The best isometric exercises for runner’s knee
The reason why people experience runner’s knee
You might also hear patellofemoral pain syndrome or even anterior knee pain. These all sound like scary terms but they are a fancy way of saying…knee pain.
The truth is that pain is complex and it’s hard to nail down one specific reason why someone is experiencing pain. It can be weakness and mobility-related issues at the site of the symptoms, but we also find that the whole kinetic chain also has impairments that need to be addressed. The role of sports physical therapists that rehab athletes such as runners should be to scan the whole body and create complete solutions.
We are going to outline five different isometric exercises that address completely different parts of the body. Some of them will stress the knee and some of them will train the lower kinetic chain. The goal is to find a weak link that is related to your story whether that is a previous injury or where you’re experiencing knee pain.
Single-leg wall sit isometric
This is a great exercise to strengthen your quadriceps muscles. It forces you to isolate that muscle and it’s very hard to compensate because there aren’t a lot of ways that you can shift. Make sure to keep the lower back and upper back against the wall and slide down to a point where it is challenging but not overwhelming.
Our physical therapists typically look to see if there is a difference side-to-side. You might find that the leg that is weaker leg is also the one experiencing the runner’s knee. There is good research to show that these isometric exercises provide pain-relieving effects for patellar tendinopathy while improving the strength and tolerance of the tendon[1].
Side plank isometric hold
There is a great research paper done by Stu McGill who is one of the renowned experts in spine biomechanics. His group looked at normative values for the side plank endurance test for people without any pain. They found that men and women on average were able to hold it from 80-85 seconds[2].
This has made the side plank part of our screening process because it challenges the core and the glute muscles very efficiently. If there is a significant difference side-to-side then it becomes part of the warm-up which will address your weaknesses overtime.
Soleus wall sit isometric hold
The soleus can take anywhere from 5-8x your bodyweight on one leg when you are running so it is important that you work this muscle as a part of your cross-training program if you are a runner[3]. Similar set up to the single leg wall sit isometric hold from above but you are just going to raise the heel an inch off of the ground.
Isometric holds are also extremely beneficial for Achilles tendonitis and tendinosis. It can provide significant pain relief and is a great way to warm up if you’re dealing with a nagging Achilles tendinopathy.
Groin plank isometric hold
Our sports physical therapy approach to working with runners is always looking at the different planes of motion. The side plank isometric challenged the lateral stability of the knee. The single-leg wall sit challenged the anterior stability of the knee. The Copenhagen plank is a great way to test stability on the medial side of the knee.
Your legs are always working as a unit in order to propel you forward so it does not make sense to only look at one muscle. When you begin to run with an injury, you start to compensate around from efficient movement. This means you start to create mobility deficits and muscle weaknesses that have to be addressed or you’ll continue to be frustrated with your runner’s knee.
Long lever bridge isometric hold
We’ve covered every single angle besides the posterior stability which we address with the hamstring isometric hold. This lower body position is similar to the midstance position that you’ll see in running. The hamstrings also control your knee’s ability to bend which can take the load off of the knee.
If you’ve had previous injuries to the hamstring that were never restored back to baseline then it can contribute to more stress being placed on the knee every step that you are running.
Common questions you might have after reading this:
These are way too hard for me to do
That means you will need a different starting point which is what a lot of our sports physical therapists do for the runners that we treat. We meet you exactly where you are at and slowly scale your training overtime as you build strength and mobility.
These are way too easy for me to do
A majority of these exercises are just the beginning and they are the base of the warm-up. Our sports physical therapist will build a custom-tailored program that includes running drills, plyometric training, progressive strength training, coordination drills, and more.
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