Knees, We Need 'Em

Knees. We all have them. Some are in better condition than others. There are a multitude of reasons why knees hurt. ACL injury, meniscus tear or strain, ITBS, bursitis, or something else. The point is you are either in pain or you want to not be in pain. Therefore, you are researching what you can do to protect your knees or help them feel better.

This is an incredible joint with an unbelievable range and amount of motion. Such a burden to be

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taken by a relatively small joint. It’s not that any joint has an abundance of muscles covering it for support or protection.

This complex joint is a hinge joint. It only moves along one plane. Looking at the anatomy of the leg, one can easily see and understand how the muscles of the upper and lower leg attach around the knee. Taking a quick look at the image to the left, you can get a clear picture of how the muscles and tendons are connected around this joint.

Both in front and behind the knee, there are several muscle sections that do overlap the joint. This is a structural feature that imbues the knee with its great lateral strength and flexibility. Conversely, the this joint is also left unprotected to the sides and, after a specific range, to the front. The knee is vulnerable to hyperextension. Many runners, martial artists, and football kickers have experienced the embarrassing and painful event of over-extending one’s knee. Like a minor sprain, hyperextensions are easily recovered from with a little time, ice packs, and ibuprofen.

There are several more injuries that are far more damaging and have far more extensive recovery protocols. The therapies for each of the types of injuries and recovery times are better suited for chapters in medical books than articles. What we will do instead is go over how to keep your knees healthy and strong thereby preventing injuries. Prevention being preferable to recovery.

So long as you and your doctor are both clear on what you are doing, there should be no issue with these exercises. This is not a good time, for us middle-age athlete/weekend warriors, to follow our old coaches’ mantras. We are no longer in position to “play through the pain.” This can be catastrophic, my man. Catastrophic. This is easily more debilitating injuries, early onset of degenerative diseases, or both. According to specialists, knee injuries and surgeries are increasing. That includes repair for over-use and under-use of our knees. So, talk with your doctor and work with said medical professional in putting together your knee care plan. Using this piece will give you a starting point.

Warmup

The beginning is always the best place to start. For exercising the beginning is a warmup. Using a stationary bicycle is a solid choice. If you are coming back from an injury or from a physician’s care, follow your doctor’s recommendation. As a general guide, using the bicycle is a safe choice as it will engage all the musculature that supports your knees. The pumping action is also going to cycle synovial fluid, the lubricant that keeps joints slick and moist, through joints at am increased rate. Incidentally, the practice of tai chi chuan is also known to increase the pumping action through the legs, hips, and spine. In this way, the ancient art of tai chi has been proven to reverse joint and related tissue damage.

Form

One of the major contributors to knee injuries in training that I have seen is alignment. Whether you are doing one of the numerous variations of lunges, doing squats, deadlifts, any keg exercise or movement the alignment of your leg joints is paramount. Even without weight doing lunges on one leg when the joints are misaligned can end in severe knee pain.

I mention lunges as several physical therapists use lunges as part of the rehabilitation process after surgery or severe injury. Common mistakes on the side lunge include:

·         Knee past toes

·         Knee direction not aligning with your foot direction

·         Going too fast through the lunge before establishing solid form

These mistakes on the side lunge are a sure way to injure your knees. Pay close attention to:

·         Starting with your feet at shoulder width

·         Stepping with one leg to the side

·         Lowering your body to the desired depth

·         Keeping your hip joint aligned over your ankle

These guidelines and pointers apply to all variations of the lunge. Proper technique in the squat will also fully strengthen and support all the muscles and tendons surrounding the knees. You can read about the squat here.

Machines have come a long way in the decades since they were first introduced into the world of weight training. For combating imbalance between the quadriceps and hamstrings the leg extension and leg curl machines are fantastic. These two machines come with instructions and are easily used. The one caveat that must be mentioned here is joint and cam alignment.

There is a pivot point on the machine, that is the cam. That cam must be as closely aligned to your knee joint as possible. If this alignment is not kept, over time, there will be an increase in the amount of damage from imbalance in your knees.

Finishing out the balance equation involves the calves. These muscles are among the most frequently used in our body. We use them to balance, stand, and walk. This makes training the calves harder to train. There is an upshot to training the calves. Stretching and training calves can be done on any stair step.

Stretches

The stretches here are common and, I will wager, that you already know what they are. You just need to put foot to butt and do the stretches.

As above, where we discussed muscular balance regarding strength, balance in flexibility is no less important.

Quad Stretch – Stand on one foot, reach back, take hold of the other foot, pull up and back, press against the pull with your thigh gently and you should feel the stretch

Hamstring – feet together with your legs straight (NOTE: Do Not lock your knees, rather keep your knees slightly flexed), bend at the hips, reach for your toes, allow gravity to do most of the work

Hamstring – put your heel up on an elevated support, keep your knee slightly flexed, bend at the hip

Calves – stand with the balls of your feet on the edge of a step or a tall block of wood, lower your heels far enough to feel stretching in your calves

For each of the stretches lean into the stretch and hold it for 10 to 15 seconds. Stretch each muscle or muscle group for three sets of 10 to 15 seconds.

Pain

Anyone who has a history with physical movement and exercise knows that exercise will hurt. Whether it hurts that moment or the next day, exercise is going cause discomfort. What I mean by pain is that sense of something being very not-right. That sensation screaming, “Motrin of any military size is NOT going to cut it this time, pal.” That kind of pain tells us we need to go back to square one … back to the doctor.

You know what your body feels like when it is broken or injured. Listen to that sensation. Our knees support our weight. We need them for all we do. One day, carrying a grandchild up the stairs is going to be of paramount importance. Do not trash that.

Stay strong.

Train smart.

Positive Thinking For Health

      How much of what we say to ourselves is negative? How does that impact us? Our family? Our children?

      We all have our down times. Those moments, or days, when everything is dark. No matter what happens we see things negatively. Depression. Some of us look at the world through the eyes of doubt as a regular thing, the pessimist. “Well, Marc, one person's pessimist is another person's realist,” you might be tempted to say. But, I ask you, what impact does this life view have on your health? How does it impact your body? Can changing how you look at the world change your health?

      There are several studies that tell us positivity, optimism, can improve the quality and longevity of our lives. Let's look at that a little.

Live longer

      Rather than just falling apart, positive outlooks enable people to overcome and persevere in the darkest of situations; optimists look at what they can do and do that. This is a lesson taught at military survival schools. Look for what you can do and focus on that. This is resilience. It also manifests in our immunity system.

      If you can improve how you view the world and the circumstances you find yourself in, you can improve your body's immunity. These studies show those with positive emotions about how they are doing in important areas of their lives have better resistance to infections. Positivity actually strengthens our immune system while negativity weakens it. This is not a cure-all, but if it can help keep the flu away, it's worth smiling more.

      You can handle stress better and outperform negative attitudes. How is that? By being able to look at the situation and seeing what went right and how to change what went wrong you can readjust what is being done and move forward.

      Mark Divine, a former Navy SEAL writes, in his book The Way of the SEAL, described fast forward failure. Understand that failures happen. All the time. SEALS hit snags in every operation. Business leaders hit shags in every deal. None of those snags matter. What matters is how people deal with them. When the failure hits, these elites look at what went wrong and, rather than finding who to blame, they find the way to go forward and succeed. You will be better able to see the big picture and identify solutions as you move forward.

      As you get better at doing this fast forward failure you will make better decisions under pressure. It takes practice. Positivity takes practice. As you practice you will also find that you have happier long-term relationships.

      Optimism to positive self-esteem to success to optimism is a cycle of thought habit

. It really does not matter which way you take the cycle, just so long as you take it and begin. It is a learned habit. Start with small things and small successes and work your way up, building confidence. Mark Divine, a former Navy SEAL writes, in his book The Way of the SEAL, that every night as SEAL candidates went to bed they were taught to focus on their successes from that day. In so doing, they built a wellspring of confidence to draw upon when things became tougher. …

Use this as a triangle of good mental health

and self talk during a workout, during the day, or whenever you may need a gentle reminder. This is something that is both positive and healthy to model and teach to our children. I am using this triangle and the lessons from
Mark Divine in my house on a daily basis. They help me and my children.

Confidence to Achieve and Succeed

      We need to have confidence in that we are supposed to be happy, that we deserve to enjoy and benefit from what we have worked for. Otherwise, we are living a life of drudgery, slogging from one day to the next. This is the embodiment of low self-esteem.

      Low self-esteem leaves us vulnerable to negative thoughts and ideas such as not being good enough, self-distrust and leads to lower creativity and productivity. Those who live in this state, and I have been one, just go through the motions of life, doing what they have to do to get by. Just get by, nothing more.

High self-confidence brings empowerment, energy, motivation, the world is open and full of challenges and opportunities. Granted, these people are hard to handle until I have had some coffee in the morning, but it is better to be one than not.

Things Suck, Now What

      Life has just kicked you in the jewels. I don't know what this looks like, but you do. Your challenges are yours. But, what can we do to get out of that ditch?

Focus on the Good

      Not easy, believe me, I know how hard this is to do. Still it is extremely important. Remember some of those things that you are really grateful for when you are flying high? Yeah, those. Write some of them down. Look at that list of blessings and people that are all around you when you are in that dark place.

      It is natural to focus on the negative. Ignoring problems does not make them go away; however, dwelling on them does not make solutions appear.

      I am not going to lie to you, this is going to be difficult when you are down. But, it will also be well worth it. Perhaps there is a smell that you find particularly pleasant. Go find that. Scent is the most powerful memory stimulant. Find that scent and connect again to that happy memory and its joy.

      Write a Daily Blessing Journal. Each day you write down a few things that made your day really great, or even just a few moments of it splendid. Something to refer back to when you need it.

      Stop and do something that you really enjoy. Step away from the chaos, go to your favorite coffee shop or cafe, book nook, or whatever and indulge for 15 or 30 minutes. Take a few minutes to reset yourself.

      Focus on someone else. No, I am not saying that you should stalk anyone! But, perhaps, you should focus on someone else and make sure that they are having a pleasant time. By taking the focus off of yourself and putting onto someone outside you change your thoughts. Your actions also bring about the release of feel good hormones in your brain. So, this is a double tap on the feel good actions.

      Expressing gratitude. Just saying thank you and putting a smile on your face, even when you dont feel like it, will tell your brain that you must release something inside to change what you are feeling in your brain. The positive neurotransmitters, called serotonin, will be released in small amounts. Resulting in a slightly better mood.

      Positive affirmations do work. As goofy as it sounds, they work and you should use them. In Napoleon Hill's book, Think and Grow Rich, these are part of his plan. They have been used for more than 100 years and are still in use today because they work.

Final Thought

      Tigers, the most successful land hunter on the planet in the animal kingdom, has a kill rate of … 80%. Tigers, the deadliest land based killers, miss their meals 20 out of 100 times. 20 out of 100 times these 700+ pound magnificent beasts go hungry. Yet, they still go on. So will you.

Teach this to your children. Model this in your family and life. See how much healthier you will be for it.

The Benefits and Importance of Stretching Are No Stretch

     Better flexibility brings better performance in your chosen field of athletics. It decreases your risk of injury through moving your joints about its full range of motion. Stretching also enables your muscles to work at higher levels of efficiency. Stretching also increases blood flow to your muscles. In this it helps with recovery from exercise by speeding nutrients into your muscles and lactic acid out. Stretching should be done at a minimum of three times per week.

      Improves range of motion in joints and muscles – how far a muscle/joint can move without injury; We get this by applying constant pressure to a muscle group in order to lengthen it. This lengthening improves the range of motion and reduces the stiffness and soreness. You should not, however, stretch after your workout, just before.

Warm up then stretch

      First, warm up. Get your blood pumping a bit and your muscles loosened up some in order to elevate your core temperature. This has neuromuscular benefits as it improves the brain-body connection and function. This can also psychologically get you pumped up for your routine. Warm ups also help to increase metabolism (prime the pump to burn more calories). Studies have proven that warming up and doing passive stretches, that it is not bouncing but holding the static stretch, improve muscular performance during your workout. The result is that your muscles work at higher levels of efficiency.

Improves muscular coordination

      Nerve-muscle impulse, or the time it takes for messages to get from your brain to your muscles, is a factor in how our body moves. Say that you are having a hard time walking due to stumbling or tripping over your feet. This may be due to brain messages not being transmitted effectively to the muscles in your legs.

Here are some Do Nots to keep in mind

• Stretch the muscle groups that you will be using
• Do NOT bounce, hold the stretch for 30 seconds
• Do not try to balance and stretch. Yes, it is fun and a great way to show off. It is also a great way to fall on your kiester, get hurt, and sideline yourself early on in your fitness routine.

      Do stretch for tension, not pain. If you are experiencing pain, as in. “Oh, now that is NOT right.” Stop. See your doctor. Stretching will, as in must be and will be, done daily. At least, I am going to be doing the stretches herein daily. It's part of my challenge to me and to you.

Warm up

Fast Walking 10 minutes Or Jump Rope 3 minutes

Jumping Jacks 25

Seal Jacks 25

– This requires some explanation. It will also require some getting used to and a good bit of laughing at yourself as you get accustomed to this. The only difference between these and jumping jacks is what you do with your arms. You start out with your feet together and your arms out straight in front of you, hands together. When you jump and spread your feet apart you spread your arms out your sides so that you would look something like a starfish. You jump up and pull your feet together and you swing your arms together out in front of you just as you did when you started. Please, keep your arms as straight as possible throughout the exercise.

Standing Side Bend

     This stretch will work on your Abdominal Obliques which are located between your floating ribs and the tops of your hip bones.

          Stand with your feet together and reach up over you head with both

hands, put your hands palm together. Interlace your fingers and point your index fingers if you have to in order to keep your hands together. Inhale as you point and stretch upwards, exhale as you bend to your right side. Take 5 slow breaths then return to the middle. Repeat on the left.

Forward Hang

     This stretch will work your frontal deltoids and your rotator cuff. The deltoids are your shoulder muscles and are in three parts or heads. The rotator cuff is the thin and vitally important layer of connective tissue that provides smooth and painless movement for this ball and socket joint. Believe me, you do NOT want to go through ANY kind of joint pain here.

    

     Reach behind you and put your hands together with your fingers interlaced. If you can't mange this, you can use a small towel. It's all good, you're working on it! Feet should be shoulders width apart. Now, bending at the hips, lean forward, exhale, and raise your hands towards your head. This movement is done at the shoulder and is where you will feel some stretching.

      

     The below picture shows the beginning portion for illustrative purposes. Start here and then bend forward at the hips and try to allow gravity to bring your hands toward your head while keeping your arms straight.

Seated Back Twist

      This is mainly for the Erector Spine. These are the muscles that are along each side of your spinal column. Their purpose it to keep your spine erect and flexible. There are a multitude of things going on back there, as this picture plainly shows. As anyone who has had back problems can attest to, as well. Which is why it is vitally important to maintain a healthy and strong back. If you have ANY problems with this one before trying it, see your doctor. I do NOT want you to aggravate an already existing issue.

      Honestly, this is one of my favorites! It has helped me out of SO much back pain over the years. Sit down and extend your left leg. Cross your right leg over your left so that your right foot is as close to your left hip as possible. Place your left elbow on the right side of your right knee. Press back with your left elbow lightly. This should be forcing you to twist tightly to the right. It should be tight and make breathing a little difficult due to that tightness. Hold this for 5 slow breaths and then repeat on the other side.

Quad Stretch

     The Quadriceps are the four muscles that make up your thigh.

      Standing near something for support, reach behind you with your right hand and grab your left foot. Gently pull up on your left foot and hold it steady. You should feel and look somewhat like a bow without an arrow. Hold this for 30 seconds. Do it 2 or 3 times and then repeat on the other leg.

Hamstring

     What we call the Hamstring is the Bicep Femoris, Semitendinosis, and the Semimebranosus. These muscles are located on the back of the leg opposite the thigh muscles.

      Stand with your feet together. Do not lock your knees in this, but keep them just slightly bent. Bend at the hips and let your upper body hang down. Reach a little bit further. Hold this for 30 seconds. Repeat this two more times.

Calf Stretch

     The calf is the meaty portion of your lower leg. It's also the spot where many of us get the dreaded and hated Charlie Horse … I know that is where I get them when I do get them …

      Stand one or two steps from a wall or telephone pole or something stable. Step in with one foot and keep the heel of the back foot down. Also, keep that back leg straight and in line with your hips and shoulders. Lean in towards the wall, or whatever you're using. You can have your hands up on that vertical surface. If you don't feel a gentle, tight pull in your calf you need to move your back foot further back and try it again. Hold this for 30 seconds and repeat 2 more times.

Chest Stretch

     Pectoralis Major and Minor are your chest muscles.

      Lift one arm up so that your upper arm is straight out to the side and your forearm is straight up in the air. Place the upright portion of your arm against the wall, pole or whatever you used for the calf stretch. Now, turn so that you feel the stretch across the muscle of your chest. That is the pectoral muscle. Hold this for 5 slow breaths then repeat on the other side.

Lat Stretching

     Latisimus Dorsi are the large muscles that go from the back of your shoulders down to the base of your spine. They also wrap inwards from around your rib cage.

      Stand with your feet a little more than shoulders width. Raise your right arm over your head and grab your right wrist with your left hand. Bend to your left side and pull on your right arm with your left hand. Hold for 5 slow breaths then repeat on the other side.

      This stretching routine is to be done as part of a daily workout routine, as I alluded to above. One that I will be doing as part of a video fitness blog and posting soon. I really hope to see you there. Please, join me on what will be a 2 month trek to better flexibility, strength, and stamina.

      At any rate, please consider the importance of stretching and how you could integrate it into your daily routine. Apply these simple stretches so that you may find and enjoy more flexibility and less pain in your daily life and mobility.

      Happy living!