Suffering from knee pain? You don't need to stop everything! Here are some great alternative exercises to keep you going in the gym.
Whilst you are recovering from a knee injury, it's really important to maintain or build your strength, but how can you do this without aggravating your knee?
Firstly hinge patterns are usually well-tolerated, so can be continued to be performed. These exercises include:
Deadlift variations (Romanian deadlift, conventional deadlift, trap bar deadlift, sumo deadlift)
Arabesque exercises
Likewise, bridge patterns also tend to be well tolerated which include:
Bridges (30 degrees and 90 degrees)
Hip thrusters
Squat patterns can be modified by trying these alternatives. These options go from the LEAST knee load with the box squat, to the HIGHEST knee load with the overhead squat:
Box squat
Low bar back squat
High bar back squat
Front squat
Overhead squat
Lunge patterns can be modified and progressed with the following. These options go from LEAST knee load with reverse lunges, to the HIGHEST knee load with walking lunges:
Reverse lunge
Split squat
Bulgarian split squat
Lunge
Walking lunges