I hear it all the time…”I can’t do lunges because they hurt my knees”or “I’ve been told to avoid lunges until my knee pain goes away.
But, think of so many movements we do outside of ‘the gym’ like walking up and down stairs, getting in and out of our car, bending down to pick up a set of keys off the floor, running–well–you get the picture.
What do these movements have to do with lunges and knee pain?
Everything!
These movements and many others we do all the time are single-leg dominant and a necessary part of our everyday lives…therefore, avoiding these movements rarely fixes a problem such as knee pain.
Eliminating chronic pain and injuries requires an ability to perform functional movements efficiently. This is best achieved through training. But, it takes more than just doing “functional” exercises on a balance pad or stability ball.
In most cases, knee pain from lunges doesn’t happen because someone has “weak knees”, “bum knees”, “arthritis” and it’s not because of “old-age” either.
The REAL reason lunges (and squats) often cause knee pain is due to muscular imbalances related to the quadriceps and hip flexors.
But, aren’t we supposed to feel the quads during leg exercises?
Well, it’s a little more complex than an either-or answer can provide…Allow me to explain a bit more about what I mean.
I’ve discovered that most people are what I call ‘quad-dominant’ meaning that they have developed most of their lower extremity strength in the quadriceps.
Now, these individuals often also have tight or dominant hip flexors as well.
And, this quad-dominance creates an imbalance of the lower extremities during functional movements like squatting and lunging because exclusively using the quadriceps results in a ‘forward’ pulling at the hip.
Now, you can’t actually see it happening but what you’ll notice when you watch someone do a squat or lunge is their hips and knees will move a bit forward.
And, if you ask them where they feel it 9 times out of 10 they’ll say in the quadriceps.
This quad-dominance and forward motion shifts the center of gravity and INCREASES stress to the knees.
This is the #1 reason why lunges and squats cause problems to the knees, hips, ankles and lower back too. But, it’s easy to fix once you’ve performed a proper lower body exercise assessment and identified the weak links.
Speaking of identifying weak links in the lower extremities, in just a few short weeks you’ll be able to get access to an exclusive webinar I was fortunate to be a part of along with 6 other presenters.
I can’t go into all the details just yet, but I can tell you it’s all about how to identify & correct the muscular imbalances that are keeping your clients (or possibly you) from achieving their fitness goals.
This webinar is packed full of ‘how-to’ info on everything you need to know to correct muscle imbalances that are the leading cause of pain and injuries.
If you’re a subscriber to my newsletter then keep an eye on your email inbox for how you can gain access to this powerful webinar and watch it from your own computer.
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