IPL'S LETS GET FIT~ JUST FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BAD KNEES!

[IronpumpedLady]

TweetBY: IPL


Many people know they need to bend "right" but don't because it hurts their knees.

Bending right will not hurt knees. It will help fix one of the things that has been injuring them - bad bending habits which pressure and grind the joint.

Good bending will also give your knees the exercise they (and you) need.

Some knee patients are told to never "bend right" with a half-squat or lunge because it is bad for the knee. There are specific things about bending and straightening the knee that can increase certain kinds of pain, to be covered in future posts. Use your brain and try the following gently and safely. Done right, it should reduce knee pressure, not increase it.


How To Lunge:
1. Stand with one foot far in front of the other. Both feet face forward.
2. Feet remain normal width from side-to-side, not directly in line front-to-back.
3. Lift your back heel. Don't turn the back toes outward. Look at your back foot and check.
4. Tuck your hip under, You will feel a far better stretch and strengthener.
5. Bend both knees to lower straight downward. Don't touch back knee to the floor. Use leg muscles. Watch your front knee and keep it over your front heel, not sliding forward.
6. Don't let your front knee sway inward.
7. Keep upper body upright and straight.
8. Lower and rise several times, then switch legs. Keep feet still, not stepping forward and back.

Tips:
To keep healthy knee positioning for the front knee, peek downward to see your front knee and foot.
You should be able to see your front toes all the way through the bend.
If your knee slides forward covering your toes, you are shifting weight to your knee joint and off your leg muscles. This is one of two common ways to increase knee pain while bending. Letting the front knee sway inward is another.
Keep front knee steady over your front ankle, not sliding forward or inward. You will strengthen and stabilize your knees and legs instead of hurt them. You will feel more muscle use when you keep healthful positioning.


Benefits of the Standing Lunge:
* Strengthen leg muscles
* Strengthen the knee
* Stop harmful forces on the knees from bad bending
* Stretch the front of the hip of the rear leg
* Stretch the Achilles tendon and foot of the back leg
* Learn knee stabilization
* Practice balance
* Retrain healthful bending for daily life - transferring to function instead of just being an arbitrary exercise - free exercise all day
* Retrain straight upper body position for bending - more functional exercise
Provide beneficial general exercise, warming which makes further movement easier, and healthful body movement.



BENDING RIGHT~
(SEE PIC)

If you would like to reduce risk of falls, osteoporosis, bad discs, sciatica, achy upper back, and arthritis, get a built-in Achilles tendon stretch, and get strong shapely legs all at the same time, just use your legs with good body position for daily healthy bending.

Why go to the gym or to physical therapy to do knee bends to strengthen your legs, then spend your "real life" weakening your legs and degenerating your lower back discs with bad bending, and say, "I don't have time to exercise."

You will get free built-in exercise just moving in life. My friends and family in Asia are astonished when I tell them I teach Americans how to bend to look in the refrigerator, and that Americans tell me it is too much work to bend right to load dishes in a machine that washes for them. Then they pay money to go to a gym or buy equipment to exercise their legs.

Here is a fun way to change mindset to exercise as a lifestyle:
Count how many times a day you bend and how many times you can choose to harm yourself or help yourself.
If you would like to try "fitness as a lifestyle," this is the best place to start. Think of it:
*when bending to make the bed,
*to pick up laundry,
*look in the refrigerator,
*load and unload the dishwasher,
*to pick up your shoes,
*open a lower cabinet,
*lift a child or pet,
*feed a child or pet,
*pick up things from the floor,
*pick up hand weights to do exercise,
*put down weights after exercising,
*many daily activities.

People spend time and money for endless treatments and gadgets for back and knee pain and tight Achilles tendon. Healthy bending prevents the commonest sources of all of these.
* A major predisposing factor of knee and hip arthritis is weak thighs.
* A major risk factor of hip osteoporosis is lack of weight bearing exercise.
* A major risk factor of falls is weak legs and poor balance.
* The Achilles tendon gets a natural stretch with each time you bend right with heels down, and loses this constant normal source of stretch without good bending.
* The most important contributor to making a lumbar disc degenerate, or slip out of place (herniate), and press on nerves causing sciatica, is bad bending forward.
* The biggest contributor to upper back and neck pain is keeping the upper body rounded and bent over forward.



LUNGE~

The lunge has been regarded second to the squat by some as the best lower body exercise ever invented. If this is true, why is that? Not only is the lunge a great multi-joint exercise for the lower body, but it is also an exceptional closed chain exercise. A closed chain exercise typically “connects” the athlete to the ground and allows the body to use the ground as a lever system. The lunge allows the athlete to push the front leg downwards into the ground, which becomes its rigid lever for proper execution, whilst being a great power builder for locomotion.

However, the lunge is even more. With the front stationary lunge—where the front leg is the “working” and the back leg serves as a balance mechanism, we introduce other characteristics including: active stretch, mobility, strength, balance, and plantar-flexion. All these movements occur in a single rep—along with concentric and eccentric muscle actions. Sounds to good to be true for a single exercise, however, it is exactly why the lunge is a beneficial exercise when performed correctly.

Balance- The lunge is a great precursor to single leg exercises. Even though both feet are in contact with the ground at the beginning and end of the exercise, there is a minimal balance requirement during the transition of the actual “lunge” or “step”. Once in the finish position, where the hips descend because of the front knee flexion, the athlete must counter-balance the load transfer. In this case, bodyweight becomes the load transferring, and in advanced trainees, dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, or sandbags become extra loads. When controlled optimally, the balance demands placed on the body increase proprioceptive awareness (especially in the balance leg), load transfer, and reactive sensory.

Mobility & Strength (acceleration/deceleration) – With optimal execution of the lunge, mobility is exercised throughout the hips. When the body is aligned correctly and load transfer begins, a locomotive acceleration is achieved with the front “step-out” lunge. Continuously practiced, this act of hip flexion and extension allows the rotators of the hip to work in unison, permitting the hip joint to move freely as it is designed to do. With the backwards lunge, a deceleration component is used that is helpful in athletic performance. As weight shifts to the front leg, the hamstrings of that [working] leg “brake” to allow the hips to drop down. If the hamstrings do not decelerate the movement, the athlete translates that weight too far forward placing stress on the front knee complex. A strong posterior chain will prevent this common error from occurring and ensure optimal performance during sport and function.

Active Stretch – During the knee decent of a lunge, most trainees will feel a “pulling”, “nagging” stretch of the opposite hip flexor. This is common in those that present shortened hip flexors and attempt the lunge. However, it is beneficial for those to perform the lunge when they are presented with tightness, because it allows the surrounding joints to integrate under the weight of the body to stretch tight muscles.

Plantar-flexion – Integrating the mobility, balance, and active stretch components is the plantar-flexed position of the back foot. This extreme position places a tremendous amount of “stretch” on the calf muscle, along with strengthening the metatarsal structure of the foot. Ankle mobility is achieved once the foot is “planted” and the same side knee flexes and extends. If a discrepency in form exists, this is the first area to inspect. If metatarsal stability cannot be achieved, the ankle joint will pronate or supinate which will lead to a lateral body weight shift. If the foot cannot plant itself, the knee will follow and take the hip with it.

Complexity of the Lunge: With properly balanced muscles, the lunge is not a difficult exercise to perform. It becomes a movement that mimics running or sprinting. However, some trainees find it difficult to perform and the reason it can be challenging, is the same reasons we find it to be a beneficial exercise. Here is what is needed:

Mobility – Ankle – without it, something above the ankle joint will falter. When it reaches the hip complex, the spine is endangered and the exercise becomes more risk than benefit.

Flexibility – Hips/Hamstrings/Erectors – if the hip flexors are overly shortened—as they are in office workers, the trainee will feel an overwhelming stretch in the “planted” leg which will rob them of full range of motion. If the muscles of the hamstrings and back are overly tight, the glutes will likely not fire and place more demands on the quadriceps. This is a common mistake, and typically trainees feel it “in their quads”—right above the kneecap. This is a sign of quadriceps tendon stress.

Strength – Legs – without adequate lower body strength; the trainee will have no chance of returning to the start or finish position (acceleration/deceleration). This is typically seen when a trainee advances prematurely and cannot finish a set of properly executed lunges or walking lunges.

Core – without optimal core activation, the lumbar spine is open to torque with each step that loses balance. A securely snug vertebrae ensures a strong foundation for all one to receive all the benefits of this exercise.

Progressing the Lunge: With the noted benefits of the lunge exercise, how is a novice trainee expected to learn this movement without causing harm? Start with basics:

1.) Prepare by lowering your body unto the floor. Maintain an erect torso while on your knees. Eyes should be facing directly at a path in front of you and arms should be relaxed to your sides. At this point, the glutes and abdominals should be rigid or braced.



2.) With control, bring one leg forward. The knee of the other leg should still be touching the ground. This position resembles a “genuflect”. Eyes are still facing forward and shoulders are squared. The glute of the front leg should be contracted for the next phase.



3.) The front leg (which was forward) propels the body forward. With abs tight and glutes contracted, the trainee returns to the starting position with a “genuflect” and finally a kneel. The exercise is repeated on the other side.





HOPE THIS INFO HELPS~



Stay Strong~~!!!
IPL

[Dzone]

TweetGreat information, as always. Thank you for this!