Knee injuries can seriously put the brakes on an athlete’s career. Some sports, like snow, wake and moto, are more prone to knee injuries than others, though no one is immune. It often only takes a poorly positioned foot on a heavy landing, a twist or even a quick foot dab and it can mean 5 to 6 months on the sideline.
Fortunately for me, in my professional career I avoided any serious knee injuries instead opting for shoulders to be my kryptonite, which is another common injury among action sports athletes and enthusiasts, you can read about here in a recent blog about shoulder rehabilitation.
Though I thankfully avoided knee injuries myself, I have been able to help many of my clients rehabilitate post surgery or stabilise their knee’s to reduce pain and avoid injury.
The knee, though a relatively simple hinge joint, can be more complex that it first appears. This is because the function of the knee is closely intertwined with the function of the hip, ankle, and foot. You have no doubt heard the saying ‘a chain is only as strong as its weakest link’ well this is very apparent when talking about knee and lower limb stability. For example if there is too much mobility in the ankle and foot then there may be additional forces applied to the knee that it is not supposed to endure, the same applies with poor ankle mobility. This highlights that there needs to be balance and control throughout the whole body, too much is bad but too little is also.
For the sake of this blog, I am going to assume that your ankle and hip are fine and that your knee is the weakest link (though this is rarely the case and a more holistic approach needs to be taken).
Four main ligaments hold the knee joint together. These ligaments (ACL, PCL, MCL and LCL) prevent the knee joint from bending sideways, twisting or bending backwards. They are your last line of defence and usually what needs to be surgically repaired or replaced if something goes wrong.
It is not ideal or safe to rely solely on ligaments to stabilise the knee so that’s why, with all my clients, I focus on structurally balancing the muscles that surround the knee joint. Two main muscle groups control the flexion and extension of the knee joint (bending and straightening) these are the quadriceps and the hamstrings. In simplest terms, the quads straighten the knee and the hamstrings bend the knee. This is the first place we look to for balance.
Most people are what we call quad dominant. There are several factors that can lead to this and the majority of these are caused by the environment we have created for ourselves to live in but genetics and gender can also play a factor. Being quad dominant greatly increases the risk of ACL injury so it’s best to be in balance and keep those hamstrings strong!
Even if your hammies are on point, the quads can have their own issues. Your quads, like all muscle groups, are supposed to contract in a particular order. This is to maximise mechanical efficiency and stability through the knee’s range of movement as well as maintaining an even force on your knee joint. What often occurs when people have a leg injury is that one of the quad muscles, the Vastas Medialis Oblique (VMO), essentially turns off and the other quad muscles take over its job. When this happens, the knee can still function but long term this can lead to instability, patella (kneecap) tracking issues and even cartilage damage of the knee joint itself. This is why it is important to have strong VMO’s and why I use specific exercises to target and strengthen these muscles with my clients to ensure they have strong stable knees.
Understanding not just the knee joint and its surrounding muscles, but the way the entire lower limb interacts, is the key to rehabilitating, maintaining strength, and avoiding injury. This, combined with the fundamentals from my FREE Ebook, is exactly the approach I take with my clients and athletes to keep them one step ahead of the competition. If you want to take your training and performance to the next level or, need help getting back into condition after an injury contact me now and start your path of success.
Train hard and be safe.
Your strength coach,
Cam