how to strengthen knees?

[BlahBlahYouToo]

man... must be getting old or just have bad knees in general.
i'm in good shape, relatively young (25), work out regularly.

but i've been noticing a little soreness after landing from jumping when playing bball. also noticed when doing squats, the knees also hurt a little bit.

it's not like i'm completely debilitated but i'm afraid this is just the beginning, and the rest is downhill.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Backing off some of the activity would help. If you jog then either jog on a treadmill or bicycle. Im 28 and play bball and squats and my knees never hurt. So its not an age thing.

 

[brikis98]

It might be a good idea to give your knees some rest for a week or two, use ice + ibuprofein, and then see how you feel. Proper (full depth) squatting and basketball shouldn't hurt your knees, especially at your age. It's possible that at some point you had a random injury (ie, bad form on squats, long jog with poor running technique) and now you are just aggravating it. Giving it some time off may let it heal so that your normal activities no longer bother you.

 

[StageLeft]

Classic signs of patellar tendinitis/jumper's/runner's knee.

Best thing to start, besides rest, is if it actually is a chronic thing and not a once or twice off (sometimes joints can just hurt for a little while but appear to get better by themselves and not pop up symptoms again), is to strengthen your legs with a great deal of lunges or one-legged squats. I do feel the one-legged movements are more helpful in forcing balance. I have had severe patellar tendon issues (much worse than what you're reporting) and once they get bad enough rest alone does little to help, so the only thing that has is constant (5-6 times/week) leg strengthening, including one-legged squats and lunges as mainstays. I do not ever go below a 90 degree bend and don't see why you should either, as it will put additional strain on your patellar tendon; as angles go up the stress on it increases markedly.

My guess is basketball is the primary cause of your issues at this point.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

yes, i do SS so i squat 3x a week.
on days i don't squat, i'm playing ball.