Yoga guide
No trial has tested yoga for patellar tendinopathy, which most people call patellar tendonitis or jumper's knee. What helps is loading the tendon in stages (holds first, then slow strength, then springy jumping, then sport) while keeping tendon pain at 3 out of 10 or less, and patience: it usually takes months. Yoga fits around that plan, as a way to stay active with the tendon in mind.
This guide covers what loads the patellar tendon in yoga, kneeling and deep knee bends, the poses to change, the pain rule, what the evidence shows, the warning signs, and a free 25-minute class with the plan's first-stage hold built in. Our jumper's knee guide has the full plan and its stages. If you felt a sudden pop below the kneecap and can't straighten your knee, go straight to the warning signs.
Our searches found none, published or registered. The nearest are a study of yoga videos in 24 teenagers with front-of-knee pain, only one of whom had this tendon problem, and a weak trial of Baduanjin, a Chinese qigong routine. Yoga can keep you moving and strong while the tendon settles; it isn't the treatment.
Holds first, then slow strength, then springy jumping, then sport: our jumper's knee guide has the plan. In the largest trial, 76 athletes did better at 24 weeks with that staged plan than with painful decline squats. A Dutch guideline puts exercise first for at least 12 weeks, though a 2025 Cochrane review found only 7 small trials, all of low or very low certainty.
That's the ceiling the largest trial used for its loading, and our jumper's knee guide applies it to the rest of your activity, yoga included. The tendon should settle back to its usual level by the next morning, as the pain-monitoring approach and NHS leaflets advise.
In one study of 20 older adults, chair pose and the back leg of a crescent lunge loaded the thigh muscles about as much as the peak of ordinary walking. In healthy adults, a two-leg squat to 60 degrees was among the lowest-loading rehab exercises, and single-leg decline squats, hops and jumps the highest.
In small studies of healthy people, kneeling pressure landed mostly on the patellar tendon and the bump below it rather than on the kneecap. No study has tested kneeling in people with the condition, so a folded blanket or a standing version is our suggestion.
Every trial cut back jumping and painful activity while loading the tendon, and an NHS leaflet says "It is important not to rest completely." In elite athletes who had it, symptoms had lasted 32 months on average; five years after the largest trial, 76% felt recovered.
Pain at the bottom of the kneecap, where the patellar tendon starts, that rises with the load on the front of the thigh: jumping, landing, squatting and stairs. Patellar tendinopathy is the modern name; patellar tendinitis, tendonitis and jumper's knee mean the same thing, and the NHS describes it as pain between your kneecap and shin, often from repetitive running or jumping. A scan isn't always needed.
Many people notice pain when sitting for a long time with the knee bent, or stiffness of the tendon first thing in the morning or after a long drive.
Pain at the top of the kneecap, worst in deep knee bends, is quadriceps tendinopathy, in the tendon above the kneecap. In children and young teenagers, pain at the bottom of the kneecap is usually Sinding-Larsen-Johansson disease, which mostly affects active 9 to 17-year-olds, and a sore bump below the knee is usually Osgood-Schlatter disease: our pain guides cover both. Pain around or behind the kneecap is usually kneecap pain (runner's knee).
Across 28 studies, about 18% of athletes had it, against 0.1% of the general population: about 1 in 4 volleyball players, 1 in 5 basketball players and 6% of footballers. In elite Norwegian athletes 14% had it, and in Dutch non-elite athletes 8.5%.
How much you jump and play: in young elite volleyball players, each extra hour of training and each extra set played a week raised the odds, and the total number of jumps may matter more than training hours. A review found no strong or moderate evidence for any other single risk factor.
Longer than most people expect: on average 32 months in elite athletes and 19 months in non-elite athletes who had it. Fifteen years on, 9 of 17 former athletes had given up their sport because of it. Five years after the largest trial, 76% felt recovered, but almost a quarter didn't. People living with tendon pain often describe it as frustrating and isolating, which is understandable when improvement is this slow.
Low: lying and side-lying poses, sitting with the knees straight or a little bent, and standing with soft knees. Moderate: held standing poses with a bent knee (chair, warrior I and II, goddess, crescent lunge), balances on one leg and slow sun salutations stepping back. High or awkward: jump-backs and jump-throughs, hops, deep loaded squats such as garland, deep single-leg bends and long deep holds in chair pose, and pressure on the tendon when kneeling. This is our reading of the studies on this page; no study has measured a yoga pose in people with the condition.
No trial has tested yoga for patellar tendinopathy. Loading the tendon carries the evidence, and even that is low certainty.
Our searches of PubMed, Europe PMC and ClinicalTrials.gov in November 2026 found no trial of yoga for patellar tendinopathy: none of the 70 registered trials for the condition uses yoga.
Source 1
Eight weeks of yoga videos in 24 teenagers with front-of-knee pain had no comparison group, and only one of them had patellar tendinitis. A trial adding Baduanjin to shockwave treatment in 67 people is in a journal outside the main medical index and reports little detail. Two yoga trials in athletes measured fitness tests or mixed sports injuries, not this tendon.
In the largest trial, 76 athletes did either staged loading (daily holds, then slow heavy lifting, then jumping, then sport, moving on when a single-leg squat hurt 3 out of 10 or less) or painful decline squats. At 24 weeks, the staged group's knee scores had improved by 28 points on a 0 to 100 scale, against 18. Return to sport (43% against 27%) wasn't clearly different, fewer than half of either group stuck to the programme, and no serious side effects occurred.
Source 4
Two 2026 meta-analyses found no exercise better than heavy slow resistance, at low certainty; an earlier one that favoured slow-lowering exercise rested on studies at high risk of bias. Heavy loads did no better than moderate ones in 44 adults, one exercise day a week did as well as three in 52 people, and blood flow restriction training matched heavy slow resistance in 36 men.
In 6 volleyball players, one session of holds cut squat pain from 7 out of 10 to almost nothing. Later studies were less clear: holds gave more relief straight away than lifting in 20 in-season athletes, but both eased pain about equally over a season in 29, pain fell by under 1 point either way in 21 people, and a review of 10 trials found holds no better than lifting. They're easy to fit in, which is one reason the plan starts with them.
A Dutch guideline advises exercise as the first choice for at least 12 weeks, with heavy slow resistance preferred and no injections. The 2025 Cochrane review found 7 trials of 211 athletes, all at very low or low certainty, and none measured side effects. A UK military consensus also puts exercise first.
Elite volleyball players who kept training and competing did painful decline squats twice a day for 12 weeks, with no effect on knee function. Cutting back jumping is part of every plan that has helped (our reading).
Source 45
Tighter thigh muscles went with developing it in one study of 138 students. The only trial adding stretching to squats wasn't properly randomised. The UK military consensus found no evidence for stretches as treatment, the Dutch guideline doesn't include them, and one NHS leaflet says stretching the tendon can aggravate the pain.
No trial has tested complete rest. NHS leaflets say cut back what makes it worse but stay active: "Load is needed to aid recovery but overload may worsen your pain." In Achilles tendinopathy, carrying on running and jumping within a pain-monitoring approach did no harm in a trial of 38 people.
In a trial of 39 men, a steroid injection had good short-term but poor long-term effects. The Dutch guideline advises against injections, and the UK military consensus links injections into the tendon with a risk of it tearing.
In knee osteoarthritis, a different and older group, yoga eased pain and improved function at low certainty, and did as well as strengthening exercise in a trial of 117 people. In a German survey, yoga injuries were linked with headstands, shoulder stands and handstands and with practising alone, and no published report links yoga with causing patellar tendinopathy.
Lab studies, mostly in healthy people; no study has measured a yoga pose in people with patellar tendinopathy.
In 20 healthy adults, 35 rehab exercises were ranked by the load on the patellar tendon. Walking was lowest; step-ups, step-downs and a two-leg squat to 60 degrees were in the lowest tier; lunges and full squats were in the middle; and single-leg decline squats, hops and jumps were the highest. A 60-degree squat loaded the tendon about half as much as a full squat. The authors advise caution in applying this to people with the condition.
Source 10
In one study of 20 older adults after 32 weeks of yoga, chair pose and the back leg of a crescent lunge loaded the front of the thigh the most of the standing poses tested, about as much as the peak of normal walking, with only 33% to 49% of walking's muscle activity. In 11 yoga instructors, chair pose used the front thigh muscle most and tree pose loaded the legs little. So a shallow chair pose is a gentle hold, not a hard one (our reading); the knee load figure rests on that one study of 20 older adults.
Past about 60 degrees of knee bend, the force behind the kneecap rose faster than the force in the patellar tendon, and the tendon above the kneecap took a bigger share. A squat review suggests keeping rehab squats between straight and about 50 degrees for many knee problems. These are small lab studies, not studies of yoga or of people with the condition.
In 25 healthy adults, letting the front knee travel in front of the toes in a lunge raised the load and stress on the patellar tendon. In warrior poses and lunges, keep the front knee over your ankle and the bend less than a right angle (our suggestion, from this study).
Source 62
Hops and jumps load the tendon most, which is why the plan brings jumping back last. In yoga, that means stepping back and forward in sun salutations rather than jumping (our suggestion).
People with patellar tendinopathy tend to have weaker thigh muscles, and in one study of 60 male athletes, hip strength was about 20% lower. Landing with the trunk leaning further forward lowered tendon force in elite jumping athletes. These are links, not proof that hip work treats it, and every landing study in one review was at high risk of bias. Hip and balance poses fit well alongside the plan (our reading).
In 10 people, most kneeling pressure went through the patellar tendon and the bony bump below it rather than the kneecap. In 14 healthy people, the lower patellar tendon took the most pressure when kneeling, with or without kneepads. No study has measured kneeling in people with patellar tendinopathy.
Our suggestion: a folded blanket under your knees, short spells of kneeling, and standing versions where you can, such as warrior I instead of a low lunge with the back knee down, or your hands on a chair seat instead of all fours.
Hero pose, reclining hero, full child's pose, garland (a deep squat), half frog and lotus take the knee to the end of its bend under your body weight. Leave them out or prop them high while the tendon is sore. One NHS leaflet suggests avoiding squats deeper than 90 degrees while it's painful.
Sitting for a long time with the knees fully bent, kneeling or on your heels, can bring on the ache. Sit on a chair or a high cushion instead (our suggestion).
Source 21
The 3 out of 10 ceiling and the progress test are the largest trial's. The next-morning check comes from the pain-monitoring approach and NHS leaflets, not from that trial.
The largest patellar tendon trial kept exercise pain at 3 out of 10 or less, a lower ceiling than for joint pain. Keep the rest of your activity within the same limit, and expect the tendon to settle back to its usual level by the next morning.
The progress test from that trial: do one single-leg squat and rate the tendon pain. Move to the next stage when it is 3 or less and you have done at least a week at the current stage.
For about 4 weeks, cut down the activities that cause considerable tendon pain, jumping volume especially. Keep the rest of your activity within 3 out of 10.
Source 4
Trials and leaflets differ a little. The TEREX trial, of one against three exercise days a week, allowed up to 5 out of 10 during exercise if it settled within 3 to 4 hours; the pain-monitoring approach allows up to 5, back to your usual level by the next morning; NHS Lanarkshire says keep it under 3 and settled within 24 hours; and the UK military consensus advises lifting work at under 3. Our guides use 3 out of 10, the lower ceiling.
Rate the tendon during the class and again the next morning. If it's sorer the next morning, cut back the standing and loaded work first rather than the whole class, pad or swap kneeling poses, keep standing bends shallow, and step rather than jump (our suggestion, as our Pilates for patellar tendinopathy guide does for Pilates).
Our jumper's knee guide's first stage, from the largest trial (Breda 2021). The trial used machine holds at about 70% effort; the wall sit and Spanish squat are untested home substitutes, as that guide says. The breathing step is the wall sit's own caution, and the weekly rhythm is our suggestion, as in our Pilates for patellar tendinopathy class.
See the movement on the 3D figure: Wall sit
Once a day, within the pain rule. Wall sit: 5 holds of 30 to 45 seconds, knees bent about 60 degrees, the home option without a band; leg extension, if you have a gym: 5 holds of 30 to 45 seconds with about 2 minutes' rest; glute bridge and slow calf raise: 3 sets of 12 (our jumper's knee guide, stage 1). Spanish squat with a heavy band: "4 to 5 holds of 30 to 45 seconds at a hard-but-OK effort, with 1 to 2 minutes' rest, once a day in the isometric stage" (the move page's dose).
Keep every bend shallow and the front knee over your ankle. Mountain pose: "Stand for 5 to 10 slow breaths, 2 or 3 times" (the move page's dose), knees soft. Chair pose: 2 holds of 3 to 5 breaths, a shallow bend, hands on your thighs (our yoga for Achilles tendinopathy class). Warrior II and warrior I: 3 breaths each side, a short stance; goddess: 2 holds of 3 breaths, bending only a little (our yoga for knee pain class). Hip hinge fold: "5 slow folds, 3 breaths at the bottom" (the move page's dose), knees soft.
3D demoMountain pose (Tadasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoChair pose (Utkatasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoWarrior II (Virabhadrasana II)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoWarrior I (Virabhadrasana I)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoGoddess pose (Utkata Konasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoHip hinge foldBeginner · No equipmentKeep the standing knee soft, not deeply bent. Tree pose: 2 holds of 20 to 30 seconds each side, fingertips on a wall, the lifted foot at your ankle; single-leg stand: 2 holds of 30 seconds each leg (our yoga for Achilles tendinopathy class). Hip airplane, holding a counter: "2 sets of 5 slow turns each leg" (the move page's dose).
Side-lying leg raise, heel leading: 8 each side; clamshell: 10 each side (our Pilates for patellar tendinopathy class). Locust: 3 holds of 3 breaths with a folded blanket under your hips; straight leg raise: 10 each side (our yoga for knee pain class). Move the blanket under your thighs if your kneecaps press on the floor.
Optional, and only as far as is comfortable: these aren't treatment. Hamstring stretch with a strap: 2 holds of 30 seconds each leg; reclining twist with a cushion between your knees: 45 seconds each side (our yoga for knee pain class). Reclined figure four: 45 seconds each side (our yoga for Achilles tendinopathy class). Corpse pose: "Lie still for at least 5 minutes, up to 10, usually at the end of a session" (the move page's dose), a cushion under your knees.
Our suggestions, from the loading and kneeling studies. Bring them back as the plan moves on and the tendon stays within the pain rule.
Low lunge with the back knee down, camel, table and all fours: pad your knees with a folded blanket or use a standing version, such as warrior I for a low lunge. The low lunge's own caution: "Pad the back kneecap if pressure on the floor is uncomfortable."
Hero, reclining hero, full child's pose, garland, half frog and lotus: leave them out or prop them high. Hero pose's caution: "Your body weight takes the knees to the end of their bend, and if your hips can't turn in far enough, the knees twist to make up the difference". Child's pose: "The knees are deeply bent, so pad behind them or skip it with a knee injury."
Deep or long chair pose, deep lunges with the front knee past your toes, and pulsing in high lunge: keep them shallow and short.
Jump-backs and jump-throughs in sun salutations, hops and skipping: step instead. Jumping comes back in the plan's jumping stage.
Pulling your heel hard to your bottom, in a deep standing thigh stretch or half frog: keep it gentle or leave it out. One NHS leaflet: "You should avoid stretching the tendon as this can aggravate the pain."
Source 14
Our 25-minute tendon-friendly yoga class has the plan's first-stage hold built in: do the hold block every day and the whole class 2 or 3 times a week. The Pilates class has the same hold. The yoga for knee pain class has shallow bends and no kneeling but no tendon hold, so add the wall sit. The volleyball and basketball classes are for the return to sport, once the plan reaches its later stages, and chair yoga suits a sore day.
A 25-minute yoga class for jumper's knee: the loading plan's first-stage hold, standing poses with shallow bends, balance, hip work and rest, with no kneeling.
25 minBeginner14 movesWallA 25-minute Pilates class for jumper's knee: the loading plan's first-stage hold, hip, trunk and calf work, no kneeling, shallow knee bends and no jumping.
25 minBeginner13 movesWallA 35-minute editorial session for healthy tendons: calf and Spanish squat holds, heavy slow leg and calf lifts, then springs once the heavy work is easy.
35 minIntermediate13 movesWall, bandA 25-minute session for knees that don't currently hurt: thigh and hamstring strength, single-leg control, then an optional full-range block with knees over toes.
25 minBeginner14 movesBench or box, wallA 25-minute knee-friendly yoga practice with no kneeling and no deep bends: shallow standing poses, hip and thigh strength on the floor, and supported stretches.
25 minBeginner15 movesFirm cushionA 25-minute off-court yoga class for volleyball players: ankle bend, one-leg balance, landing shapes, the hitting shoulder and the upper back, then rest.
25 minBeginner16 movesWallA 25-minute off-court yoga class for basketball players: ankle and calf mobility, one-leg balance, landing shapes, side planks, hips and a slow-breathing finish.
25 minBeginner16 movesWallA 15-minute chair yoga routine done entirely sitting: slow breathing, neck, shoulder and wrist stretches, seated twists and side bends, and a calm finish.
15 minBeginner16 movesBench or boxThese are the warning signs from our jumper's knee and knee pain guides, word for word. This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 for 999.
A sudden pop at the front of the knee, after which you cannot straighten the knee or lift the straight leg. This can be a torn patellar tendon: see our torn kneecap tendons guide.
Same day: a pop or tearing feeling at the front of the knee after a fall, stumble, jump or landing, then you can't straighten the knee or lift the straight leg off the bed, there's a dent above or below the kneecap, or the kneecap sits higher or lower than on the other side. Go to A&E or an urgent treatment centre, or get help from NHS 111. A torn quadriceps or patellar tendon does best when it's repaired soon.
A child or teenager: after a jump, landing or fall, a pop or sudden severe pain below the kneecap, and the knee will not straighten or take weight. Get it checked the same day: the bony bump below the kneecap can break away instead of the tendon tearing, or a sleeve of bone and cartilage can pull off the lower kneecap.
Source 20
NHS Lanarkshire suggests seeing a physiotherapist if your symptoms haven't improved within 6 to 12 weeks of following its advice.
Sharp, catching or giving-way pain, or new swelling, is a reason to stop and get it checked. Come out of a pose at once if your foot or lower leg goes numb or tingles in a kneeling or cross-legged pose, or if you feel a sharp pain inside the knee when twisting or rising from a deep bend (our suggestion, from case reports and injury studies).
A joint pain that is sharp, gets worse during a session, lingers into the next day or changes how you move is a reason to use an easier version, and to see a GP or physiotherapist if it keeps happening (the rule in our plans). Muscle soreness for a day or two after something new is normal. In a hot class, stop if you feel dizzy, sick or unwell; our hot yoga guide lists the signs of heat illness.
You can say no to any hands-on adjustment, and a teacher registered with Yoga Alliance must get your explicit consent each time.
Call 999 if:
Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) straight away for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. If you're more short of breath than usual, or your heart is racing, fluttering or skipping beats, contact NHS 111.
Source 75
With glaucoma, or high blood pressure that isn't under control, skip headstands, shoulder stands and long head-down holds. With osteoporosis, swap deep forward folds for a flat-back hinge from the hips, and twist smoothly. In pregnancy, our yoga in pregnancy guide covers the changes. NCCIH advises beginners to avoid headstands, shoulder stands, the lotus position and forceful breathing.
The NHS advises getting advice from a healthcare professional first if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, or have recently had a heart attack or an operation.
No trial has tested complete rest as a treatment. The plans that helped cut back jumping and painful activity while loading the tendon, and NHS leaflets say to stay active. Symptoms often last months to years, so waiting for the pain to go before you load it can be a long wait.
The only trial for it wasn't properly randomised, a UK military consensus found no evidence for stretches as treatment, the Dutch guideline leaves them out, and one NHS leaflet says stretching the tendon can aggravate it.
No trial has tested yoga for it. Loading the tendon in stages is the treatment; yoga is the session around it.
Source 1
Slow, heavy squats and leg presses within the pain rule are part of the treatment (heavy slow resistance). What needs cutting back early on is deep, fast or jumping load.
Kneeling presses on the tendon, so pad it or swap it while it's sore, but no study shows kneeling harms the tendon.
A shallow chair pose loaded the knee about as much as walking at its peak in one study. The trial's holds were much harder, at about 70% of maximum effort, and no yoga hold has been tested as treatment.
A steroid injection helped in the short term but not in the long term in one trial, and the Dutch guideline and the UK military consensus advise against injections near the tendon.
The class on this page asks for no flexibility: holds, standing poses at a wall, lying hip work and rest (our reading).
It hasn't been tested: no trial of yoga for patellar tendonitis exists. What treats it is loading the tendon in stages. Yoga is a good way to stay active around that plan, with the plan's first-stage hold built in and the poses that strain the tendon changed.
Yes, with changes. Keep tendon pain at 3 out of 10 or less and settled by the next morning, keep standing knee bends shallow, pad or swap kneeling poses, and step rather than jump. Our jumper's knee guide has the full loading plan.
For now, jump-backs and hops, deep squats, deep single-leg bends, long deep holds in chair pose, and long kneeling or full knee bends such as hero pose and full child's pose. Bring them back as the loading plan progresses and the tendon stays within the pain rule.
Not if you change a few poses. No published report links yoga with causing it. Jumping and deep loaded bends are the parts that load the tendon most, so those are the ones to change.
Kneeling presses on the patellar tendon, so it can hurt. Pad it with a folded blanket, keep it short, or use a standing version. No study shows kneeling damages the tendon.
A shallow chair pose is a gentle hold for the front of the thigh, loading the knee about as much as walking at its peak in one study, and it's fine within the pain rule. It isn't a substitute for the plan's harder holds, such as a wall sit or a Spanish squat.
Stretching hasn't been shown to treat it. Gentle, comfortable stretches are fine, but don't pull hard into deep knee bends: the loading is what helps.
No. Cut down jumping and anything that hurts a lot for about 4 weeks, and keep loading the tendon within the pain rule. Swimming and cycling keep you fit meanwhile.
Usually months. The trials ran 12 to 24 weeks, an NHS leaflet says a programme can take more than 3 months, and symptoms can last longer in athletes who keep jumping. Five years after the largest trial, about three in four people felt recovered.
No study links them. Lots of jump-backs, deep loaded squats and long kneeling could aggravate a sore tendon (our reading), so change those while it settles.
The heat doesn't change the tendon; jumping, deep bends and kneeling are what matter. Long, deep standing holds in a hot class can push you past the pain rule, so keep them shallow (our suggestion).
Get help the same day for a sudden pop with a knee you can't straighten, and advice from NHS 111 now for a hot, swollen knee with a high temperature or a knee that locks or gives way. See a GP or physiotherapist if it hasn't improved within a few weeks of looking after it.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition such as glaucoma, high blood pressure or osteoporosis, or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
