Knee pain can seriously affect your standard of living. After all, unless you plan to remain seated all day long, you’re going to be moving your knee joint constantly. The key to transforming your knee health is exercise – but just not any exercise.
Working out with the aid of a slant board has proven to be a gamechanger when it comes to knee health. In this article, we lay out some key slant board exercises to strengthen the muscles, tendons, and ligaments around your knee and, therefore, relieve the pain and pressure on the joint.
Slant Board Stretching Exercises for Knee Health
By performing gentle stretching exercises for the calves, hamstrings, and quads you will be able to make the muscles that support the knee more supple and stronger. The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons recommends stretching the lower body muscles to improve the range of motion and flexibility of the knee joint. As a result, knee movement will become easier.
Here are three awesome slant board stretching exercises for improved knee mobility …
slant board Wall Calf Stretch
How to Do It:
- Place the slant board about 18 inches away from a wall with the highest side of the board closest to the wall.
- Stand on the board with both feet completely on the angled portion and feet shoulder-width apart.
- Lean into the wall to place your forearms against it. Do not bend your knees. You will feel a deep stretch through your calves.
- Hold this position for 60-120 minutes.
Slant Board Toe Touches
How to Do It:
- Stand in front of a slant board, facing it, with your toes only on the board.
- Maintaining a neutral spine position, bend to bring your hands toward your toes.
- Hold for 5 -10 seconds and then repeat.
You can adjust the intensity of this hamstring stretch by standing further up the slant board.
Slant Board Soleus Stretch
How to Do It:
- Stand in front of your slant board and place your left foot fully on the angled portion. Your right foot should remain on the floor, with the heel up and just your toes making contact.
- Now push your left knee as far forward as you can while keeping the heel down. You will feel a deep stretch in the soleus, which is the lower part of the calf muscle.
- Hold this stretch for 60-120 seconds.
- Repeat with the other leg.
3 Slant Board Exercises for Knee Health
Slant Board VMO Squat
How to Do It:
- Stand on the slant board with both feet completely on the board and about your feet close together apart, Your toes should be pointing forward. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in front of your chest, slightly away from your body so that you are reaching slightly forward with your elbows.
- Shift your entire body back as your pelvis tucks under the torso slightly.
- Maintaining this stacked position, with your rib cage over your hips, and inhaling. Then descend directly down to a bottom full squat position.
- Without a pause, exhale as you drive back to the top position.
- Keep your weight back through the heels as you perform a smooth, piston-like action to complete your rep count.
Slant Board Patrick Step
How to Do It:
- Position the slant board on top of a platform that places it about eight inches from the floor. A couple of 45-pound weight plates will do the job perfectly.
- Stand on the slant board and then step your left foot down to touch the floor.
- Return to the start position.
- Do 10-15 reps on the left side and then repeat on the right side.
This is an excellent exercise to target the vastus medialis (VMO) quadriceps muscle just above your knee. It may take a bit of practice to maintain your balance when you do this exercise.
Slant Board Split Squat
How to Do It:
- Stand facing the slant board with the raised end closest to your body. Place your left foot on the board. Your right foot should be behind your body in a staggered stance position, your heel raised and just your toes making contact.
- Lower your rear knee toward the floor, stopping about an inch short.
- Push back to the start position.
Wrap Up
Perform this knee health slant board workout twice per week, with a 48-hour minimum gap between workouts. Do 3 sets of each stretch or exercise with reps between 12-15 per set. Do this consistently and you will steadily build the support structure to improve your knee health.
