6 Best Quad Exercises for Beginners with Bad Knees

If you have bad knees, it doesn’t mean you can’t continue to exercise. In fact, there are some great ways to strengthen your lower body while also protecting your knees.

There are exercises that can help strengthen the quad muscles in your legs without putting too much pressure on your knees:

Quad Exercises for Beginners with Bad Knees

Here's a look at six such exercises:

#1 Wall Squat

This exercise is particularly great for beginners with bad knees, as it doesn't add as much strain on their back and the rest of their joints as a standard squat does. While wall squats are great for beginners, you can also try them with a chair or pole.

Here's how to do them:

Stand in front of a wall, with your back firmly resting against it.
Bend your knees till they reach 90 degrees, and slowly return to a standing position.
You can also do this exercise while holding on to a pole or bar instead of using the wall as support.

#2 Straight Leg Raise with Band

How to perform the exercise:

Lie on your back, with your legs straight and arms at your sides.
Place a resistance band around both legs just above the knees, so that it'll be tight when you raise them as high as possible. Do not wrap it too tightly.
Lift both legs up and down ten times, making sure you complete each rep with a full range of motion (i.e., bend your knees all the way down, and touch them to the floor).
Repeat this process for three sets: two sets with 15 repetitions each and one set of 20 repetitions.

#3 Mini Squat

To perform a mini squat, stand with your feet together, and hold dumbbells in your hands.

Keep your back straight; tuck in your stomach, and keep both knees in line with each other. Shift all the weight to the heels of your feet rather than on to the balls. Use a chair for extra support, if needed.

Start by lowering into a squat position till your upper thighs are parallel to the floor.
Return to the standing position by pushing through your feet while keeping all other parts of the body where they are (like keeping the chest up).
Try not to let either knee pass over your toes as you return from this exercise.
Perform 10-15 repetitions on each leg before switching sides or moving on to another exercise (depending on whether you're doing quad exercises for beginners or more advanced quad exercises).

#4 Side-Lying Hip Abduction and Extension

This exercise is great for glutes, hip adductors, and abductors. It's also a good way to stretch out your IT band (a common problem area among runners). For this exercise, you'll need a foam roller or something similar.

Sit on the floor with one leg bent at 90 degrees and your other leg out straight in front of you.
Roll from side to side till you feel the tension in your glute muscles; hold each position for about five seconds before switching sides.
When on your side, raise the upper leg as high as you can, remembering to keep your back straight and head rested against your palm.

This is an easy movement that can help improve muscle balance throughout the body while increasing strength and flexibility - what more could someone ask for in an exercise?

#5 Standing Hamstring Curl

Here's how it's done:

Use a resistance band to assist with this exercise.
Standing in the middle of the band, wrap one end around your right foot, and hold on to the other end in your right hand.
Keep your weight on both feet as you bend forward at the hips till they're parallel with the floor. Your back should stay straight while doing this movement.
Pull your heels towards your buttocks as far as possible while keeping them flat on the ground.
Return to the starting position by pushing off with your toes and heels till you're standing upright again.
Repeat ten times before switching sides, and perform ten reps on each leg.

#6 Standing Wall Lean against Ball

It's done as follows:

Stand tall with your feet just more than shoulder-width apart.
Place a stability ball between the wall and your lower back, with your arms around it and hands behind you, palms pressing into the ball for support.
Try not to let any part of your body touch the floor in front of you other than the tips of your toes or forearms, if necessary (don't worry; this will get easier).
Lean forward from your hips till there's a 90-degree angle formed by both legs and arms; hold this position for 30 seconds before slowly returning to the starting position.

Takeaway

We hope you’ve learned a lot about knee strengthening exercises and how they can benefit you. If you have bad knees, don’t despair.

The aforementioned exercises can strengthen them, even if they’re not perfect. Do learn about what sort of exercise can be right for your knees, though.