KNEE STRENGTH
Touchdown squats
Perfect for developing knee strength and stability as well as providing your ankles with some quality knees over toes movement. OWN THIS EXERCISE. Start with a height that you can work comfortably with. Start by getting your balance then push your hips back via a hinge. The leg that’s lowering musn’t ‘bounce’ out of the bottom but it should be slowly controlled down by bending the knee of the leg on the box.
SUGGESTED REPS: 3 x 10 per side
BANDED DOWNWARD DOGS
Bread and butter if you’re recovering from knee surgery or ligament damage. Make sure you get the legs as straight as possible each rep and ensure the band is wrapped round the back of the knees. Don’t let your knees touch the floor! In terms of head position, try and bring it towards your knees and keep tucked between your biceps.
SUGGESTED REPS: 1min rounds
HIP FLEXOR KNEE RAISE
One of the forgotten leg muscles! As well as strengthening glutes to prevent knee pain (think bridges), the hip flexors also need to be bullet proof. Isolating this muscle is pretty simple, just raising the knee in this position and going for some holds will pay dividends. Do it standing or lying down with a band for extra juiciness!
SUGGESTED REPS: 3 x 20 and 30s holds
NO HANDS HIP MOBILITY
The most advanced exercise in this group. This is a part of the no hands Turkish Get Up, a very challenging movement that involves going from the ground to standing up when holding 2 kettlebells overhead. A portion of the exercise takes place on the ground, seated and this is it. My version here is modified to include a little more mobility and stretching on my left hand side as it’s a bit tighter! Have a play around and see if you can do it whilst keeping the shoulders on the same plane. Brilliant for mobility round the knees too :)
SUGGESTED REPS: 3min at a time
