An Ignoble Experiment: Try this to protect your knees

2023/04/11

Try this to protect your knees

April 11, 2023 | VIEW IN BROWSER

Good morning! We hope your week is going well. Today we have a few important tips that will keep your knees safe when you're working out and a delightful upgrade to avocado toast.

Walking Challenge

Today's Workout

Today's workout focuses on the lower body. Try this side lying hip adduction to strengthen your hips and tone your thighs.

How to do the side lying hip adduction:

Lie on your right side with your right hip and right leg on the ground, and your left leg stacked on top. Wrap the resistance band around both legs, just above your knees.
Pull your knees apart by raising your upper leg toward the ceiling. Squeeze your glutes throughout the move, holding your legs apart for a few seconds before returning the left leg to meet the right again.

Repeat 10 times and then switch sides.

GET THE WORKOUT >

Need a break from this month's challenge?

Click here to snooze this section until next month. 😴

Your Meal Plan

Today's Plan

This Avocado Toast with Grapefruit and Pomegranate Seeds is a sunny upgrade on classic avocado toast. Make it with whole grain toast and serve with Greek yogurt or cottage cheese on the side.

Here's your meal plan for today:

Breakfast: Avocado Toast with Grapefruit and Pomegranate Seeds
Lunch: Pizza Toast
Dinner: Sheet-Pan Fish with Tomatoes and Green Beans

See something you don't like? Swap it with another recipe in your weekly plan.

GET THE MEAL PLAN >

Making Space for Mindfulness

Have questions about happiness? The 'Optimism Doctor' may answer them live on air

Looking for ways to shift your perspective on life? Dr. Deepika Chopra, aka "The Optimism Doctor," wants to help during her appearance on Hoda & Jenna.

One Small Thing

Real ways to make a difference in your life, one small thing at a time.

Try this to protect your knees

Meniscus injuries are one of the most common exercise-related injuries in both younger and older individuals. In case you don't know, the meniscus is akin to a shock absorber for the knees — and one that is vulnerable to injury, according to Michael C. Schwartz, an orthopedic surgeon, tells TODAY.

To minimize the risk of this kind of injury, Schwartz advises to avoid doing deep squatting exercises in which the hips go below the knees. The most common form of exercise that Schwartz sees as a culprit for knee injuries? HIIT, or high intensity interval training.

That doesn't mean you have to give up on squats in general — or HIIT in particular. You just have to be careful when you're doing squats.

Take these crucial squat tips from Schwartz:

Do not let the knee reach forward over the toes in a lunge or in a squat. Look in a mirror to make sure that your knees don't go past 90 degrees in a lunge.
When returning to a standing position from a squat or lunge, press down through the heels to work the backs of the legs instead of pressing down through the toes, which has the potential to put too much pressure on the knee caps.

MORE TIPS TO STAY SAFE DURING WORKOUTS >

Wellness News

Physical therapists want you to work out with resistance bands — here's why

If you suffer from back pain, want to challenge your core or don't have much room for exercise equipment at home, resistance bands are for you.

What do bed bug bites look like? Pictures to help you identify and treat them

No sign of bed bugs but have bites? Here are some up close photos of beg bites, plus how to treat and prevent them.

Does misoprostol, the other abortion drug, work on its own?

A federal judge in Texas on Friday suspended the Food and Drug Administration's longtime approval of the drug mifepristone for use in medication abortions, a ruling that is set to go into effect on April 14 unless a higher court intervenes.