When you feel pain in your knees, even something as simple as crossing your legs can become an excruciating task. The limited range of motion can affect your day-to-day activities, but there's good news: A two-minute stretch may be all you need to get quick relief.
As fitness expert Jill Miller explains in the above video, knee pain isn't uncommon among adults -- and if you don't experience it currently, there's a good chance you will at some point in your life. "The Center for Disease Control says that 50 percent of us will have arthritis in our knees by age 85," says Miller, author of The Roll Model.
To help open up range of motion in your knees and combat this pain, Miller suggests doing a simple but effective stretch.
"All you need is a hand towel or a dish towel," she says. "Fold it up and place it directly behind your knee, as high into the joint as you can. Then... set that heel down on a chair or a block or your couch edge, and then just give yourself a little squeeze."
"I'm actually contracting my hamstrings and my calf muscles," Miller continues. "This helps to create a little bit of space in the knee joint itself."
Switch sides and repeat the stretch, contracting and relaxing as you feel your knees open up.
"I did that and I just heard a little bit more space show up inside my knee, and I have totally healthy knees," Miller points out. "Proper form on this is really important to protect your knees -- forever."
That dish towel has another impressive use: Watch Miller explain how it can help ease neck pain as well.
Related
Before You Go
