Exercises to Help Avoid Knee Replacement

By Steve Silverman

Exercises to Help Avoid Knee Replacement

Golf is a sport that demands healthy knees and legs. While many people don't consider golf a sport like basketball or baseball, a golfer will walk more than 4 1/2 miles during an 18-hole round on a course that is more than 7,000 yards. The swing itself puts great pressure on the knees, and any injury to that area makes it difficult to play a full round of golf. Sometimes knee replacement surgery is prescribed, but there are exercises that can help rebuild knee strength so you may be able to avoid going under the knife.

Knee Dips

Stand up straight and make sure your toes and kneecaps are pointing straight ahead. Pick up one foot and balance on the other. Bend down about six inches and then return to the starting position. Make sure your toes and kneecaps continue to point straight; do not allow them to angle in or out. Do 10 knee dips with your right knee and 10 with your left knee.

Hamstring Curls

Lay on your stomach on the ground. Place your left foot on top of your right heel. Try to pull your right foot up, but use your left foot as resistance. Hold this exercise for 10 seconds before your relax. Do 10 repetitions altogether, and then switch feet and put the right foot over your left heel and do the same exercise 10 more times.

Quad contractions

Sit on a chair, keep your left foot on the ground and extend your right foot straight out. Tighten your right thigh muscle for a count of three. Relax the muscle and then repeat the exercise until you have done 10 reps. Do 10 reps with the left leg. By tightening your muscles, you will help build strength in the knee.

About The Author

Steve Silverman is an award-winning writer, covering sports since 1980. Silverman authored The Minnesota Vikings: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Who's Better, Who's Best in Football -- The Top 60 Players of All-Time, among others, and placed in the Pro Football Writers of America awards three times. Silverman holds a Master of Science in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism.

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