Body Connections: Helping your body move better together.
When people ask for exercises for knee pain, it makes sense. The knee is where they feel the discomfort, so naturally they look for a knee exercise.
But your knee is part of a chain of movement. It responds to what happens below it at the foot and ankle, and above it at the hip, glutes, and core.
Your knee lives between your foot and your hip. It responds to how your foot lands, how your ankle moves, how your hip shifts, and how well your glutes support you. When one of these things isn’t doing its share, the knee often feels the stress.
So the real key isn’t just what exercise you do. It’s how you do it.
Inside Wavemakers, we don’t train the knee as a separate body part. We use simple water exercises to help the whole body work better together — so your knees get more support from your feet, hips, glutes, core, and balance.
So instead of thinking, “I need one knee exercise,” think, “I need to practice the movements that help my knees feel supported by my whole body.”
1. Jogging: Wake Up Your Feet and Ankles
Focus: foot loading, ankle motion, and push-off
Jogging in the water is more than a cardio move. It gives you a chance to practice how your foot meets the pool floor.
Instead of bouncing on your toes, think about landing through your whole foot. Let the toes touch, then the ball of the foot, and then press the heel down. That full foot connection matters. If your ankle doesn’t move well or your foot doesn’t load well, your knee may have to take more of the impact (even when you’re supported by buoyancy).
Try this focus: Press the heel down. Bend knees and hips. Feel the stretch down the back of your hip. Notice how your feet and hips are working together.
2. Side Step: Train the Hip to Help the Knee
Focus: weight shifting, lateral hip loading and knee control
A side step with a weight shift is one of my favorite total-body movements for supporting healthy knees, hips, and ankles.
It may look simple, but it teaches your body how to shift weight, load the outside of the hip, and use the glutes to control where the knee goes.
If you step to the side without shifting your weight, your hip may not fully help. The knee can be left feeling stress on the inside. But when you allow your pelvis to move over the stepping foot, your hip begins to load and support the movement. Feel the stretch or working sensation on the outside of the hip. That’s your body learning to share the work.
Try this focus: Step to the side. Slide your pelvis toward the stepping foot. Let your body move over your foot so you feel your weight shift onto that side. It is amazing how even a half-inch change in your weight shift can be the difference between a knee that feels supported and a knee that feels stressed.
3. Jumping Jack: Practice Side-to-Side Knee Control
Focus: foot, ankle and hip control
A jumping jack in the water can help you practice side-to-side control in a supported way.
Start with a range that feels good. Let your feet jump wide and back center. Notice whether both feet are planting evenly. Notice whether your knees feel supported by your hips instead of collapsing inward.
As you get more comfortable, you can adjust the effort. For mobility, keep the movement as an easy pace. To build strength for the feet, knees, and hips, press harder against the water.
Try this focus: Open and close with control. Plant your feet evenly. Keep your toes forward facing to work on foot and hip strengthening in both directions.
The Wavemakers Way
Helping your knees starts with more than your knees. Your feet, hips, glutes, core, and balance all help share the work.
Jogging, side stepping, or jumping jacks can all become knee-support training when you know what to feel. Once you feel the connection, you can add effort — pressing harder, moving with more control, or changing the tempo.
Inside Wavemakers, simple cues help you turn everyday water exercises into strength, mobility, balance, and better movement.
About the author
Jeanmarie Scordino has over 25 years of experience as an exercise physiologist, personal trainer, sport conditioning coach, and clinical health coach. As Fellow of Applied Functional Science, she is dedicated to education and helping people move better and perform at their best.
