膝盖总发软？这套瑜伽序列专练支撑膝盖的肌群

Published November 5, 2026 11:53AM

The thing about practicing yoga for knee strengthening is you typically don’t know you need to do it until there’s an issue. YouTube yoga teacher Yoga With Kassandra takes you through a routine designed to emphasize the muscles that support knee strength and explains how to modify the poses to suit your needs.

Whether you’re wanting to build knee strength to enhance your everyday functionality or you’re recovery from a knee injury and finally at the point where you can practice yoga, you need strengthening exercises that support all the muscles that support and stabilize your knees. Basically, you want to work on the hip adductors, the quads, the glutes, the hamstrings.

The following poses literally work all of the muscles that contribute to knee stability. You’ll also get to play around a little with some dynamic movement and try some balancing exercises that help you understand how to properly engage the muscles that support the knee. Then you can take that awareness into other yoga poses as well as your everyday movements.

Regularly practicing this yoga for knee strength routine will help anyone build knee strength. I know from personal experience just how frustrating a knee injury can be, so if that applies to you, know that the more you dedicate time towards rehabilitating yourself, and the more diligent you are with your practices, the more likely you’ll feel a difference in your ease of movement. And remember that rest is equally as important as stretching and strengthening.

Yoga for Knee-Strengthening Routine

You will need a block or a block-like item for several of these poses. If you experience pain in any of the poses, slowly come out and skip ahead to the next pose. Always consult with your physician or physical therapist prior to introducing new exercises.

Bridge Pose With a Block

Start lying on your back and bring your feet about hip-distance apart and your heels pretty close toward your glutes. Place the block directly in between the inner thighs and squeeze the block as much as you possibly can. Then push down into all four corners of both feet and slowly lift first the pelvis off the mat, then the lower back, and then the mid back in Bridge Pose. The higher you lift, the harder it becomes to squeeze your block, but keep squeezing it anyway. This helps train your inner thighs, or adductor muscles, to contract. Building inner thigh power can also help you become better at balancing poses.

Take about 3 breaths here, pushing down through your big toes. Then exhale and slowly roll down, inch by inch. Move your block to the side.

Reclined Hamstring Strengthening Exercise

From lying on your back, lift your right leg toward the sky and straighten it without locking your knee or hyperextending it. Interlace your fingers behind your right hamstrings. Instead of making this a passive stretch, push your leg against your palms as much as you can, and feel your arms resist. Keep pushing, pushing, pushing with your hamstrings. This should be challenging. You’ll also get a little arm workout. Try to keep your lower back neutral and close to the mat. Continue for a few more breaths.

You might find that your leg starts coming a little closer toward your chest, and that’s fine, but don’t force the stretch. Then release and switch legs.

Re-extend your right leg and bring your hands behind the back of your calf muscles. If that means you need to bend a little in your knee, that’s perfectly fine. If you can’t reach that far, bring your hands to the hamstrings again, but shift them closer to the knee, which creates a different sensation. Same thing, you want to push against your hands and resist. Then repeat on the other side.

Functional Bridge

This is not a yoga pose, but it’s absolutely amazing for your adductors. Grab your block and place it between your inner thighs again. Instead of keeping your heels close to you as in Bridge, walk your feet out so it feels almost as if your legs are almost straight and there’s about 6 inches between the mat and the backs of your knees.

Flex your feet, push your heels down into the mat, and see if you can squeeze your block and lift your hips off the mat. They’re only going to lift about an inch or so and that’s fine. This is an intense pose. You’re gonna feel it in your legs pretty much right away. If you don’t feel it, it’s because your knees are too bent and you need to straighten them a little more. Squeeze your block, push down into your heels, and try to drag your heels toward your shoulders. Hold here for a few more breaths. Then lower and move your block off to the side.

Downward-Facing Dog

Come into Downward-Facing Dog. Normally I would suggest some Cat and Cow stretches before going into Down Dog, but if you’re recovering from knee issues you might not be able to apply bring your knees to the mat because of the pressure, so consider those stretches optional or take a seated version of them. You’re pushing into the heels here to stretch your hamstrings, lengthen your arms, and lengthen your spine.

High Lunge

Reach your right leg toward the sky in Three-Legged Dog, then step forward toward the top of the mat. Push down into your feet and come up into High Lunge. You want your feet hip-distance apart for stability. It’s find to bend your back knee if that feels more doable. It’s important that your front knee is going in the same direction as your toes and is stacked over your ankle. You don’t want the knee to be swaying to one side or jutting forward in front of your toes.

Dynamic Warrior 3

Bring your hands to your heart and keep your right knee bent and focus on its stability as you tilt your chest forward into a variation of Warrior 3. Keep the knee of your supporting leg bent as you reach your left leg back and find your balance.

As you inhale, push your right leg straight, and then exhale gently as you bend your right knee again. Think of this as almost like a one-legged squat. So inhale, straighten the leg. Exhale, bend the knee.

Continue for several breaths. Keep your right knee pointing straight over the second and third toes. Last one, inhale to straighten and hold here.

Standing Splits

From Warrior 3, reach your left leg straight toward the ceiling and bring your chest toward your right thigh in Standing Splits. You might want to bring your block underneath your hands or fingertips.

Then exhale, bend both knees as much as you can, and see if you can bring your knees together to touch, so you’re in a little ball with your left foot hovering above the mat.

Then inhale, open back up into Standing Splits. Look at your right knee and make certain it’s not shifting to the right or the left. Do that once more.

Chair Pose

Bend both knees and bring your left foot to the mat with your big toes together and your heels slightly apart in Chair Pose. If this creates tension in your lower back, you can keep your feet hip-distance apart. Rock your weight back into your heels and keep your tailbone reaching back and your thighs hugging the midline as if you were still squeezing that block. Stay here or reach your arms alongside your head.

Dynamic Warrior 2

Lean more weight onto your right leg, and see if you can pick up your left foot and step it back into your High Lunge. Then very carefully pivot the back foot almost parallel to the short side of the mat, keeping your shin and your knee facing the same direction, in Warrior 2. Your right knee is still bending. Squeezing the glutes helps press that right knee open as it points forward. Reach your arms straight out from your shoulders.

To work on strengthening, inhale as you straighten the front leg and bring your hands together in front of you, and then exhale back into Warrior 2 and reach your arms. Repeat several times. The goal is not to rush this but to do it with control. You want to really feel that knee tracking directly over the second and third toes and not wobbling.

Triangle Pose

Straighten your right leg, being careful not to lock or hyperextend your knees. Then shift forward into Triangle Pose and reach your left arm upward. Draw your left shoulder slightly back as you open across the chest.

Downward-Facing Dog

From Triangle, look down at the floor and circle your hands to the mat. Step to Downward-Facing Dog.

Repeat these poses on your left side, starting with High Lunge and continuing to Dynamic Warrior 3, Standing Splits, Chair Pose, Dynamic Warrior 2, Triangle, and Down Dog.

Mountain Pose With a Block

From Down Dog, walk your feet to the top of the mat. Bend your knees a little, grab your block, and come all the way to standing. Come into Mountain Pose with the block in between your thighs, just as you did in Bridge Pose. Squeeze the block and hug in toward the midline. You can feel the adductors engage. Plant down firmly through all four corners of both feet.

Dynamic Chair Pose With a Block

As you inhale, stand a little taller. As you exhale, continue to squeeze your block as you lower yourself into Chair Pose. Repeat this movement about 5 times, moving slowly and steadily, continuing to squeeze the block. You might need to adjust your block a little.

Standing Forward Bend With a Block

Slowly fold forward in Standing Forward Bend. If you need to bend your knees, that’s perfectly fine. Even in this fold, can you squeeze your block? Then bend your knees a little more and release your block.

Dancer Pose

Slowly roll all the way up to standing. Notice how you feel as you attempt the pose, because if you’re still injured, the shape might not be accessible to you, and it’s fine to skip it. Lean onto your right foot, bend your left knee, and catch hold of the inner edge of your left foot behind you with your left hand. Keep your left hip and knee drawing inward toward the midline. So imagine you’re still squeezing your block in between your thighs. That is really important.

Reach your right arm forward. Instead of dipping the chest down and thinking of lifting the leg up, focus on pushing your foot into your palm. You’re not going super far forward in your Dancer Pose. You’re not working on flexibility, you’re working on strength, although you might feel an intense stretch along the front of your lifted quads.

To help with balance, you can always practice within arm’s reach of a chair or a wall so that you can reach out if needed for extra steadiness.

Then release and repeat on your other leg, foot into the right hand.

Bow Pose

Make your way onto your belly on the mat. The shape of this pose is very similar to Dancer, so if this isn’t working for you, work on Locust Pose. If you want to do Bow Pose, bend your knees and see if you can catch hold of your feet and imagine you still have the block in between the inner upper thighs. Squeeze in and start to push the feet against your hands.

If you’re not doing Bow Pose, then bring your arms alongside your body, palms facing the mat, and slowly lift your feet and legs and chest off the mat Focus your gaze forward and down to keep the back of your neck long. Hold here or slowly release and then lift several times.

Supported Bridge

Flip over onto your back. Grab your block, lift your hips, slide your block underneath your pelvis, and just let yourself settle here. Slow down your breath and start to unwind.

When you’re ready, press into your feet, lift your pelvis, and move your block to the side before lowering yourself down. Maybe you draw your knees toward your belly and bring your arms underneath your calves and stay still or rock a little side to side.

Savasana

Extend your arms and legs, close your eyes, and notice how you feel now as opposed to when you first started this practice. Let yourself settle into this space.

When you’re ready, begin to lengthen your breath and wiggle your fingers and toes. You can reach your arms up overhead, take a big stretch, and roll onto one side. Come up to take a seat, sitting up tall, maybe closing your eyes for a moment.

Thank you so much for doing this knee-strengthening sequence with me. I hope that it gave you some ideas as to how you can strengthen your knees.