Knee Health
The purpose of this post is for you to understand the basics of the function and movement the knee is responsible for.
We’ve found that the majority of the adults who come to work with us have some form of knee pain and in most cases, it’s easily fixed or managed.
First and foremost, we have to understand that the knee joint is a hinge joint. Its function is to create flexion or extension (heel towards your butt, heel away from your butt). This is a very simple task and is generally not what creates issues.
Issues generally arise from a postural alignment issue. Many of us move through our day-to-day with lazy feet, sitting in cushioned shoes. This creates a weak foot with a collapsed arch. When our arch collapses there’s a chain reaction going all the way up the body. Another common cause of knee pain is a misalignment between the hip and the ankle, with the hip normally rotated inwards, creating tension in the knee joint.
If you take a close look at the image above, you can see that the thigh and shin are moving in two different directions, with the knee caught in-between.
The first joint to experience the issues is generally our knees or our hips, leading to either knee pain or low back tightness/pain.
Please understand as far as forward movement is concerned, the ankle and hip alignment dictate our muscle activation, the knee is simply caught in between. So if the joints above and below aren’t properly lined up and moving cohesively, you will most likely experience knee pain.
Take a look at the image below.. both women are running forward, however one just looks more painful than the other right? It’s all in how you align your body and move through space.
If you’re currently misaligned and experiencing pain, you can take action today to improve joint health and build strong, pain-free legs.
However, if you continue down the path of faulty movement patterns and this misalignment goes on for too long, you may experience chronic pain, this can be caused by the cartilage wearing down and creating a “bone on bone” interaction. If this is the case, most individuals have still been able to still significantly reduce or eliminate pain by improving the support muscles around the knee.
Regardless of your age and your situation, it’s never too late to move better, feel better and live better.
To help with this issue we have a fully adapt and easy-to-use program to help those of you looking to improve knee health and build strength. Just download our app and you will find it under “Online Programs”.
If you’d like personalized attention and instruction, follow the link here to be directed to our Personal Training page and reach out to schedule an initial assessment.