What exercises can help me strengthen my knees as I age?

As you age, the ability to balance or stabilize becomes more and more important. Roughly 1 in 3 seniors fall as a result lack of muscle control and balance. Often, this is thought to be the result of having “weak knees,” but this is preventable through fall prevention training. An exercise you can do to strengthen your legs, and lessen the likelihood of losing your balance is the single leg touch down. For this exercise, balance on one leg. Use your opposite hand to slowly reach down your thigh, towards your shin. As you’re doing this, don’t allow your knee to move side to side by keeping both your glutes and stomach tight. Do 3 sets of 10 repetitions on each leg.

With age, both cartilage and lubrication diminish your joints, which increases friction. This causes inflammation that not only exacerbates pain and discomfort, but also can cause damage. Your knees are often a common place where this occurs.

Do the following exercises to strengthen and stabilize your knees:

• Stair Exercise: To stabilize and build up the muscle in a troubled knee, try this stair exercise. Step up on the stair with your "bad" leg or hip. Go back down slowly and tap your heel. Repeat. Carry out for 3 minutes.
• Squat Exercise: Here's another way to build up your knees. Lift one leg up and out. Squat down on the other leg. This builds your quads, which stabilizes your knees.

This content originally appeared on doctoroz.com