The best rehab is the one you can avoid
Women have certainly taken their place in the world of athletics. But in the last few years there's been a remarkable increase in knee injuries in the female population.
We all can benefit from physical activity. Though exercise can be rewarding it can also be damaging if we don't pay attention to potential problem zones in our body.
Women have certainly taken their place in the world of athletics. But in the last few years there's been a remarkable increase in knee injuries in the female population.
We all can benefit from physical activity. Though exercise can be rewarding it can also be damaging if we don't pay attention to potential problem zones in our body.
There is a large body of research that has demonstrated that one of those problem zones for women is imbalance in the leg musculature and connective tissue that surrounds the knee. It seems that women are prone to ligament injuries, and knee pain that is caused from dominance of the muscles down the front of the thigh (quadriceps). Not only do these muscles tend to become overdeveloped, but the muscles in the back of the thigh and buttock region (hamstrings and gluteus muscles) have a tendency to be weak. This creates a tug-of-war between the fronts of the legs with the back of the legs, resulting in knee pain.
Women involved in cycling, jumping sports, racquet sports, soccer, hockey, and jogging need to be especially attentive to this imbalance in the legs. The goal is to essentially calm down the muscles of the front of the thigh with stretching, and to work hard to strengthen the muscle in the back of the leg and buttock region. Exercises to avoid would be quadriceps extensions (horrible exercise for anyone), leg press, smith machine (another horrible machine for anyone), hack squat, and forward lunges.
I would recommend the following lower body program be introduced into your regular workout. It should be incorporated as follows:
Every other day
Quadriceps stretch, deep lateral stretch
3 times per week
Good mornings, single leg hip lifts, standing hamstring curls, reverse lunges (do 10-12 per leg and do all reps on one leg before you switch to the next leg. Repeat for 3-4 sets, single leg bent knee deadlift
Related reading:
Healthy Hamstrings
Postural wall exercise
Always consult your healthcare provider before beginning an exercise program to be certain that it is right for your condition.
Women involved in cycling, jumping sports, racquet sports, soccer, hockey, and jogging need to be especially attentive to this imbalance in the legs. The goal is to essentially calm down the muscles of the front of the thigh with stretching, and to work hard to strengthen the muscle in the back of the leg and buttock region. Exercises to avoid would be quadriceps extensions (horrible exercise for anyone), leg press, smith machine (another horrible machine for anyone), hack squat, and forward lunges.
I would recommend the following lower body program be introduced into your regular workout. It should be incorporated as follows:
Every other day
Quadriceps stretch, deep lateral stretch
3 times per week
Good mornings, single leg hip lifts, standing hamstring curls, reverse lunges (do 10-12 per leg and do all reps on one leg before you switch to the next leg. Repeat for 3-4 sets, single leg bent knee deadlift
Related reading:
Healthy Hamstrings
Postural wall exercise
Always consult your healthcare provider before beginning an exercise program to be certain that it is right for your condition.
Could tightness in my quads cause electrical type shocks in my knee? I did the quad stretch and it actually felt amazing on the knee, it felt like pressure was taken off the area. I'm by no stretch of the imagination an athlete but I do like to jog, play casual tennis, but most of all I love to weight train. I have to admit that I thought the running was good for strengthening the legs, so I don't do much for that area with weights, ooooppps.
Tightness in the quads can certainly cause electrical type shocks in the knee area. It could also be the long band of tissue that starts at the hip and connects down near the knee, called the IT band. Essentially what is happening is that the little bone in front of the knee, called the patella, gets tensioned in directions that aren’t ideal and when it bumps up against structures that it shouldn’t, the nerves of the tissue send a very clear message that you may hurt yourself; that would be the electric shocks.
I just want to add Jen, that the electric shock can also be related to the meniscus which is a little disc of cartilage that sits inside the knee and works as a cusion between the bones of the leg. Check it out with an Ortho, and he or she should be able to rule that in or out.