In my chiropractic and sports medicine clinic, I see a great deal of knee pain patients. The most common conditions are:
- Meniscus Tears
- Arthritis
- ACL sprains
- Patellar tendonitis (jumper's knee)
- Quadriceps tendonitis (runner's knee)
- Subluxated Patella
One of the most common exam findings during knee injuries is a lack of rotational flexibility in the hips. Since your body can't rotate through the hips, there's added rotation flexibility in the knee (which isn't a good thing). The knee is a hinge joint. It doesn't want to do any twisting. That's going to stress the meniscus a great deal.
Think about a golf swing. If you can't twist through the hips, where do you think you'll twist from? The knee! This can happen every single step you take during normal every walking as well. So here's a quick tip of what to look for and what you could do about it. I'd recommend checking this at the beginning of your training session and picking the one corrective strategy that works best to perform before the rest of your workout.
What to check: SQUAT OR LUNGE (whichever hurts your client)
- We're looking for your client to comfortably perform a full range squat or lunge without pain or strain.
If you see this: Move on to the workout
If you don't, try one of these 3 corrective exercises:
1. Can Openers -
To increase torso rotation which decreases rotation stress on the knee
2. Spidermans -
To increase rotation hip flexibility while performing core stabilizing movements
3. Kneeling Chops/Lifts -
This is perfect for learning to stabilize the hip/knee complex
Have your client perform the squat or lunge before and after the exercise. If the squat/lunge has improved or decrease discomfort then GREAT! Keep that one in the database and use it in future workouts with that client. If it didn't improve the squat/lunge, try the next exercise. In my experience, one of these three will help improve the knee function..
Your client now has improved flexibility in the hips, with improved flexibility in the hips; guess what areas are stressed less? You guessed it! The knees and meniscus. Your client will now have a better technique with the additional exercises you select for rest of the workout. heir performance will be better and you'll look like a genius!