Genu Valgum Exercises – 3 of The Best Exercises To Correct Knock Knees Without Surgery

Exercises for knock knees are nothing new, as many people around the world perform these exercises we’re about to cover in order to fix their knock-knee or bow legs.

The medical term for knock knees is genu valgum, and the most obvious characteristic of this condition is that the knees will cave inward while the ankles spread apart from one another.

People with genu valgum are often self-conscious about their appearance when around other people.

As you can imagine having a knocked-knee appearance can have a negative impact on your self-confidence.

On top of making you feel less confident about yourself, there are a number of different knock-knee symptoms that can make your daily life a little more difficult.

Symptoms of Genu Valgum

Some of the most common symptoms of this misalignment of knees include:

• Chronic pain – People with knock knees often experience chronic pain around their knee and hip area.
• Constant knocking of the knees – Because your knees are turned inward it will cause them to constantly knock against one another, which can lead to more pain and make you feel uncomfortable when you walk, run, or even try to stand up straight.
• Arthritis – Being knockkneed can also lead to arthritis problems. Mainly arthritis in the knee because the constant knocking and rubbing aginst one another can cause the joints in the knees to deteriorate.

What Causes Knock Knees

There are various things that can cause knock knees in certain people.

Some of the most common causes that can lead to genu valgum and your knees converging inwards include the following:

• Arthritis – Knee arthritis can actually lead to an incorrect alignment in the knee such as bowlegs or knock knees. If the joint deformity caused by the arthritis isn’t treated and stopped early on it can definitely cause more advanced problems such as genu valgum.
• Obesity – Another common cause of knock knees is obesity. Even though obesity isn’t a direct cause of this inward curve around the knees, it can still contribute to the severity of how badly your knees converge inward.
• Injury – Any type of injury around the knees that causes certain bones like the hip flexors or hip abductors to become weakened can easily lead to a severe case of genu valgum.

There are a number of other causes of knock knees but these above are usually the main culprits.

It’s important to keep in mind though that most children during their first couple or few years will develop knock knees or bow legs naturally.

This is just a natural part of their growth development and by the time the child reaches the age of 7, he or she will usually outgrow the condition without the need for treatment.

However, knock knees in adults is a different story because it usually means there’s an underlying cause that needs to be addressed in order to move the knees back into their correct alignment.

Exercises for Knock Knee Correction

Regardless of the cause, there are certain knock knee correction exercises that can be performed daily to improve the misalignment due to genu valgum.

Here are a few of the best exercises for knock knees that can help correct the alignment in your knees and make them straight again:

Butterfly Stretch

The butterfly stretch is one of the best genu valgum exercises because it targets your hips, which as we explained earlier in the article, strengthens your hips plays a huge role in improving the alignment of your knees.

To do this simple stretching exercise for knock knees do the following:

1. First, sit down on the ground and place your feet in front of you.
2. Now reach with your right hand until you’re able to grab a hold of your right foot.
3. Next, pull your foot to your groin area until the soles of your foot are facing your left thigh.
4. Go ahead now and bend your left knee and bring it towards your groin area until the soles of both your feet are touching one another.
5. Now, place your elbows on your knees while you’re holding your feet with your hands.
6. Begin placing a little pressure on your inner thighs by pushing down on your legs with your elbows.
7. Hold this stretched position for at least 20 seconds before releasing.

Repeat the steps above about 3 times to complete this exercise.

Leg Raises

Leg raises are another great knock-knee correction exercise that can help straighten out the alignment of your knees.

This is a simple exercise, but it works for several different muscle groups.

When it comes to people trying to learn how to fix knock knees this exercise helps by strengthening muscles such as the hamstrings and the hip flexors.

Follow the steps below to begin doing perfect leg raises:

1. Begin by laying down flat on your back on the ground.
2. Keep your legs as straight as possible and keep your arms rested by your sides.
3. Now, begin engaging your core as you lift your legs a few inches off the floor and point your toes out in front of you.
4. As you keep this form begin raising your legs upwards until your knees are above your hips. You’ll know you’re doing this right when your legs are at a 90-degree angle.
5. Hold this stretched position for at least a second once you’ve reached the very top of the exercise.
6. Now, begin lowering your legs back down to the starting position while maintaining proper core and upper body control.

Repeat the above steps for at least 3 reps for the best results.

Squats

Squats are considered to be a compound exercise so that means they work more than one muscle group when you do them.

However, the main muscles that squats help strengthen that benefit someone with knocked knees are the glutes.

The glutes help improve muscle movement when it comes to the hip extension and abduction, which all can improve your genu valgum if worked on daily.

There are different variations of squats that can help, but none are more effective for someone with knock knees or bowlegs than lateral squats.

To do a lateral squat correctly follow the steps below:

1. Begin by standing up straight and placing your feet at shoulder width length.
2. Now, push your weight towards your right heel, shift your hips backward, and bend your right knee while keeping your left leg as straight as you possibly can.
3. To help keep your balance you can place your arms in front of you if that helps.
4. Next, push through your right foot until you return to the starting position.
5. Do about 10 reps of this movement before switching to the opposite leg.

Do at least 3 sets of this exercise on each leg for the best results.

Conclusion

Well, there you have it, these are 3 of the best exercises for knock-knee correction.

Even though genu valgum is a normal phase some kids go through before correcting on its own, there are still a lot of people out there still suffering from this lower leg deformity well into adulthood.

Give these exercises a try and stay consistent with them by doing them daily to get the best results.