Knee pain exercises for seniors and the elderly can be easy to do. There are many causes of knee pain including, injuries from trauma, overuse during sports, weakness issues, range of motion limitations, poor knee posture, or badly fitting footwear.
These exercises are gentle and can strengthen your knee, bringing more motion and decreased pain. Try these 3 times a day to support and prevent further pain and loss of motion in your knee.
- Knee to chest.
- Quad stretch.
- Hamstring stretch.
- Knee extension with a raise.
- Squats.
Watch my instructional video
Strong knees will help you prevent injuries especially if you are active. Remember to warm up if you are cold by walking around the room, lifting your knee high for a few minutes, while swinging your arms. This will warm up your muscles, increase your heart rate, and increase your circulation.
Building strong legs is really important for seniors, especially when thinking of balance and reducing the risk of fall. Believe me, I work in a hospital and deal with seniors with broken hips, wrists, and shoulders. It is a very big setback when we injure any body part like the hip or wrists. It requires many months of rehab and corrective exercise. So let’s get started with knee pain exercises for seniors and the elderly
Exercise 1
Knee to Chest, begin this exercise in your chair with your bottom to the edge, leaning back like you are falling asleep. Extend your legs out in front. Slowly reach down and place your hands around one of your knee, then gently bring that knee toward your chest. If you have had a knee replacement, check with your doctor. Hold for 10 seconds, then repeat with the other leg. Remember to breathe during the exercise.

Exercise 2
Quad Stretch, Begin in a chair, sitting on the front edge. Turn to one side and bring your front knee to the floor. Slowly bring your toes back to the rear as far as possible. Sit tall in the chair, chest raised, chin up, breathe deeply. Hold for 20 to 30 seconds, the turn the opposite way and repeat with the other leg.

Exercise 3
Seated hamstring stretch. Begin seated in your chair, scoot to the front edge. Extend one leg out fully and begin by bringing your toes toward your body. Place both hands on your thigh and slowly lean forward from the hips and try to reach your knee, calf or ankle. This stretch should feel good. Hold this position for 30 seconds while breathing deeply. Repeat with the other leg for 30 seconds for a great lower body stretch.

Exercise 4
Knee extension with a raise. Begin sitting in your chair and place your feet flat on the floor. Sit tall with chest raised and chin up. Slowly extend your knee out and position it 2 inches above the floor. Then slowly raise the extended leg up, down, then back to the starting position. Remember to contract your quad full on extension. Repeat with the other leg for one repetition. You can do 10 more repetitions for a great knee strengthening exercise.

Exercise 5
Standing squat. Begin by standing in front of your chair with feet hip width apart, hands together at your chest level. Begin the squat by bringing your tailbone down and back toward the chair behind you. Make sure to keep your knees behind your toes as you squat. The more you can bring your tailbone backwards, the better your squat will be and this will help you avoid any sore or painful knees. Repeat 10 times.

Know that you know how to do knee pain exercises for seniors and the elderly to prevent injuries and build strength, you must keep at it and work on making it a habit to exercise.
You may like to exercise in the morning like I do. This is a great way to start your day and build up your strength and stamina. Getting all your exercise in before breakfast will get your day off on the right foot, and allow you to concentrate on making it the best day you can.