Knee Exercise that Strengthen the Quadriceps & Reduce Knee Pain

A while back, I posted a youtube video on the seated Knee Cap Dance exercise which has gotten  a great response.  A viewer requested to see the same knee exercise done in a standing position and this same knee cap movement is really important to learn and be able to do both seated  and standing to be sure that we’re not aggravating or creating potential knee pain.

One of the things that can contribute to knee pain is standing with locked  knees.  The Standing Knee Cap Dance is a great knee exercise to practice to learn how to better support the knee joint.

Knee Cap Dance Exercise – Standing

When you’re standing, if your weight is back on your heels, chances are your knees will lock and this is not a healthy position for the knees!

• Keep a little more weight over the balls of your feet and your toes. Ideally, you’ll be standing on straight legs with unlocked knees. Or consciously maintain a soft bend at the knee.
• The goal is to maintain a soft knee bend and use the Quadriceps muscle to lift the knee caps up the front of your thighs. It’s exactly the same as the seated exercise. Click Here to review the steps for the Seated Knee Cap Dance Exercise.
• Standing upright and maintaining good posture makes this standing exercise a little more challenging than the seated version. You”ll have to pay attention and feel what your legs are doing to avoid locking the knees while lifting the knee caps.
• Practice lifting the knee caps up and holding them for few seconds, then relax. (being sure not to lock the knees!)
• Repeat this for 8-10 repetitions, or as often as you like. You can do this exercise almost anywhere and nobody‘s going to know that you’re practicing a great knee-strengthening exercise!

2 Knee Exercise Variations To Practice

• Both Knee Caps at the Same Time

Almost everyone has a dominant side and a weaker side. Strive to pull both knee caps up evenly for balanced muscle development.

• Alternate Knee Cap Lift

Practice alternate lifts. Pull the right knee cap up, then the left. When we walk, our legs do different things at the same time. Practicing a smooth and even alternate knee cap lift in a standing position is helping strengthen your knees for a healthy stride.

The Standing Knee Cap Dance Exercise is a quick and easy exercise to help strengthen your knees and teach you how to support a straight leg position to stand with good posture and avoid knee pain. This is a simple and effective exercise that you can do anywhere, anytime and then ideally this knee cap lifting action will work well when you need to support a straight leg for all your other Pilates, Yoga, sports training, and daily life activities.
Have fun practicing your Standing Knee Cap Dance Exercise for healthy and happy knees!

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