Knee Workout in Pictures

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Exercise may be the best medicine for chronic achy knees. "Strengthening the muscles around the joint protects you from injury by decreasing stress on the knee," says Willibald Nagler, MD, chairman of rehabilitation medicine at the New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center in New York City. But you must use good form and technique when doing exercises for knee pain.

Be sure to never bend your legs to a point where your knees stick out past your toes. That puts a lot of pressure under the kneecap. This not only applies to the following exercises for knee pain but also when you're stretching or doing aerobic activities such as step aerobics.

Do you worry that working out could cause more knee damage or pain? As long as your doctor says it’s OK, the best thing you can do is to strengthen the muscles that support your knee and keep them flexible. Start slowly, and build up over time.