squats and deadlifts. When I'm getting back into lifting after a break and they're feeling extra stressed, calf raises. I do mine on a cinderblock, but any kind of raised surface can do it.


    I've done the heel drops and raises, help some. I'm prbly not giving enough of a chance. Squats and lunges absolutely kill my knees!
  • cmcmlb29
    cmcmlb29 Posts: 25 Member
    For ankle strength as well as balance, I stand on one foot while brushing my top teeth and on the other while brushing the lowers.

  • cmcmlb29
    cmcmlb29 Posts: 25 Member
    Thx for the suggestions!
  • michelletowle52
    michelletowle52 Posts: 33 Member
    Sounds like a imbalance in your posture . I also roll like you describe when doing the same excercise. All not lost it can be fixed you need a functional movement specialist who will analyse you then will help you correct your imbalances. Sounds like your from US I'm in UK hopefully you'll be able to find someone that can help you. In the mean time no deadlifts heavy squats or lunges leg press. Go see someone
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Please do stop the squats and lunges until you have strengthened the muscles around your knees and ankles. Here are the exercises my doctor gave me for my knees:

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  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    These seem to help with the ankles as well. Just did this for the first time yesterday.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLoMA7I7HOQ&index=1&list=PLUXvX9BaxgqG9yO5XWB3gA_QshvrrcjVr
  • cmcmlb29
    cmcmlb29 Posts: 25 Member
    [quote="kshama2001;35263252"[/quote]

    Thx for exercises! I also found some Theraband stretches that help with inversion and extension of the ankles. I'll try to post here.
  • cmcmlb29
    cmcmlb29 Posts: 25 Member
    Here's the link for the stretches.

    http://youtu.be/Pwu6CJ0fG5U
  • michelletowle52
    michelletowle52 Posts: 33 Member
    Please go and see somebody like I said in previous post. Do not do exercises that have been designed for gerneric use. You need someone to physically see your individual needs this could do more harm than good and injure you further. The way you've originally described the crushing in on one side of the foot was me I'm now seeing a someone who's helping correct the muscles imbalance and structure of my right side. I now have noticeable more control in the ankle
  • alisfitgoal
    alisfitgoal Posts: 32 Member
    You should probably see a physio to find exercises for your specific needs. As a general statement, most people are relatively weak in the glute med (exterior glute muscles), and a lot of poor form in weight lifting can come from weakness there. For me, strengthening this area has been excellent for my knee health and is unlikely to do you much harm.