Update Consent

20-Minute EMOM Workout For Bad Knees

If You Have Knee Pain, Try a Physical Therapist's Low-Impact Core and Glute EMOM Workout

Dec 3 2020

If you've ever dealt with knee pain, you know how frustrating it can be. You have to plan your workouts around what moves make it flare up (spoiler alert: a lot of them) and tread lightly (literally) when it comes to high-impact exercise. It's stubborn, annoying, and painful, which is why we're bringing you this low-impact workout created by Wendy Cao Noakes, DPT, a physical therapist, NSCA-certified strength and conditioning coach, and founder of GetFitt.Ed.

The 20-minute routine is designed to mitigate knee pain by strengthening three key areas: core, hamstrings, and glutes. "These muscles help you maintain proper alignment in your pelvis, hips, and knees, which will decrease abnormal stresses to the knee," Dr. Noakes explained. Essentially, strengthening these muscles helps prevent your knee from excessively rotating and moving from side to side, movements that aren't as comfortable for the joint. "The muscles are also used to absorb shock with every step you take," Dr. Noakes added.

Before you get started: there are squats involved, but don't let them scare you off. "People usually avoid squats when they have knee pain, but if you do them with the right form and proper modification, they should not hurt," Dr. Noakes said. "Avoiding squats will just make you weaker and actually cause more knee pain."

The routine ahead is an EMOM workout, which stands for "every minute on the minute," meaning that you're trying to complete the designated reps for each exercise in 60 seconds or less. (If you finish early, you get to rest!) Remember to maintain proper form the whole time. If you're ready, let's get started!

20-Minute EMOM Workout For Bad Knees

Equipment needed: Mini resistance band, medium weight (dumbbell, kettlebell, or weight substitutes), and a chair or bench

Directions: Start with these dynamic bodyweight moves to warm up. (Do high knees, butt kicks, and skips at a walking pace.) Then, set a timer to go off every minute for 20 minutes and start the workout. Complete the designated reps for each exercise, moving on to the next exercise when the timer goes off. If you finish the reps before the minute ends, use the time to rest. If you need additional rest, feel free to take it. When you finish the last exercise, go back to the start of the circuit and repeat. Do as many rounds as you can in 20 minutes, maintaining proper form. Cool down with a short walk and foam rolling the piriformis muscle in each glute, which runs laterally from the back of your pelvis to your upper thigh.

Exercise Reps
Clamshell with resistance band 16 reps on each side
Deadlift 10 reps
Dead bug 16 reps
Sit squat 10 reps

Image Source: Getty / Inside Creative House

1. Clamshell With Resistance Band

  • Begin sitting and slide a mini resistance band around your legs, just above your knees.
  • Lie on one side with one leg stacked on top of the other and your feet touching. Bend your knees at a 45-degree angle.
  • Rest your head on your lower arm.
  • Brace your abs by drawing your belly button in toward your spine.
  • Keeping your feet touching, raise the knee of your top leg as high as you can. Be sure not to shift your hips or pelvis. Your lower leg should remain in contact with the floor.
  • Hold for a one second, then lower your upper leg back down.
  • Complete 16 repetitions on each side.
Image Source: Wendy Cao Noakes

2. Dead Bug

  • Lie on your back with your arms extended directly above your chest and your palms facing toward each other. Bend your knees and bring your legs into tabletop position, ensuring your knees are stacked over your hips and your shins are parallel (in line) with the floor. This is your starting position.
  • On an exhale, draw your ribs to your hips to engage your core. Draw your left arm back and down toward the floor alongside your head. At the same time, extend your right knee and hip to lower your right leg toward the floor. Ensure that your arm and leg are lowering at the same speed and that you maintain a neutral spine, not letting your back come off the ground.
  • On an inhale, raise your left arm and right leg to return to the starting position. This counts as one rep.
  • Continue alternating between the left and right sides, completing 16 reps.
Image Source: Wendy Cao Noakes

3. Deadlift

  • Stand with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart. Hold a weight (dumbbell, kettlebell, or weight substitute) in both hands at the centre of your body with your arms fully extended, shoulders back, and arms relaxed.
  • Bend at the hips and pull your core in toward your spine, keeping your spine straight and chest lifted. Continue to bend until the weight is near your shins or as far as you can go without losing proper form. Let the weight hang down without hunching your shoulders. Your knees should be slightly bent and your chest parallel with the floor, not rounding your lower back at any time.
  • Drive through your feet to stand, keeping your arms relaxed down as you return to the starting position. Push your hips forward once you're standing to engage your glutes. This counts as one rep.
  • Complete 10 reps.
Image Source: Wendy Cao Noakes

4. Sit Squat

  • Place a chair or bench behind you and stand with your feet hip-width apart about a foot in front of it.
  • Pull your core toward your spine as you bend at your knees, shifting your hips backward as you perform a squat. At the bottom of your squat, you should lightly touch the chair. Make sure your chest stays lifted and your knees don't go past your toes or collapse inward, which can cause knee pain. To make the squat less intense, use a taller chair.
  • Push through your heels to stand up and return to the starting position. Push your hips forward to continue to engage your glutes once you stand. This counts as one rep.
  • Complete 10 reps.
Image Source: Wendy Cao Noakes

Want More?

POPSUGAR Would Like To Send You Push Notifications.