Self-help exercises for knee pain / knee arthritis / torn cartilage / meniscus / ligament

What exercise should I perform to help with arthritis of the knee?
Patients wrongly believe that exercises like walking and swimming will help with arthritis of the knee. Walking and swimming can help with the symptoms of knee arthritis, but resistance or strengthening exercises have a greater beneficial effect.

There are four types of exercises to perform to tackle all the issues related to knee arthritis or knee pain.

We have created a plan to help you perform certain exercises to help alleviate the pain in your knee.

The plan is called ARiSE. There are four different types which include 12 different exercises. We will cover all of them in detail.

The different types of exercises are
A – Awareness of the Body
R – Resistance and strengthening exercises
i – The “i” in the centre denotes you
S – Stability of the core
E – Essential and functional exercises

The word has been coined with the “I” in the centre. Our hope is that by putting you in the centre of the plan, you can arise out of disability and become more functional and pain-free with this method. We believe you can. You need to believe you can.

To begin with, only do the Level 1 exercises. After repeating the exercises on many occasions and only after becoming stronger should you progress to Levels 2 and 3.


A – Awareness of the Body exercises. These exercises help to reinforce your brain’s awareness of the position of your joints and limbs in space. Even without looking, our brains know if our leg is in front or behind our body. That knowledge is called ‘proprioception’ which is simply an awareness of where your body is in the space around you. There are two exercises which can help to reinforce that knowledge.
1. Forward lunges
2. Side lunges

R – Resistance and strengthening exercises. These exercises are performed against resistance and are known to increase the strength of weak muscles quickly. The following 5 exercises are the resistance and strengthening exercises.
3. Forward flexion
4. Extension
5. Abduction
6. Quads
7. Hamstrings


S – ‘Stability of the core’ exercises. The core of the body involves the pelvis and the lower back. The abdominal muscles, the muscles around the spine, the diaphragm (the sheet of muscle that separates the chest from the abdomen) and the thigh muscles all form part of the core. The limbs move around well with a strong core. The following two exercises will improve the strength of the core.
8. Side plank
9. Back plank

E – Essential and functional exercises. Your normal day to day activity involves getting in and out of a chair many times. In arthritis, the ability to stand up from a chair reduces due to pain and one may need a higher chair in order to make it easier to stand up. These exercises will help us regain the ability to stand up from a sitting position regardless of the height of the chair. There are three exercises within this group, and they are.
10. Sit to stand
11. Knee bends
12. Tip toe