Beneficial And Repairing Knee Strengthening Exercises For A Meniscus Tear / gymguider

A common knee injury is the meniscus tear. The meniscus is a rubbery, C-shaped disc that cushions your knee. The knee has two menisci, one on the outer edge of the knee and one on the inner edge. The menisci keeps your knees steady by balancing your weight. A torn meniscus can prevent your knee from working correctly.

A tear is usually caused by twisting or turning quickly. Meniscus tears can occur when you lift something heavy or play sports. Unfortunately the older you get, your meniscus gets worn. This can make it tear easily.

There are three types of meniscus tears:

• Minor tear, you may have slight pain and swelling. This usually goes in 2 or 3 weeks.

• Moderate tears can cause pain at the side or centre of your knee. Swelling gets worse over 2 or 3 days. This may make your knee feel stiff and limit how bending your knee, but walking is usually possible. You might feel a sharp pain when you twist your knee or squat. These symptoms may go away in 1 or 2 weeks but can come back if you twist or overuse your knee. The pain may come and go for years if the tear isn’t treated.

• Severe tears are where pieces of the torn meniscus can move into the joint space. This can make your knee catch, pop or lock. You may not be able to straighten it. Your knee may feel “wobbly” or give way without warning. It may swell and become stiff right after the injury or within 2 or 3 days.

So here are some exercises to help recovery and prevention:

1. Flexion Extension

Start off with 1 set of 5 reps on each direction. Perform this exercise in a smooth controlled movement with a good contraction at the end of each of the movement. This exercise targets the hips and the isolation contraction of the muscles around the knee.
The purpose of this exercise is:

• When you stand on one leg, you isometrically work on the muscles around the knee and in the hip.
• When you swing the leg of the injured knee, you work on the muscles around the hip.

When you have a knee injury, it is very important to make sure that you have a strong hip to help you recover from the meniscus tear and subside pain and prevent a future injury.

 How to:



    - Begin in an upright standing position and put your one hand up against the wall.
    - Place your weight onto one leg.
    - Swing the other leg forward and backward.
    - Repeat the movement.

2. Heel Slides With Band

If doing this exercise with both legs is too challenging for you, you can do it with one leg at a time.
Start off with 1 set of 5 reps, then you can progress to 10 repetitions. Perform this exercise in a smooth controlled movement with a good contraction at the end position, specifically the muscles around the knees. This exercise mainly works on the activation, endurance and strength of the muscles around the knees.
The purpose of this exercise is:

• Work on the range of motion of the knee for flexion extension.
• Work on the activation, endurance and strength of the muscles around the knees and to utilise the restive tubing to increase the challenge of the exercise.

    - Begin in an upright sitting position.
    - Bend your knees, step both legs into the tubing below the arches of your feet and grab the handles.
    - Straighten your legs out front, then bring them back to the start position.
    - Repeat the movement.

3. Hip Abduction

Start off with 1 set of 5 reps on each side. Perform this exercise in smooth controlled movement with a good contraction at the end position.
The purpose of this exercise is:

• First is to strengthen out the outer part of the hip.
• When you bring the leg out to the side, if that’s the injured knee, then it strengthens out the outer part of the hip.
• A strong hip is important to prevent knee pain and recover knee injury.
• The second benefit or purpose of this exercise is if the injured leg is the one you used to stand on, it isometrically contract the muscles around the knees and hips.
• The injured leg will work the whole time and target the important muscles, which are helpful for the meniscus tear recovery.

How to:

    - Begin in a nice and upright standing position.
    -  Put one hand against the wall to help with balance so you can focus on the isolation of the exercise and work on the muscles that you need to exercise.
    -  Place your weight onto one leg, lift the other leg out to the side for about 30-45 degree.
    - Bring your leg back down.
    - Repeat the movement.

4. Static Quad Contraction

Start off with 1 set of 5 reps. Perform this exercise in a nice and smooth contraction at the end of the movement for a hold of a second. This exercise works on the activation, endurance and strength of the quadriceps.
The purpose of this exercise is to:

• Train the activation, endurance, and strength of the quadriceps muscles which might not be working properly after the meniscus tear.

How to:

    - Begin in an upright sitting position and put your hands to the side.
    - Contract your quads, tighten the quad muscle, hold it for a second.
    - Relax and repeat the movement.
    - Contraction of the quad will straighten out the leg more and press the end range extension.  

5. Glute Bridge

Start off with 1 set of 5 reps then you can progress to 10 repetitions. Perform this exercise in smooth controlled movement with a good contraction of the glutes and hamstrings.
The purpose of this exercise is to:

• Work on the muscles around the hips, specifically the glutes and hamstrings to help with the recovery and prevention of a future injury.

How to:

    - Lie on your back on the floor and put your arms to the side.
    - Relax the upper body.
    - Bend your knees and feet are hip width apart.
    - Push through the heels and bring your hips up.
    - Maintain a good alignment with the knees, hips and shoulders.
    - Bring the hips back down and repeat the movement.

source :  gymguider

Read More

Best Tips On How to Burn Fat Build Muscle

If you've had the goal of transforming your body and building muscle, you may feel slightly overwhelmed with how to get started. With so much information floating around, we get that it can be extremely complicated figuring out what actually will benefit you and help you reach your goals.

In order to provide you with the best information, POPSUGAR spoke to various experts within health and wellness to find out the most effective ways to burn fat and build muscle. They covered everything from nutrition to why progressive overload is important.

If you’re serious to burn fat build muscle, your nourishment needs are very different from individuals that just want to lose belly fat naturally so they can go to the seaside especially during the summer months. For people who simply wants to lose fat instead of to get muscles, then the low carbohydrate diet could possibly work. As a way to build up muscle mass, you are likely to subject the body to a few really high intensity fat burning workouts for women and men. When you start out to do very high intensity fat burning workouts for women and men the same as muscle builders, you can expect to need supplemental nutrition for you to first recuperate, build more muscle mass.

Bodybuilders may be compared to an effective sports vehicle while people that wishes to lose belly fat only are similar to a family vehicle. These two types of cars require various class of petrol – the high performance car require highest quality of fuel possible. To supplement the muscles when doing highly intense fat burning workouts for women and men, we are going to need to have ingredients that will provide you with sufficient nourishment.

Caloric reduction eating habits may help individuals who merely wants to lose belly fat naturally. A caloric deficiency method means burn more calories than you are taking every day. However, calorie reduction may not deliver the results so perfectly for bodybuilders or perhaps folks who truly wants to burn fat build muscle simultaneously. The foodstuffs needed by body builders and those who wants to burn fat build muscle really needs to be high in proteins. Healthy proteins are micro-nutrients that assists in the building up of muscular mass. Which means you must take food items high in proteins before you start to accomplish those highly intense fat burning workouts for women and men.

Once the amount of proteins you eat is enough, the body will build brand new muscle mass. That’s why muscle builders go on a disproportionately high amount of healthy proteins in contrast to ordinary folks. The type of foods quite definitely depends upon the individual’s health and fitness target, health levels and age. Knowing these details are important to make sure you produce a healthy eating plan that’s nicely custom made to your wants and provide you a great basis to burn fat build muscle effective.

This is a sample diet program or diet plan for those serious to burn fat build muscle at the same time. Take Two eggs and some wholegrain bread in the morning. In the later part of the morning hours, you could possibly try out some lean chicken meat and banana. A pound of lean meat for instance lean poultry as well as lean turkey together with some vegetables and fruits will probably be great for lunchtime. For the afternoon treat, you may want to try out a lean poultry sub or simply a whole meal breads. A serving of vegetables and fruit will provide some natural carbs. Dinner can be served with lean meat or poultry. Using these meals, ensure you consume at least a cup of water. Before and after your fat burning workouts for wo men and men in the club, take about 25 grms of whey proteins mixed with cold water.

Read More

Exercises To Build Up Your Glutes And Firm Your Butt

we all know and love the basic squat. Although it’s a legit way to work that back, this move alone won’t get you to your dream butt, says Brittany Perille Yobe, a certified personal trainer who posts peach-centric workouts and gravity-defying belfies for her 1.2 million followers.

“Of course, squats engage the glutes,” Perille Yobe told Cosmopolitan. “But compound movements such as squats and lunges train more of the quads, lower back, and hamstrings, so they won’t automatically result in greater glutes.”

To achieve your best possible butt, you’re better off mixing things up. “I train...with about  different glute exercises that isolate the muscles by working them from various angles,” says Perille Yobe.

1. Weighted Bridge

A largely underappreciated exercise that isolates the glutes, strengthens the hip flexors and increases core stability.
How to:

• Lay on your back, bend your knees and position the feet slightly wider than hips width apart and firmly locked on the ground.
• Place a light dumbbell on each of the hips and lift them by tightening the glutes, thighs and abs, explosively thrusting your hips upwards.
• On the way up, squeeze your buttocks as hard as you can.
• In the final position, the body should form a flat line between the knees and shoulders.
• Perform 3 sets with 15 repetitions each.

2. Lunges

The lunge is a total lower body workout that can powerfully tone your legs and backside while also improving the flexibility of the hips.
How to:

• Start with a straight upper body, legs at hips width apart, shoulders back and chin up.
• Step forward with one leg, lowering the hips until both knees are bent at a 90 degree angle.
• Make sure the front knee is right above the ankle and the other knee is slightly above the ground.
• Push back to the starting position and repeat with the other leg.
• Perform 3 sets with 10-20 repetitions each.

3. Squat Pulse

This is basically an enhanced variant of the regular squat, so performing it will bring those great results even faster.
How to:

• Stand with feet at hips width apart and arms fully extended out in front.
• Lower your body down into a squat, keeping the back straight.
• Hold the position at the bottom and pulse a few inches up and down by raising and lowering the butt.
• Do 15 pulses, then return in standing position.
• Perform 3 sets with 15 repetitions each.

4. Donkey Kicks

This exercise works the lower back, core, legs and bottom.
How to:

• Get on all fours on the ground, knees placed below your hips and hands at shoulder width apart.
• Keeping a 90 degree angle at the knee, lift one leg up until the thigh and knee come in line with the rest of your body and your foot is high up and parallel to the ground.
• Hold the position for a few moments, keeping the glutes tight, then slowly return to the starting position and repeat the movement with the other leg.
• Perform 3 sets with 15 reps each.

5.Donkey Kick/Fire Hydrant Combo

Excellent exercise for strengthening both the glutes and the hamstrings.
How to:

• Start in the same position as for the donkey kick, on all fours with knees at hips width apart and bent at a 90 degrees angle.
• Keeping the back straight, raise one thigh and bring it close to the chest, then open it outwards, keeping the thigh parallel to the floor.
• Hold for few moments, then slowly return to the starting position and repeat with the other leg.
• Perform 3 sets with 15 reps each.

Read More