Knee flexors

[tuareg]

I need to know some good stretches on these.


Please :)

[Scooba Dave]

pull your leg toward your face, keep it locked

[tuareg]

Thats easy haha, my knee flexors arent challenged at all :sad:


Thats more of a hamstring stretch :wink: , but thanks anyway.

[Scooba Dave]

well if you think about it, the only way to stretch something is to stretch it in the opposite way that it can bend, but for aknee, you'll just hyperextend it lulz. so you either have to do hyper splits or something to stretch it.

[tuareg]

I figured that out to haha, but those stretches dont seem exactly right. I mean, its not like when you do splits and you can actually feel the stretch in your adductors. Its more like, okay now your knees are gonna to explode haha.


So does anyone know real knee flexor stretches?

[Papa Lazarou]

Umm...

Don't hamstrings flex the knee? What are these knee flexors of which you speak?

[tuareg]

For instence, when i sit with both shins and feet facing outwards, i cant bend forward. If i put them far away from eachother, i have to ly beck on my bed because i literally cant bend forward 1 cm.

[Papa Lazarou]

Whaaaaaat?

[simba_25]

Hamstrings are the muscles that flex the knee

[tuareg]

My grammar was the shit in my earlier post, wasnt it haha?


I dont get it though. My hamstrings are good. I Can do both of these hamstring stretches with ease even when im cold and still touch the ground with my chin.

http://www.trickstutorials.com/images/s21.jpg

http://www.trickstutorials.com/images/s22.jpg


If its supposed to stretch my knee flexors aswell then i just dont undertsnad it at all.


Edit: in before short gorilla says i have knee cancer.

[simba_25]

There aren't 'knee flexors' as you put it, the hamstrings flex the knee, and the top on pic your knees roll inwards so not actully stretching your hamstrings that well. Keep your toes pointed to the sky and it'll make it harder.

[tuareg]

So just pointing my feet upwards and doing the stretch like that, with keeping my feet point up even when i widen, would that help aswell?

That isnt too hard either, but i havent tried actually rolling my leg in with my knees, only with my toes (its not the same). But i'll try it today!

[Papa Lazarou]

What makes you think you have bad "knee flexors"? What movement do you have trouble with, or want to improve range in?

[tuareg]

http://www.abc.net.au/northqld/stories/Wall_Sit_m1032085.jpg

Basically, if i sit like this with my feet facing outwards, its impossible for me to lean forward. And if my legs ar further away from each other i have to lie back on anything im sitting on because i cant sit up.

[Papa Lazarou]

This is seems very strange.

When you say "my feet facing outwards", do you mean only your feet? Or do you mean that your legs spread?

Also, do you mean "lean forward" as in, bending your back or flexing your hips?

Most importantly - where do you feel the stretch or whatever feeling is stopping you?

[tuareg]

I sit the same way the lovely lady does in that picture. Leaning forward, well, i just lean forward haha. Cant really explain it anyway else. Like when you lean onto your legs while stretching. But here i lean on to my legs while sitting and my legs facing outwards the same way she does in the pic.

I feel it around my knees. Its still pretty hard to tell but its definitely my knees.

[Papa Lazarou]

Heh, seeing the ABC sign in that picture was a surprise.

Do you feel it infront or behind the knee?

Just so we're on the same page:

Flexion is when the angle of the joint decreases - so knee flexion is the motion which will eventually bring your heel into your arse. The main knee flexors are therefore the hamstrings. Quadriceps handle extension (the opposite of flexion - increase in angle of joint).

Meh, either way this sounds really odd to me if I'm picturing it right. I think I'm stumped. I can't even guess what effect leaning forward could possibly have on the knee joints or the muscles around them. Leaning forwards while seated involves the spine and hips - the knees might get some effect but I reckon it'd be negligible.

If this causes you pain you might get it checked professionally.

[tuareg]

I feel it in the side of my knee, it sounds weirder the more i post about it ahha.

Basically, its been like this since i was a little kid. And i need to stretch it out cause it stops me from doing certain things aswell as its bothering me alot.

Although when i tried pointing my knee inwards yesterday from this stretch, i found that it stretches this part of my leg greatly.

http://www.trickstutorials.com/images/s20.jpg

I have also found this from juji..

Flexibility can be worsened by spending too much training time moving joints through a shortened range of motion. Hockey players, basketball players, wrestlers, and cyclist, for example, spend most of their activity time in a crouched position. This crouching results in shortened hip and knee flexors in all three of these respective sports.

And i remember that i used to sit crossed legged since i was a small kid till i was 14. My knees and my hips are both terribly stiff (my hips arent that stiff since i stretched it pretty well).

I think this was the problem though.

[Papa Lazarou]

Sitting cross legged shouldn't be the problem (since shortening is more of an issue for muscles working at a reduced range), but something like it might be. You may have low flexibility for internal rotation of the leg or something.

I don't think I can suggest much, except to stretch the muscle that's causing the problem (assuming it is a muscle). And until I figure out which muscle it is, I'm stuck. I can't work it out yet.

Some questions then so I can try and work out what the muscle is. This has me curious, though I might not be able to help much.

Can you point your toes inward like this >< while standing?
Which side of the knee is it on? Inner or outer?
Is it on the front or back of the knee?

[Zoran]

You talkin about your abduction and adduction m00scles by the sounds of it.. http://www.massagetherapy.com/ce/content/images/166.jpg
The sartorius most likely..

[tuareg]

Can you point your toes inward like this >< while standing?

Thats exactly what i cant do haha.

You may have low flexibility for internal rotation of the leg or something.

And thats true aswell. I can turn my leg outwards like nobodies business, but inwards its impossible.


Actually i got it all wrong though haha. When i lean forward my whole leg hurts. Not my knees. Its sometimes my knee that hurts, but its more around my adductors. Wich is silly because i can do the splits just fine. But its around there.


Okay heres my leg, its marked red around were i feel it.

http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/2492/leglololotb9.png

[Papa Lazarou]

Eureka. Almost anyway...

I guess just stretch it. Look for stretches for internal rotation of the leg. I can't imagine what internal rotators have to do with leaning forwards but whatever. These things interact in strange ways and I'm no expert.

[tuareg]

Thanks for all the help papa. You helped a lot :smile:

[Ashtar]

You are wanting to stretch the biaxial muscles which serve as knee flexors.

To stretch the hams which cross the hip, you would keep the knee straight and flex your hip.

To stretch the gastrocnemius which cross the ankle, you would keep the knee straight while dorsiflexing the ankle.

Sometimes both of these are done simultaneously, keeping dorsiflexed during a sitting hamstring stretch for example. I'm not sure if that's done for conveniance or if doing it simultaneously has some added benefit.