Beginner Yoga for Knee Strength

Hey yo , welcome to my channel .

My name is Cassandra and today I am sharing with you the strengthening sequence .

I've been doing pretty religiously every day for the last few weeks to help strengthen my knee .

So about 6.5 or seven weeks ago , I had a trip and fall accident which caused a bone bruise on my knee as well as a partial ac L tear .

So for a long time , I couldn't really move .

I couldn't really do much .

Um It's almost fully healed now , which is absolutely amazing .

Uh Bone bruises take months and months to heels .

So that means that for this practice , I can't do anything that requires me to uh to be on all fours like table top poses .

Um Otherwise there's a few exercises that I would have loved to be able to do to help strengthen my knee .

But it's just not possible right now , but I will share with you what I've been doing on a very regular basis .

You absolutely do need a block for this .

And this class is really focusing on strengthening the quads , the adus , the hamstrings and the glutes .

So basically everything that helps support your knee and allows it to move and function in a very healthy way .

Now , this is part two of what I've been doing to help rehabilitate my knee .

The other thing that I do very regularly is a stretching routine for my knee and this is already on youtube .

So usually I start with stretching and then I move to this sequence and I finish off with a few uh stretches as well afterwards .

So if you would like to , you can always do the stretching routine first and then move on to this or you can just do this right away .

So we're gonna start like I always start , which is lying down on my back .

And I will ask that you use a block .

So the block is wonderful because it's going to help train your inner thighs to turn on .

So the abductors , which is really what we need for good knee health and knee support .

And I noticed that um while this is always something that I worked on in my practice when I injured myself from weeks of not doing anything , they got really , really weak .

So start off in your bridge pose with your feet about hip distance apart and you want your heels pretty close and towards the glutes .

And then I'm using my block and placing it directly in between the inner thighs .

So while you're just sitting here or laying down here on your mat , squeeze your block as much as you possibly can .

So those muscles that you feel engaged , that's your inner thighs , strength and the benefit of training , this is that your balance is going to improve and you'll be able to move better um in your transition .

So if you are trying to get better at balancing poses , if you're trying to work on your core strength , if you're trying to get into arm balances and inversions , inner thigh power is really what's going to help get you there .

So squeeze your block as much as you possibly can and then start to push down into all four corners of both feet and just lift the hips off the mat .

So lifting the pelvis , the lower back and the mid back off the floor .

Now , the higher up you go , the harder it becomes to squeeze your block , but squeeze it anyway .

And you might notice now that you've tried it with a block when we do bridge pose without a block , so many students end up winning their knees so much wider than their hips .

So the block helps train you not to do that .

So just take about three deep breaths here , push down into your big toes .

So you're not rolling to the outer ankle , squeeze a little bit more push and lift up higher and exhale , slowly roll down , inch by inch , move your block to the side but not too far because we will need it pretty soon .

You're going to lift your right leg up to the sky straight , but without hyperextending , so without locking the knee , and you're gonna interlace your fingers behind the back of your right hamstrings .

Instead of making this a passive stretch , I want you to push your thigh against your palms as much as you can and feel the arms resist against it .

So this personally has been one of the best things for my knee .

It always helps me relieve pain and it's also a really great motion to do if you have any kind of lower back tension .

So keep pushing , pushing , pushing and then you can go a little bit further into the range of your flexibility .

But without losing that engagement in the hamstrings , just a few more breaths , this should be challenging and release , bend into your knee , switch sides , left leg up , interlace behind the back of your left hamstrings .

Now my left knee is not injured , my left knee is fine , but I still like to do things on both sides , of course , and then start to push and resist .

So when I start this off , I'm not going to my full range of motion .

I gradually get into that , try to keep your lower back neutral , if not a little flat to the ground .

And you might be able to start going a little closer towards your chest with your leg , keep pushing , pushing , pushing into your palms and release .

Ok ?

One last time .

Re extend your right leg up .

If possible , you're gonna bring your hands now behind the back of your calf muscles .

And if that means you need to bend a little bit into your knee , that's perfectly fine .

If this doesn't work , just come back into the back of the hamstrings .

But it's kind of a different sensation when you go up a little higher .

Same thing , push into the knuckles , push into your hands and I like to flex the foot a little bit and release same thing on the other side , interlace behind the calf and push .

You will get an arm workout and release , ok .

Grab a hold of your block , place it in between your inner thighs .

Once more , we're gonna do a functional bridge , which is actually from foundation training .

So not really yoga , but it's absolutely amazing for adus .

So instead of having your heels really close and towards you walk your feet out so much that it's almost going to feel as if your legs are straight .

There's only like six inches between the floor and the back , excuse me , between the floor and the back of my knees .

So flex your feet , push your heels down into the mat and see if you can squeeze your block and lift your hips off the ground .

They're only going to lift up about an inch or so off the mat .

This is an intense pose .

You're gonna feel it in your legs pretty much right away .

If you don't feel it , it's because your knees are too bent and you need to straighten them a little bit more .

Squeeze your block , push down into your heels and drag them back to towards your shoulders .

Holding for 54321 lower .

Move your block off to the side .

Let's come into our downward facing dog .

Now , normally I would do some cat and cow before going into down dog .

But like I mentioned before , I can't do anything that applies pressure to my knees , move your block somewhere close to the top of the mat .

We are going to use it pretty soon and just create some space in your downward dog .

So just stretching out the hamstrings , pushing into the heels , lengthening your arms , lengthening your chest and your spine into your three legged dog .

Reach your right leg up to the sky and then step your right foot forward in between your palms to the top of the mount .

Do make sure your knee is directly over the top of your ankle , push down into your feet and come up into your high lunge .

So for me back , knee needs to bend a little bit so that I keep my pelvis directly underneath my shoulders .

Otherwise I crease too much in my lower back .

If I straighten the leg , you might find that you're able to do it at home .

Maybe not a little wobbly .

So important for knee health .

I want my knee to be going in the same direction as my hip and my ankle .

That means in this kind of pose , I don't want to be wobbling side to side and I don't want my knee to be further than my toes .

I want it directly over the top of that ankle , bring your hands to your heart , drop down a little bit more and now keep your knee bent to your right knee bent as you tilt your chest forward .

And we're going to come to a variation of warrior three with a bent supporting leg .

So find your balance , reach the left leg up and back as you inhale , push your right leg straight and then exhale gently , bend the right knee again .

Try not to let it wobble .

Keep it pointing over that 2nd and 3rd toe .

Inhale , straighten the leg .

Exhale , bend the knee , last one , inhale to straighten .

Hold it here into your standing splits .

This is where you might want to have your block underneath your hands or you can bring your fingertips to the floor , reach your left leg up .

This is an intense lower body workout .

As you exhale , you're gonna bend both knees as much as you can see if you can bring your knees together to touch .

So you're in a little ball and then inhale , open back up , standing splits twice more .

Exhale , squeeze , pull it in .

Keep your knee centered .

Inhale , lift it up .

Exhale , squeeze .

And contract and he'll lift it up , bend both knees , bring your big toes together , heels slightly apart .

Come into your chair pose , rock your weight back into your heels , keep your tailbone , reaching down low , belly hugging in hug into the mid line as if you were still squeezing that block .

Now , lean more weight onto your right leg and just like a little flamingo .

See if you can pick up that left foot very carefully , step it back to your high lunch and open to warrior too .

So your back foot is roughly parallel to the shorter edge of your mat .

My right knee is bending over and towards that 2nd and 3rd toe , arms reach out .

So especially with partial ac L tears like what I have .

You want to make sure that we're not shearing the knee .

So I don't want my knee to be going one way and my shin to be moving back .

I'm always keeping them together .

So as you inhale , working on strengthening , you're gonna bring your arms in straight in the leg and then exhale back into your warrior to stabilizing that knee .

So it's not dipping down or back in hell gathering , exhale , press it out .

So this to me was excruciating the first few times I did it , it was very , very , very difficult .

And before I was able to do , you know , chair pose and standing splits and stuff like that , when I was still , when the injury was still quite raw .

This is mostly all I would do and I would do 10 to 20 of them every single day , last one here and then straighten your right leg , not hyperextending .

So do not lock your knee and just move into a little triangle pose .

Left arm up , draw that left shoulder back , open up through the chest , looking down at the floor , circle your left hand to the mat , step it back downward facing dog .

Beautiful .

And then we'll go and repeat that sequence over on the other side .

So do make sure you still have a block somewhere close by inhale , left arm , left leg up into your high lunch , left foot forward , feet should be hip with distance .

The part remember knee over the ankle .

So perpendicular to the floor arms reach up .

So again , because it's my right knee that's injured .

This is an intense pose for me for the back leg .

And I do have to play with how much I am bending that knee .

The more I bend the knee , the deeper I feel a really big pull , a big stretching sensation .

Whereas on the other side , I don't really feel anything when I do it .

So breathe through the intensity of the pose , keep the stability in that front leg and just bring your hands together at the front of your heart .

Continue to bend into that front leg , tilt your chest forward .

We're coming to a warrior three that keeps that supporting leg bent for now , at least .

So it's almost like a one legged squat and then inhale .

Push up to warrior three .

Exhale , bend , inhale , press up , exhale to bend .

Inhale .

Press up , standing slips with or without a block .

And as you exhale , bend both knees bring them together to touch , make as small of a little ball as you can inhale , lift up and back , exhale , squeeze and gathering and how to lift .

Exhale , dried it in .

Look at your knee , make sure it's not waving to the left or to the right and he'll open it up .

Chair poles , big toes together , heels apart , rock your weight back into your heels before lifting the upper body .

Squeeze into the midline , put a little bit more weight into your left leg and like a flamingo .

See if you can pick up the right toes and gently step that right foot back to your high lunch before coming into Warrior two back foot roughly parallel to the short edge of your matt , front heel to the middle of the arch , arms out .

So I'm squeezing the glutes here to help .

Press that left knee open as you inhale straight in the front leg .

Gather in exhale , Warrior two .

So about 10 or so of these go at your own pace with your breath .

The goal is not to rush in and out of these two poses , but it's to do it with so much control .

You really feel that knee tracking directly over that 2nd and 3rd toe , not wobbling .

Let's take one more here and straighten your front leg triangle pose , reaching the arms further away from one another downward facing dog .

And we're really just in down dog for a moment .

Walk your feet to the top of the mat , bend your knees a little bit , grab a hold of your block and come all the way up to stand .

So with your block , we're gonna come into mountain pose just like we were what we were doing here in our bridge pose .

So you want to squeeze the block up in between the inner thighs and then hug into the midline .

So really feel the abductors turn on and engage , plant down firmly through all four corners of both feet as you inhale , lengthen up a little higher and on the exhale , continue to squeeze your block and just lower into a little chair pose .

So we're gonna do this a few times really gently inhale .

Sorry , I just have to adjust my block a little and exhale .

Continue to squeeze just as much in chair .

Take about two or three more at home just with your breath .

So for me , I notice immediately that the left leg is so much stronger than the right one because the right one is the one that's injured .

Take your last one here and fold over the legs .

So even in the fold , can you squeeze your block , even if you need to bend your knees , that's perfectly fine .

So bend your knees a little and release your block .

Roll all the way up to stand .

Our last standing pose is going to be dancers pose and this has been really , really good for me .

So leaning on to your right leg , you can bend into your left knee and catch a hold of the outer edge or sorry , inner edge of your left foot .

Keep that hip and that knee drawing in .

So imagine you're still squeezing your block in between your thighs , really important .

Reach your right arm forward instead of dipping the chest down and thinking of lifting the leg up because this is for knee strength , I just want you to focus on pushing your foot into your palm .

So this is where I lost most of my strength from the partial ac L tear .

And if you're still in the beginning part of your injury , this probably won't be possible for you to do , which is fine .

So notice how I'm not going super far and my dancers pose flexibility would allow me to go a lot further .

But I'm not working on flexibility .

I'm working on strength and release .

Let's go to the other side , aligning hip over knee and ankle bending into the right knee .

So this is my injured leg , I'm squeezing the inner thighs together .

Left arm reaches out and in front and then start to push and kick the right foot into the right hand .

And for me , I feel a really intense stretch at the front of the quad , even though I'm not doing that much hugging in through the midline and release very gently .

Inhale , arms rise , exhale , fold forward , halfway , lift flat back , plant your palms , just step back into plank and lower all the way down to the floor .

Ok .

So the next pose I'm going to do is both pose , which is very , very similar to dancers .

It's the same emphasis .

Um depending on the severity of your injury , this probably won't work out for you so you can try it out .

But just , you know , you know , your body better obviously than I do .

So do whatever feels good to you .

If bow pose is not going to work , you're just gonna work on Locust pose , which is fantastic .

If you want to do your bow pose , you're gonna bend into the knees and see if you can catch a hold of the feet , just like dancers .

Imagine you still had your block in between the inner upper thighs , squeeze in and start to push the feet into the palms .

This is another one of those poses that pretty much saved my knee .

But it took at least it took at least four weeks before I was able to reach back and actually hold on to my foot .

And it probably took another week after that before this post started to feel really good .

And now I do it every day and let's release and let's flip over onto our backs .

Grab a hold of your block .

Let's just take supported bridge .

So lift your hips up , bring your block underneath your pelvis and just let yourself settle here .

Slowing down your breath .

I'm starting to unwind and press it into the feet .

Lift the pelvis up , move your block over before lowering down and you can draw your knees into your belly .

I like to put my arms underneath the shins or underneath the calves .

Feels a lot better for me .

You can rock gently side to side .

Let's take a little mini , extend out through the arms and the legs .

Close your eyes .

Notice how you feel .

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You can reach your arms up overhead , take a big stretch and roll to one side .

Come up to take your seats sitting up tall , maybe closing the eyes , hands at the heart , bowing forward and I must stay .

Thank you so much Yogis for doing this knee strengthening sequence with me .

I hope that it gave you some ideas as to how you can uh strengthen your knee mainly by strengthening the odus hamstrings , quads and glutes .

I hope you heal soon .

I know from personal experience just how frustrating these injuries are , but the more you dedicate time towards rehabilitating yourself and the more uh diligent you are with your practices , the quicker you will recover .

And remember that rest is equally as important as stretching and strengthening .

If you have any questions or would like to share your experience .

Please do leave me a comment down below and do subscribe to my channel .

I put out new classes every single week .

Thank you so much .

Yo , I must .