Leg exercises that can strengthen quadriceps
March 15, 2024 1:02 PM Subscribe
Years ago, I developed a bad case of tendonitis in my right knee, and that knee has never been the same since. Every few years, I get a flare-up of pain in it. I found that the best way to treat this pain is to strengthen my quadriceps muscles using a leg extension machine, like this one. I'm seeking alternatives that don't involve me joining a gym just to use one piece of equipment.
You are not my physical therapist, and I know that there's lots of information available via a simple Google search. I'm looking for direct experiences from MeFites who have successfully used a particular training exercise that can be done at home without the use of fancy equipment.
You are not my physical therapist, and I know that there's lots of information available via a simple Google search. I'm looking for direct experiences from MeFites who have successfully used a particular training exercise that can be done at home without the use of fancy equipment.
Depending on where your baseline is, you can do simple body-weight squats without any equipment at all.
posted by praemunire at 1:27 PM on March 15 [2 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 1:27 PM on March 15 [2 favorites]
Two great quad-strengthening exercises: step ups and goblet squats.
For the step ups, get a plyo box; a plain wooden box that you can rotate for different heights is all you need. Hold a light dumbbell in each hand if you want to make it harder.
For the goblet squats, you can use dumbbells or a kettlebell. As praemunire says, even body-weight squats can help your quads; but I find having to hold a single small weight with two hands improves my form.
posted by mistersix at 2:01 PM on March 15
For the step ups, get a plyo box; a plain wooden box that you can rotate for different heights is all you need. Hold a light dumbbell in each hand if you want to make it harder.
For the goblet squats, you can use dumbbells or a kettlebell. As praemunire says, even body-weight squats can help your quads; but I find having to hold a single small weight with two hands improves my form.
posted by mistersix at 2:01 PM on March 15
How about wall sits? I do these, sometimes along with some kind of upper body thing, but actually I like them best solo.
posted by eirias at 2:15 PM on March 15 [4 favorites]
posted by eirias at 2:15 PM on March 15 [4 favorites]
I wrote a lengthy answer a little while ago to a somewhat similar question: Part 1, Part 2. Those might be helpful. But the tl;dr is someone I was watching on Youtube recommended isometric exercises and somehow that was kind of an aha moment for me.
I like them for a few reasons that overlap with what you are looking for:
- You can do them any time, any place, with no special equipment. I am literally doing some right now as I am typing this.
- In particular, you don't need to go to the gym.
- You can do it in small pieces of time throughout the day, as a little physical break or for example while driving or riding transit, while sitting at your desk, and so on.
- Because you are working against yourself - your own opposing muscle groups - they are adapted to your strength and fitness level, whatever that is. Literally a bedbound elderly person with practically no muscle tone can get a the right workout, so can a person just discharged from surgery, but so can literally olympic weight lifters and body builders. Whatever your strength level, you can drive your muscles to literal exhaustion (if you wish) with no equipment at all - because however strong your muscles are, the opposing set of muscles is proportionately strong. So you can do that if you wish - but you don't have to. You can also choose moderate or light levels of activition - and that is often desirable when working with, ie, your knees.
Here is what Arnold Schwarzeneger had to say about isometrics - notice his point about learning specifically to control different muscles. Of course, he is interested in being able to control various muscle groups for posing as a body builder - but if you have, for example, knee issues, you might be interested in it for a different reason. For example, in knee pain often people engage the quads more and the glutes less - when coordinated movement is just the opposite. Sometimes you need to activate certain muscles less, not more, in everyday movement. That's a lot easier if you are really aware of how to control and activate/deactivate your various muscles
- You really have to put your focus on exactly which muscles or muscle groups to activate, so it can really help build your awareness of what is going on in your body, help activate muscles and groups you often overlook and that have atrophied due to non-use, and generally develop coordination and coordinated movement.
Here are a couple of videos showing specific examples of these exercises for your quads & knees:
- Simple, basic isometrics.
- More advanced quad/knee exercises. I like that channel pretty well and they have a whole series on knee pain.
posted by flug at 2:19 PM on March 15 [15 favorites]
I like them for a few reasons that overlap with what you are looking for:
- You can do them any time, any place, with no special equipment. I am literally doing some right now as I am typing this.
- In particular, you don't need to go to the gym.
- You can do it in small pieces of time throughout the day, as a little physical break or for example while driving or riding transit, while sitting at your desk, and so on.
- Because you are working against yourself - your own opposing muscle groups - they are adapted to your strength and fitness level, whatever that is. Literally a bedbound elderly person with practically no muscle tone can get a the right workout, so can a person just discharged from surgery, but so can literally olympic weight lifters and body builders. Whatever your strength level, you can drive your muscles to literal exhaustion (if you wish) with no equipment at all - because however strong your muscles are, the opposing set of muscles is proportionately strong. So you can do that if you wish - but you don't have to. You can also choose moderate or light levels of activition - and that is often desirable when working with, ie, your knees.
Here is what Arnold Schwarzeneger had to say about isometrics - notice his point about learning specifically to control different muscles. Of course, he is interested in being able to control various muscle groups for posing as a body builder - but if you have, for example, knee issues, you might be interested in it for a different reason. For example, in knee pain often people engage the quads more and the glutes less - when coordinated movement is just the opposite. Sometimes you need to activate certain muscles less, not more, in everyday movement. That's a lot easier if you are really aware of how to control and activate/deactivate your various muscles
- You really have to put your focus on exactly which muscles or muscle groups to activate, so it can really help build your awareness of what is going on in your body, help activate muscles and groups you often overlook and that have atrophied due to non-use, and generally develop coordination and coordinated movement.
Here are a couple of videos showing specific examples of these exercises for your quads & knees:
- Simple, basic isometrics.
- More advanced quad/knee exercises. I like that channel pretty well and they have a whole series on knee pain.
posted by flug at 2:19 PM on March 15 [15 favorites]
I'd see a physical therapist; they're great for exercises you can do for specific injuries.
posted by theora55 at 7:54 PM on March 15 [1 favorite]
posted by theora55 at 7:54 PM on March 15 [1 favorite]
Set ups and downs are very good for quads and I can recommend from experience.
Also the Peterson Step Up from here: https://www.summitstrength.com.au/blog/the-best-exercises-for-trekkers-the-step-down
posted by maupuia at 8:04 PM on March 15
Also the Peterson Step Up from here: https://www.summitstrength.com.au/blog/the-best-exercises-for-trekkers-the-step-down
posted by maupuia at 8:04 PM on March 15
This YouTube video demonstrates how to do the exercise you were doing at the gym, but at home. You need: a chair, a cushion and an exercise band with anchor.
It's from a study where participants (who were eligible for knee surgery) did this one exercise for 2, 4 or 6 sessions per week for 12 weeks. They didn't find any difference between groups (i.e., twice a week was enough) and 2/3 of the participants decided to postpone surgery due to decreased pain/better function. Study methods and results here.
posted by lulu68 at 8:36 PM on March 15
It's from a study where participants (who were eligible for knee surgery) did this one exercise for 2, 4 or 6 sessions per week for 12 weeks. They didn't find any difference between groups (i.e., twice a week was enough) and 2/3 of the participants decided to postpone surgery due to decreased pain/better function. Study methods and results here.
posted by lulu68 at 8:36 PM on March 15
Wall sits above 90 degrees, lateral band walks, bodyweight Romanian deadlifts
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:40 PM on March 15
posted by cotton dress sock at 10:40 PM on March 15
i have also had success in relieving this pain by using a foam roller and twisting sort of half face down and rolling the top of my thigh with the roller on the floor.
posted by alchemist at 6:29 AM on March 16
posted by alchemist at 6:29 AM on March 16
If you are talking specifically about patellar tendonitis, then I am just finishing up rehabbing this injury myself.
Here's what has worked for me. I am not a medical doctor etc. This got long sorry, but hopefully there are some helpful nuggets for you. Good luck! It is a frustrating injury to deal with.
1. Seeing a physiotherapist. Mine didn't actually change my routine too much from what I had been trying based on internet searches, etc, but he did teach me how to understand the pain and how to know when to push through it and when not to.
2. Wall-sits/static squats (isometrics as described above). These are great for when the pain has flared up, and for general maintenance. I find that wall-sits actually reduce the pain (which is what is claimed online, and does indeed work for me); so I use them both before exercise (to warm up) and afterwards (to reduce pain, cool down). 3 sets of 45 seconds with a minute or two break is a set that works well for me. Because they aren't super high load, my physio said I can basically do these every day, even if I have some pain.
3. Eccentric squats on a decline board. Which basically means doing just the down phase of a squat, on a board that is sloped forwards about 20 degrees (I made one myself out of bits of wood and lay a yoga mat on top for grip, but you can get them on amazon too).
They key to these is to do them slowly (5-6 seconds as you decline), and build up to adding heavy weights. Having done the down phase of the squat, you can use some chairs next to you, or your good leg, to take the weight off on the up-phase. I was aiming for 3 sets of 12-15, with a 6s down-phase. I started on both legs (only one of mine was bad), then progressed to doing them single legged, then to adding weights. I used dumbbells as I have some, but physio said a backpack with heavy things in works too. To start with I was doing these most days, but as the weight got heavier, and I was maybe only able to do sets of 8, then I did them alternating days.
4. Building up impact slowly. As I understand it, most patellar tendonitis is caused by jumping/impact, and even small jumps can put a lot of impact force through the knee. I have found it's very easy to underestimate this, and think: "wow I feel strong with all these squats, I am sure I can do a bit of jumping around on the tennis court, and the next day find it's flared up. To that end, I have been making sure that now that things are good, that I restrict myself to running/jumping/impact every-other day to give my body time to recover.
5. Listen to the pain the next day. The annoying thing I've learned about patellar tendonitis is that the pain during exercise isn't very indicative of pain the next day. Sometimes I can have no pain during a session, and then overnight and the next day it's bad. And sometimes it can hurt during the session, and be fine the next day. The rough guide my physio has said to me is that pain of <3 during the exercise, and the next morning is likely to be fine. If it's more than that you've gone too far. So take note of what you did that was too much and scale it back.
6. Tendons take time to adjust and recover. After heavy loads/high impact, tendons have both a negative and positive response. During the first 24 hours it's mostly negative, and after 48 hours the positive side grows, and it becomes net positive. Hence, multiple days of heavy loads in a row can be bad.
7. Tendons don't really like rest, and they definitely don't like sudden changes in load. Over-resting is definitely not a good plan - once you've got past acute pain, keeping them working (with say isometrics as a minimum) is good for them. Also, if you do end up resting the tendon for a while, be careful getting back into things. I got caught out because I took a weeks vacation where I did squats but nothing high impact. I then tried to come back to (relatively) high impact exercise after my vacation at the same level of impact as I had before, and it flared up quickly.
8. Hypermobility makes me more susceptible to tendon problems, and makes recovery slower. This may not apply to you at all, but I have hypermobile joints, which (I am now learning) makes it even more critical that I build my muscle strength to protect my tendons.
posted by ecstaticcattle at 9:55 AM on March 16 [1 favorite]
Here's what has worked for me. I am not a medical doctor etc. This got long sorry, but hopefully there are some helpful nuggets for you. Good luck! It is a frustrating injury to deal with.
1. Seeing a physiotherapist. Mine didn't actually change my routine too much from what I had been trying based on internet searches, etc, but he did teach me how to understand the pain and how to know when to push through it and when not to.
2. Wall-sits/static squats (isometrics as described above). These are great for when the pain has flared up, and for general maintenance. I find that wall-sits actually reduce the pain (which is what is claimed online, and does indeed work for me); so I use them both before exercise (to warm up) and afterwards (to reduce pain, cool down). 3 sets of 45 seconds with a minute or two break is a set that works well for me. Because they aren't super high load, my physio said I can basically do these every day, even if I have some pain.
3. Eccentric squats on a decline board. Which basically means doing just the down phase of a squat, on a board that is sloped forwards about 20 degrees (I made one myself out of bits of wood and lay a yoga mat on top for grip, but you can get them on amazon too).
They key to these is to do them slowly (5-6 seconds as you decline), and build up to adding heavy weights. Having done the down phase of the squat, you can use some chairs next to you, or your good leg, to take the weight off on the up-phase. I was aiming for 3 sets of 12-15, with a 6s down-phase. I started on both legs (only one of mine was bad), then progressed to doing them single legged, then to adding weights. I used dumbbells as I have some, but physio said a backpack with heavy things in works too. To start with I was doing these most days, but as the weight got heavier, and I was maybe only able to do sets of 8, then I did them alternating days.
4. Building up impact slowly. As I understand it, most patellar tendonitis is caused by jumping/impact, and even small jumps can put a lot of impact force through the knee. I have found it's very easy to underestimate this, and think: "wow I feel strong with all these squats, I am sure I can do a bit of jumping around on the tennis court, and the next day find it's flared up. To that end, I have been making sure that now that things are good, that I restrict myself to running/jumping/impact every-other day to give my body time to recover.
5. Listen to the pain the next day. The annoying thing I've learned about patellar tendonitis is that the pain during exercise isn't very indicative of pain the next day. Sometimes I can have no pain during a session, and then overnight and the next day it's bad. And sometimes it can hurt during the session, and be fine the next day. The rough guide my physio has said to me is that pain of <3 during the exercise, and the next morning is likely to be fine. If it's more than that you've gone too far. So take note of what you did that was too much and scale it back.
6. Tendons take time to adjust and recover. After heavy loads/high impact, tendons have both a negative and positive response. During the first 24 hours it's mostly negative, and after 48 hours the positive side grows, and it becomes net positive. Hence, multiple days of heavy loads in a row can be bad.
7. Tendons don't really like rest, and they definitely don't like sudden changes in load. Over-resting is definitely not a good plan - once you've got past acute pain, keeping them working (with say isometrics as a minimum) is good for them. Also, if you do end up resting the tendon for a while, be careful getting back into things. I got caught out because I took a weeks vacation where I did squats but nothing high impact. I then tried to come back to (relatively) high impact exercise after my vacation at the same level of impact as I had before, and it flared up quickly.
8. Hypermobility makes me more susceptible to tendon problems, and makes recovery slower. This may not apply to you at all, but I have hypermobile joints, which (I am now learning) makes it even more critical that I build my muscle strength to protect my tendons.
posted by ecstaticcattle at 9:55 AM on March 16 [1 favorite]
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