Are your knees killing you again?

Do you feel like squatting is destroying the most important joint in your body? Well let me start off by saying, stop whining you damn baby. Oh wait… is this real pain? Actual pain that could be the sign of an injury? If your knees kill when you’re doing squats don’t blame the exercise. It could be happening because of a couple of key factors. One, your form probably stinks and you’re destroying your joints by doing the movement wrong. Two, it could mean that some other point in your body’s structural make up is in terrible condition. To be more specific, your hips are probably to blame.

Just like a building, your body needs to be strong throughout it’s foundation and not just in the one area that your having problems with. You can do leg extensions and utilize foam rolls all you want, it’s not going to fix the problem for good. It’s a band aid at best, which really won’t do much but patch up the problem rather than fix it. So if your ankles and hips are in bad condition, your body will naturally compensate and put pressure on other points of your body in order to alleviate the pressure. Here are a few ways that you can strengthen your hips and prevent knee injury.

Good Mornings

These are great for strengthening the lumbars in the lower back which you’ll need to build up for increased hip health, strength, and stability. It’s best to start out using lighter weight with this exercise until your form is adequate enough to warrant packing on more weight. Remember, the key is to avoid injury – not make it worse.
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Deadlifts

Deadlifts will work wonders for both your back and your hips. The key for strengthening your hips is to isolate the area by setting the hips low from the start and keeping them there. If you lift the hips, particularly if done quickly, you’ll be incorporating other muscle groups which will defeat the purpose.

Full Squat

Full squats are also great for strengthening the hips as well. If you don’t squat low enough you’re not going to engage your hips enough. So be sure to start out with moderate weight and squat low in order to get that added strength into your hip area. Ultimately it’ll pay dividends.

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Keep these exercises in mind during your workouts and hips, knees, and lower back will be grateful. Any other ideas for improved knee and hip health? Let us know in the comments below and be follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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