Preventing Knees from Damage
May 21, 2008 by Jean-Luc Boissonneault
There are many factors that can cause knee pain. Sometimes it’s the impact from poor running technique sometimes it’s the way you squat and sometimes it’s just the way you sleep. But here I will talk about the 2 most common knee pain situations I see here at Free Form Fitness and give you tips on fixing them and strengthening them.
Tight Rectus Femoris
If you have tight rectus femoris, you will usually feel pain below the knee cap at the top of the shin this is usually caused by sitting down for long periods of time at a desk or in a car. Try to avoid this and take breaks to stretch and try not to sleep in a fetal position because this can also make the situation worse. If this is the cause of the pain: start by stretching it like this;
This stretch is good because it forces the pelvis to stay in a neutral position. Combine this with myofacial technique like foam rolling on the top of the thigh. Roll up and down 5 times then switch to the other leg 2 more times. Test it out before and after to see if it relieves any pain. If it does, you got it! Keep doing it in small spurts every day until it’s gone.
Tight Iliotibial Band
The IT band is usually when someone plays a side to side sport like squash where they are constantly using their TFL (tensor facia latea) to abduct their legs or simply the way they sit with their legs wide open.
The way to fix this problem is to get a foam roller and roll along side your IT band, this will hurt like hell but will help take the pain away after the fact. It’s important that you start at the top of the hip where there is a bulk of muscle. This is known as the TFL which connects to the IT band. This will sometimes have trigger points so roll up and down 5 times and then test your knee by doing a proper squat (hips back, knees out) and see if it feels any better. If it does repeat this before bed for the next few nights while you take a break from any sport and see if that helps.
Now to help balance the strength in your muscles try to focus on strengthening those opposite muscles like the hamstring and the adductors, this will work wonders for you. Start doing single leg movements and for goodness sakes get a qualified personal trainer in your area to show you how to properly squat. This will not only prevent your knees from damage but it will also allow you to lift more weight and make better gains while not damaging your knees.
