Many people have knee pain while performing lunges.

The knee joint is a multi-functional joint that not only allows you to bend down to tie your shoes… knee movement keeps you standing straight…it also allows some rotation to support the body as you workout and complete daily activities. We tend to take our knees for granted until they start “yelling” back at us (a.k.a. knee pain!)

Knee pain can be from many different causes such as:

Arthritis
Patellofemoral pain
Sprains/strains
Bursitis/Tendonitis
Injuries such as tears or injures due to trauma

Knee Structure

The knee is made up of many structures such as ligaments, tendons, meniscus and bursae sacs. The knee joint connects four different bones:

Femur – thigh bone
Patella – knee cap
Tibia – the larger of the two lower leg bones
Fibula – the smaller of the two lower leg bones

Our knee joint allows us to walk, jump, skip and lunge!

(and so much more but we are talking about lunges today 😉

Proper knee position will help alleviate knee pain. — Proper front knee position will help alleviate knee pain.

One of the most important things you can do to alleviate knee pain with lunges is to make sure you have proper form.

Check out this video to get full details on how to perform your lunge correctly without knee pain.

Improper Knee Position will lead to knee pain. — Improper front knee position will lead to knee pain.

Here is a quick check list to make sure your form is correct so as to alleviate knee pain.

When you are getting ready to perform a lunge dip, you want to make sure that your front knee is in-line with your ankle or behind your ankle. You do not want to have your knee past your front foot.
Make sure your back leg is far enough back so you can allow the knees to bend
If your balance is off hold onto something sturdy like a chair.
Drive pressure into your heel of front foot.
Nicole’s Trainer Tip: Place a small barbell plate (like a 2 or 5 lbs plate) underneath the ball of your front foot. Your heel is in contact with the floor. Using the plate, this will push your weight back into your heel relieving pressure off of your knees.
As you drop down into the lunge, your back knee ideally should come close to the floor without hitting it. BUT if you have knee pain you only want to stay in a pain-free range. Even if it is a small range of motion, as long as you are not feeling any knee pain, you will benefit from performing the lunge dip this way.
Have a wide distance (front and back) with the legs.
Squeeze glutes and keep pelvis lifted throughout the movement.

Want more help with injures? Check out my blog on Prevent Running Injuries

Do You Have Knee Pain While You Lunge?