If you have knee pain, your first instinct might be to avoid exercise in order to rest your achy joints. In reality, though, the best thing you can do to relieve knee pain is to get moving.

The key to relieving knee pain lies in strengthening the muscles around your knees to better support the joint.

Think of it like a Christmas tree stand. In order to work, the tree must be supported on all sides. If one side of the stand fails, the entire tree will topple over.

The same thing goes for you and your knees.

Try these 8 exercises to relieve knee pain and strengthen the surrounding muscles. Aim for ten repetitions of each exercise. These exercises may be challenging, but they should not hurt.

Stop if you feel pain and always consult with your doctor before starting a new exercise program.

Be sure to do these three times a week with a day of rest in between. After a few weeks, you hopefully will see some relief.

I also recommend the following pain relief products, which can help tremendously:

• Biofreeze
• Arnicare Gel
• Blue Emu Cream
• Palma Christi Castor Oil
• Icy Hot Medicated Patches
• Receptra Targeted Topical Cream

8 Exercises To Relieve Knee Pain

1. Seated Leg Lift

Sit in a chair with one leg stretched out in front of you and your knee straightened, toes flexed up toward the ceiling. Keeping your knee straight, lift your leg off the ground, then lower it.

2. Angled Leg Lift

As in exercise 1, sit in a chair and stretch one leg out in front of you. This time, turn your toes outward so your baby toe is angled toward the floor. Lift your leg off the ground, then lower it.

3. Standing Leg Lift

Grab your chair and stand to one side of it, holding on to the back of the chair for balance. Raise your outside leg to the side, keeping your toes pointed forward, then lower it.

4. Rear Leg Lift

Face the chair, holding it with both hands. Raise one leg straight backward, keeping your knee straight and foot flexed so you feel a strengthening behind your knee, then lower it.

5. Bicycles

Sit in a chair with one leg stretched out in front of you. Bend your knee and move your foot in a circular motion, as if pedaling a bicycle. Then, change direction and “pedal” the other way.

6. Lunge Circles

Begin in a lunge position, with your back leg straight and your front leg bent. You do not need to be in a deep lunge. Circle your knee slowly to one side, then the other.

7. Knee Circles

Stand with your legs shoulder width apart with a generous bend in your knees. Moving the legs simultaneously, circle your knees one way, then the other.

8. Knee Squeezes

Stand with your legs shoulder width apart with a generous bend in your knees. Squeeze your knees toward one another, touching in the middle if you can, then release.

If you found these useful, check out our other pain relief exercises here!