The knees are usually stiffer than your other joints after waking up since we sleep in one spot without any active straightening or bending.
Compare this to the shoulder or hip joint, for example, which are both ball-and-socket joints which do sometimes get moved during sleep when you roll over in bed.
Fortunately, doing the following morning knee stretches could help fix your creaky knee joints. Morning stretches can help the motion range of your knee joints and the flexibility of your knee muscles.
Stretch 1: Hamstring Stretch
1 — Get on your back.
2 — Straighten your right leg out in front of you and get your left leg with both your hands behind your thigh with your knee bent at a 90 degree angle.
3 —Â Bring your left foot up to the ceiling (i.e. straighten your leg the best you can) and hold this 5 seconds.
4 —Â Lower down to your starting spot.
5 —Â Repeat this 3 to 5 times as you keep your hip at 90 degrees then change your leg.
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Stretch 2: Prone Quad Stretch
1 — Get on your stomach with your legs out straight.
2 —Â Bend at your right knee just enough to grab onto your right ankle or foot and gently bring it toward your butt to feel a great stretch. You can also use a belt if you are unable to reach your ankle.
3 —Â Hold this for around 5 to 10 seconds, then do it again for 3 to 5 times before switching to your other leg.
Stretch 3: Bretzel Stretch
1 — Get on your left side and bend your knees.
2 —Â Hold your top (right) knee down to the floor and get your left foot with your right hand, gently bring your left foot to your butt.
3 —Â Gently rotate your body to the right, so your back is now as flat as possible without being too uncomfortable.
4 —Â Maintain this for around 20 to 30 seconds. Repeat up to 3 times before then changing sides.
Author: Steven Sinclaire