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Free knee guide · No equipment

Protect Your Knees at Home.

I run and I lift, and most of the people I train on this peninsula are active too. Runners, lifters, people who walk and bike and chase kids all day. Our knees get cranky from doing things, not from sitting still. Here is how to make them stronger, right at home.

Knee strengthening exercises on the Rockaway peninsula

Four moves for cranky knees

Start gentle, work up to the harder ones, and give it a couple of months of steady, easy work. Little and often beats hard and rare.

Walking backward on the boardwalk

1. Walking Backward

1 to 2 minutes

It is gentler on a sore knee than walking downhill, and it wakes up the muscles that protect the joint. The boardwalk is a perfect flat, safe place for it. Take small steps.

Easier: hold a rail or a partner's arm at first. Harder: longer stretches, or add a little more speed once it feels easy.
Toes-up shin raise against a wall

2. Toes-Up Shin Raises

15 to 20 reps

Stand with your back against a wall and your heels down, then lift your toes and the fronts of your feet up toward you, over and over. The muscle on the front of your shin is your knee's first line of defense, because it helps slow your leg down on every step. Most people never train it.

Easier: smaller range, just barely lift the toes. Harder: hold each lift for a second or two at the top.
Slow step-down on a staircase

3. Slow Step-Downs

5 to 8 reps each leg

Stand at the top of your own stairs, step down onto the next stair as slowly as you can control it, and let the leg still up top do the lowering. Going down stairs already puts your knee over your toes, so this trains that exact position on purpose, instead of just letting it happen to you.

Easier: lightly touch the rail for balance. Harder: take 3 to 4 seconds to lower, or skip touching the rail at all.
Deep lunge hold

4. Deep Lunge Hold

5 to 8 reps each leg

Step one foot out in front of you into a long lunge and slowly sink down, letting your front knee travel forward out past your toes as far as you can go without pain. Hold that deep bottom position for a few seconds, then come back up. This is the move that most directly trains that over-the-toes position.

Easier: only go as deep as feels controlled and pain free, then let it get deeper over the weeks. Harder: hold the bottom longer, or go a little deeper once the shallow version feels easy.

Motion is lotion

Resting a joint doesn't make it stronger. A knee that can travel out over your toes, under control and without pain, is stronger and safer than one you baby. You build knees by training them through their full range, not by avoiding it. Every time you walk down a staircase your knee already travels out over your toes anyway, so avoiding that position makes no sense. Strengthen it instead of dodging it. The muscles around the knee get stronger like any other muscle, by asking a little more of them over time.

Want it built around you?

This is a solid starting point for anyone. But the fastest progress comes from a plan built around your body, your space, your goals, and any injuries. That is what I do, in your own home, across the Rockaway peninsula.

Train with me Text (347) 313-8748