15 Exercises to Overcome Arthritis in the Knees

Hold your horses! Before we go any further, I just want to make it absolutely clear that you can’t cure arthritis. When I say that you can overcome arthritis in the knees, I mean that you can reduce knee pain, improve mobility and return to a more normal lifestyle. That is to say that you can ‘overcome’ the knee pain in as much as you aren’t going to let it beat you – but it will still likely be there.

The only way that is known to actually ‘cure’ arthritis is to completely replace the joint. This is a last resort and can lead to further complications going forward – not to mention being an invasive and unpleasant procedure to begin with.

Arthritis has a number of different causes and comes in a variety of different forms. These include autoimmune conditions that mean the body is attacking itself and they include arthritis that is the result of wear and tear over time. In either case, the tissues end up inflamed and swollen, which places unwanted pressure on the joint, impairs movement and creates significant pain.

This can be a very serious problem that ends up impacting on your overall health and fitness. So read on and learn some of the things you can do to try and overcome this serious condition – or at least not let it win!

1. Squats

I don’t recommend that you start squatting 600lb barbells if arthritis has already set in. However, squatting is generally a very good exercise for improving your mobility and functional movement and it is something that all of us should be able to perform without problem.

Start out with just your body weight then, and have your feet shoulder width apart. Now squat directly down, carefully, so that your upper legs are past the point of being parallel with the ground. We call this ‘breaking parallel’ and it’s essential if you ever want to make this movement worthwhile.

This is only for those that have mild arthritis. Build up to it if you currently find movement hard.