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Exercise set · Knees and legs

The Knee Strength Set

  • 12 to 15 minutes
  • 2 to 3 times a week, with a rest day between
  • 5 exercises

Sore knees are almost never fixed by rest, because rest removes the strength the knee was missing in the first place. This set loads the muscles that absorb force before it reaches the joint, at doses a painful knee can tolerate. Some discomfort during the work is expected and acceptable; the rule is that it settles within a day.

Designed and reviewed by Dr. Shyyada Banu, BPT, MPT · MIAP License No. 69386

Who this set is for

  • Knee pain on stairs, squatting or after sitting
  • A diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis
  • Rebuilding after injury once your clinician clears strength work
  • Knees that feel untrustworthy rather than sharply painful

The set, in order

The sequence matters: it moves from switching on to loading. Each exercise links to its full guide, with the technique, mistakes and progressions.

  1. 1

    Sit to Stand

    3 sets of 8, slow on the way down

    Standing up from a chair and lowering back down with control, ideally without pushing off with your hands. The most transferable strength exercise there is, and the single most valuable movement in a falls prevention programme.

    The pattern that matters most to daily life, trained directly.

  2. 2

    Wall Squat

    3 holds, 20 to 30 seconds

    Leaning back against a wall and sliding down into a held squat position. An isometric that loads the quadriceps hard while asking very little of the knee joint, which is why it suits an irritable knee.

    Isometrics are often the most comfortable strength work for an irritable knee, and can settle pain for a while afterwards.

  3. 3

    Step Up

    3 sets of 8 each leg

    Stepping up onto a low step and lowering back down under control. It trains the exact pattern stairs demand, and the controlled descent is where most of the value sits.

  4. 4

    Straight Leg Raise

    2 sets of 10 each leg

    Lying on your back and lifting one straight leg while the knee stays locked out. The quadriceps exercise for a knee that cannot yet tolerate bending under load, and a standard early step after knee surgery.

    The gentle option. Lean on it more on sore days and less as things improve.

  5. 5

    Calf Raise

    2 sets of 12

    Rising onto the balls of the feet and lowering with control, done with the knee straight and again with it bent. The main strengthening exercise for the calf and Achilles, and the treatment that actually resolves plantar heel pain.

Running the set well

  • Up to a four out of ten discomfort during exercise is acceptable if it settles within 24 hours. Worse the next morning means the dose was too high, so reduce it, do not abandon it.
  • Progress by slowing the repetitions down before you add repetitions.
  • Give it twelve weeks. Strength change is real at six, obvious at twelve, and abandoning at three is the commonest way this fails.

When to get assessed instead

Get assessed if the knee locks, gives way, or swells after sessions, or if pain is severe at rest or at night. Those patterns need a diagnosis before a loading programme.

Read about the conditions this supports

Other sets

The Desk Worker's Neck and Shoulder SetThe Lower Back Pain Starter SetThe Core Foundations SetThe Balance and Falls Prevention SetThe Postnatal Foundations Set