Table 2.

Characteristics of effective exercise interventions for patellofemoral pain

Study	Intervention				Program parameters
	Type of exercise	Duration (weeks)	Frequency	Exercises	Intensity/resistance	Reps	Sets
Clark et al15	CKC including proprioceptive/balance exercises	6	Daily	Stationary cycle (warm-up)	NR	NR	NR
				Wall squats		10 × 10-second holds, progressed to 3 minutes	1
				Sit to stand		NR	NR
				Progressive step down exercise
				Specific gluteus medius and maximus exercises
				Balance work using trampet
Crossley et al16	CKC, isometric exercises including selective VMO	6	Daily	Week 1–2:
				Isometric VMO (knee at 90°)	NR	10	4
				Squats to 40° knee flexion + isometric gluteals		10	4
				Isometric abduction against a wall in standing		15-second hold	4
				Week 3–6:
				Step downs 10–20 cm depth		5–10	3
				Isometric hip abduction in standing		30-second hold	4
				All week 1–2 exercises
Nakagawa et al9	OKC and CKC including proximal stability	6	5×/week	Week 1–2:
				TrA contractions in quadruped kneel	NR	15 × 10-second holds	2
				Isometric combined hip abduction and lateral rotation in side lying, hips and knees slightly flexed		15 × 10-second holds	2
				Isometric hip abduction with knees extended		15 × 10-second holds	2
				Isometric hip abduction and lateral rotation in quadruped		15 × 10-second holds	2
				Isometric quadriceps (knee at 90°)		15 × 10-second holds	2
				ASLR		10	3
				Squat to 40° flexion		10	4
				Week 3–4:
				Wall squat 0°–60° flexion		10	3
				Step up/down (20 cm depth)		5	3
				Lunges 0°–45° flexion		10	3
				Pelvic drop exercise on 20 cm step		15	2
				Single arm extension against elastic resistance in contralateral single leg stance		10	4
				Contralateral body rotation in single leg stance against elastic resistance, maintaining lower limb static		15 × 10-second holds	2
				Weeks 5–6:		As per week 3–4
				As for week 3 and 4 + balance exercises and additional elastic resistance around the affected leg in forward lunges, encouraging active lateral rotation and abduction of the hip.
				Begin progress walk or run program
Bakhtiary and Fatemi7	Group 1: OKC	3	2×/day	Supine straight leg raise to 45° hip flexion	NR	Group 1 and 2: 20 × 3–4-second hold, increased by 5 reps every 2 days	1
	Group 2: CKC	3	2×/day	Single leg squat to 15°–20° to knee flexion whilst holding stable surface
Witvrouw et al19	Group 1: OKC	5	3×/week	Static quadriceps contractions in full knee extension	Groups 1 and 2: 60% of 10RM, new 10RM established at the end of each week. “Maximal contractions” for static tasks	Group 1: 10 × 6-second hold	3
				Straight leg raise in supine
				Knee extension from 10° flexion to full extension
				Leg adduction exercises in side lying
	Group 2: CKC	5	3×/week	Seated leg press		Group 2: 10	3
				Double or single leg squat
				1/3 knee bend
				Stationary biking
				Rowing machine exercise
				Step up and down exercise
Herrington and Al-Sherhi8	Group 1: OKC	6	3×/week	Knee extension exercises in seated position from 90° of flexion to full extension	Groups 1 and 2:	10	4
					Set 1 50% 6RM	10
					Set 2 75% 6RM	Max possible
	Group 2: CKC	6	3×/week	Leg press in seated position from 90° of knee flexion to full extension	Set 3 100% 6RM	Max possible
				Group 1 and 2: 5-minute static cycle warm-up	Set 4 Progressed according set 3 max (Next session progressed based on set 4 max)
Syme et al10	Group 1: General non-VMO selective	8	2×/week	3–5 lower limb exercises focusing on quadricep strengthening. Actual exercises not specified.	60%–70% of 1RM	10	1–3
	Group 2: VMO selective	8	Daily HEP + >6 EMG biofeedback sessions	Lower limb exercises focusing on selective activation and retraining of the VMO relative to the VL using a dual channel surface electromyographic (EMG) biofeedback unit.	NR	NR	NR
				Daily home exercises
Van Linschoten et al11	OKC and CKC including balance exercises	12	25 minutes daily	Stationary cycle (warm-up), static and dynamic strengthening exercises for quadriceps, adductors, and gluteal muscles and balance work	NR – though progressed fortnightly during the first 6 weeks	NR – though progressed fortnightly during the first 6 weeks	NR
Song et al17	CKC	8	3×/week	SL leg press, 45°–0° flexion	60% 1RM (1RM reset every 2 weeks)	10	5
Kettunen et al23	OKC and CKC	8	Daily	Weeks 1–4:	NR	Weeks 1–2:	2
				Standing hamstring curl		10–20
				All fours, transverse plane single leg bent knee hip abduction		Weeks 2–4:	4
				Knee extension		10–40
				Straight leg raise		Weeks 4–6:	2
				Weeks 4–8:		10–20
				Standing hip extension against resistance band with straight knee		Weeks 6–8:	4
				Standing hip extension against resistance band moving from knee flexion to extension		10–40
				Lateral step down/up
				Sit to stand

Abbreviations: reps, repetitions; NR, not reported; CKC, closed kinetic chain; OKC, open kinetic chain; SLR, straight leg raise; ASLR, active straight leg raise; RM, repetition max; TrA, transversus abdominus; VMO, vastus medialis oblique.