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How to Fix Knee Pain

Knee pain afflicts millions of people across the globe. Anyone who has had knee pain knows it’s debilitating, annoying and will inhibit your ability to be as active as you want to be. If you are an athlete, ex-athlete, gym rat or simply a weekend fitness enthusiast, this can be very frustrating and dramatically change your routine. There is good news though-  as long as the knee pain is not from any torn ligaments or tendons, but is instead caused by poor mobility, tightness, weakness or muscles not firing correctly- your knee pain can be fixed. 

The culprit when it comes to knee pain is usually one of two things:  foot problems including poor ankle mobility or plantar fasciitis, or the glutes not being activated enough.  If you suffer from any of these ailments, it can throw your body out of alignment and cause other muscles to take over and try to do a job that they were not designed to do.

The root of this knee dysfunction is the duration of activity.  When you normalize dysfunction it just causes more dysfunction in your body and can cause injuries to multiply. The body works as an integrated chain reaction. To insure a symbiotic state, all muscles must be working at an optimal level. When you feel a pain, do not ignore it, address it and the rest of your body will appreciate it.

There are numerous exercises you can do to protect your knees. The location of your knee pain determines what kind of exercises you need to do to correct the issue. One thing you should never do is perform Leg Extensions to strengthen the muscles around your knee. Open chain exercises like that put too much pressure on the patella and the kneecap.

Good knees start with good hips. Your hips should be strong in all four directions the leg can move in: Adduction/Abduction, Hip Flexion/Extension. There are different machines to help work your hips all four ways.

Hip Adduction helps with keeping your kneecap tracking properly by strengthening your adductors (inner thighs), medial glutes and groin. Strong legs lessen pronation (collapsing in) which, if excessive, puts too much stress on the knee.

A straight leg raise is a very important exercise for activating the rectus femoris, vastus medialis and lower abs at the insertion point of the upper leg. When doing this exercise, you only need a light load 3lb-10lb because you want to recruit only the small muscles of the quad and not involve the hip flexors as much. This particular exercise is meant to activate the quads. When performing this exercise, remember that if you feel it in your abs and hip flexors more than your quads, that means the quad is fatigued and needs to recover.

Stiff or weak ankles can adversely affect your knees. If you have poor ankle mobility, every time you walk you put undue stress on the body because your foot’s range of motion is affected by how the ankle functions. A weak ankle and shin can cause the foot to collapse to the ground and not absorb the ground properly, but when those areas are strong the correct mechanics occur. The chain reaction caused by the foot collapsing goes right to the knee, so over time a person with this condition can begin to feel knee pain and quad weakness because the quads are overcompensating for the dysfunction in the foot.

To strengthen your shins and ankles, try sitting in a chair or standing up leaning against a wall and perform foot raises. You can also sit on the ground, wrap a band around your foot and flex your foot towards your shin (Dorsi-Flexion).

I have a saying, “Sitting is Death,” because sitting for long periods is horrible for the mind and the body. Sitting puts our bodies in somewhat of a fetal position, which we outgrew years ago, but more importantly sitting shuts off your glutes and shortens your muscles, especially the hip flexors. When your glutes aren’t working, it’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ your knees are going to start hurting. The glutes are the biggest muscle in your body and many studies equate patella femoral pain to improper glute activation.

There are various ways to turn on your glutes by using bands, dumbbells, kettle bells, body weight or barbells. You should always start off with the basic bridging or mini band exercise to isolate the glutes. My go-to exercises for glute activation are band walks, glute bridges, single leg glute bridges and hip thrusts.  Any combination of these exercises are great for activating the glutes because they are glute-isolating exercises, which need to be followed by some integrated movement patterns that combine more muscle groups. Step-ups, lunges and KB swings are great integrated movement patterns that tie everything together and will help lead you to complete muscle integration.

When designing your exercise program, remember to combine elements from exercises that incorporate your foot, adductors and glutes. This holistic approach will protect you from the normal wear-and-tear we get from living an active lifestyle and will help prevent or treat that dreaded knee pain.

Check out some sample exercise videos, great resources to get you started:

Spring is in the air!  If you live in the Northeast like I do, after having 60 degree temperatures, you couldn’t imagine that we’d now be dealing with 8-12 inches of snow on the ground from a storm last week. Still, warm weather is on the way and that means more people working out outside. There are fitness enthusiasts and everyday people who, in trying to stick with their New Year’s Resolutions, would rather workout at a park or track instead of a gym.

If you have been cooped up inside all winter and only ran on a treadmill, transitioning outside can be somewhat of a challenge. Running on a treadmill is completely different from running outside. Many people get shin pain when they begin to run outside because their bodies aren’t ready for all the pounding on the pavement. Shin pain can be debilitating and lead to shin splits and even a stress fracture. There are some basic things you can do to prevent shin pain and prepare yourself to run outside on different surfaces.

Shin pain occurs when the muscles in your leg are not strong enough to withstand the pounding they take from the force production that occurs when running on hard surfaces. Sitting on your couch weakens your body and running on the treadmill is not the same as running outside. After taking time off, you have to prepare your body for the demands of your workout or cross-training activity. When running on a treadmill, your stance leg becomes a stabilizer so you don’t fall off the treadmill. Plus, the surface on a treadmill is forgiving, unlike asphalt or a track. There is no push-off when running on a treadmill because the belt goes backwards.

Asphalt, rubberized track and grass are all surfaces that impact your legs differently than a treadmill. The push-off in multiple planes of motion puts tremendous stress on the lower leg. Jumping, cutting, start-and-stop sports all put stress on your shins. Your training in the gym should reflect these added stresses to help prevent injury in your favorite activities.

So how do you strengthen your shins? Ankle flexion is the best way, but you should also work to strengthen your glutes, quads, hamstrings and calves, which will help prevent you getting pain in your shins.  Glute Bridging, RDL’s and Lunges should all be performed before you start running outside. Another exercise that should be done is 4-Way Hip in a cable column or a 4 Way Hip machine. Strengthening your hips in all 3 planes of motion will help lessen the impact of running on your shins. Below are two workouts you can do to help prevent shin pain.

In order to strengthen your legs and combat shin pain you should perform these exercises and gradually increase your intensity and volume of your activity as you get stronger.

Workout 1

Hip Thrust – 3x15

Single Leg Glute Bridge – 3x12 each leg

Towel/Val Slide Reverse Lunge – 3x12 each leg

Seated Calf Raise – 3xBurn

Band Ankle Dorsi Flexion – 3x15

Related Videos for exercises:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHCbHKb0e8A

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NXv0Nany-Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk5dV_pEqtY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abHsgVMc0Z8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWhyVGr2jpM

Workout 2

4 Way Hip – 3x15 each way

(abduction/adduction/flexion/extension)

Single Leg Hip Thrust – 3x12 each leg

4 Way Band – 2x20 yards

(forward/backward/side to side)

Leaning Ankle Lifts – 3xBurn

Related Videos for exercises:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy6-uVM0tGs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=om7q9aCVvR0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8m4yGk6ZsM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7TP5bKIZ7E

Enjoy these workouts and finally getting to exercise outdoors soon!

We are well into the winter season and depending on where you live, you’re either begging for spring to come now or spring-like weather is an everyday occurrence. Since I live in the Northeast, Groundhog Day is looked at with much anticipation. How many more weeks do we have left of cold winter weather? Shoveling your car out and putting on layers upon layers of clothing in order to avoid that bitter cold air that buzzes through the air like a Hawk circling its prey, is all too common at this time of year. Nothing sounds better in the morning than the sweet sound of birds chirping and the smell of spring in the air. Last month, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow so that means spring is right around the corner!

I, for one, look forward to the weather getting warmer and being able to change it up and train outside wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Training outside is a great for the body and the mind. More importantly, training outside is not a controlled environment so the wind, air, and surface all come into effect, giving you a better workout. There are a multitude of ways to train outside, whether it’s a boot camp style workout, cardio based or doing something athletic like playing a sport. When the weather gets warmer, many people take their gyms outside.

MCore FTS has a small portable version of the TS3 that easily fits in your car and can be used with bands or dumbbells, so you can bring your gym and some of your favorite workouts with you wherever you are. The MCore TS Consumer Model is a perfect tool to invigorate your workout. You get the best of both worlds by being able to take advantage of beautiful weather outside and using weights and bands in an unlimited spacial environment, meaning there really are no restrictions when it comes to space when training outside, so anything is possible.

Full-body workouts are great to do and mimic movements in your everyday life. We don’t isolate body parts when we move throughout the day, so for the most part the general population should train that way. The body responds well to high intensity interval training (HIIT) or circuit workouts. Performing a Band or  DB Incline followed by a half gasser or 5-10-5 agility drill puts a different type of stress on the body. Workouts like this at the park can be a fun, exhilarating and  different way to break up your normal gym routine. You can add hill sprints or drills that emphasize cutting along with your weight training. The Consumer Model allows for unlimited programming, so if there are two of you working out, incorporating lifts and running at the same time is easy.

Below is a sample partner workout you can do outside with a pair of dumbbells and bands using MCore’s Consumer Model. Although there are only 6 steps, this is not an easy workout; it’s a muscular endurance workout so make sure you go at your own pace.

Sample Workout

-DB Bench/Band Hi Row – 3x10

-5-10-5 Pro Agility – 3x3 patterns

-S-L DB Squat/Band Lunge + Press – 3x8 each leg

-Half Gasser – 3x6 rounds

-DB Bentover Row/Band Side Rotations – 3x10

-Burpees – 6x30 seconds

*Do each pairing with 1min rest after your condo exercise.

*Rest 90 seconds after finishing each pairing of exercises

Enjoy your workout!

If you haven’t checked out MCore’s Consumer Model yet, be sure to visit http://mcorefts.com/collections/shop-main/products/new-consumer-training-station