Can you identify why “Buddy” here has knee pain?

If not, read the last post before reading any further because you need to know the first three typical causes of knee pain during movement before you go on to today’s information.

“Buddy” and I will wait right here for you…….

So, now can you see why my friend, “Buddy”, has knee pain?

Whether you can easily see the postural discressions that are causing “Buddy’s” knee pain or not, the most important information to take away from today’s lesson and from the previous post is be sure to follow all the guidelines outlined for you.

These guidelines identify the most common problems experienced when exercising or moving about your day that cause knee pain.

Lets move on and add to our list.

• Shift weight to the heel when squatting, lunging, landing from a jump, standing from a kneel or going up or down stairs. Essentially, when the knee flexes, the hips need to flex and your body weight needs to transition to the heel of the foot.  This helps to absorb impact when landing a jump and allows the posterior chain muscles of the legs (muscles in the back of the legs and buttocks) to work in conjunction with the muscles on the front of the thighs.
• Be sure the big toes stay in contact with ground at all times, especially when bending the knee joint. Often our movement patterns and lack of flexibility, not to mention poor foot attire, cause the foot to roll outward as the body searches for balance.  The idea is to keep the big toes planted on the ground and the toes spread out to find that inherent balance.  Don’t forget to keep your knees behind your toes and slightly wider than your feet when bending at the knee and hip joint.
• Poor posture. Postural alignment is key to keeping  joints pain free.  If you tend to slouch or shift your weight to one hip and stand with a locked knee, often joint pain somewhere in the body’s chain is not far to follow.  Stand tall in the spine and keep your knees just slightly flexed.  Allow the muscles of the body to support the joints versus the opposition.
• Weak Core. If your core is weak, you can bet compensations are being made in one or more joints to support the lack of stability the core is designed to provide.  This is especially true when combined with poor posture.  Better get to doing some planks and learn crocodile breathing so your knees can stop taking a beating.

Pretty interesting stuff when you get right down to it.  I’ll bet you learned a few things today.  Maybe you were surprised by a few things too.

Your best bet is to use the information and a mirror to check your posture and movement patterns to be sure you have everything lined up and firing correctly.

Then get your copy of the LoseTheKneePain workout program just as soon as it’s off the presses and available right here.

It has everything covered from movement patterns and muscle activation exercises to strength, flexibility and nutrition to help you lose that extra fat that kills your knees.

I’m really quite proud of this program and very confident it’ll help you lose the knee pain and get in great shape.

Just a few more short weeks and you can get your copy right here and at www.kneepainworkout.com.  Until next time…

Get strong and stay strong,

Rochelle Gravance

You don’t want to be this guy.

Find out why below.

After you read the post, come back to the photo and see if you can identify why he has knee pain.

Lets talk about the most common mistakes being made when exercising to try to strengthen the knee.

It may be more appropriate to think not in terms of strengthening the knee, but strengthening the muscles and connective tissue that support the knee joint.

Now that we can grasp that mental picture, lets move on to the fact that indeed, you are going to need to perform certain movements to challenge the muscles that support the knee joint so that they will become stronger and more able to support and stabilize the knee joint.

Here’s where you can get stopped dead in your tracks, no pun intended, from knee pain.

Exercise all you want, but if your movement patterns are suffering and maintaining correct alignment in the knee joint is a challenge, all the strengthening work you do will just cause you more knee pain as a result.

Often, people with knee pain quit doing the very thing that will most likely cure or come close to curing their knee pain because the movements cause or worsen that which they’re trying desperately to lose.

So, what do you do?

Well, you definitely don’t quit moving.  You just need to learn how to move better.

How do you do that?

Download  the free video I put together for you on this site or at www.kneepainworkout.com and follow the instructions to a tee.

The following are very common mistakes that cause knee pain and discomfort when exercising or bending the knee joint:

• Keep knees behind toes. When bending the knee joint, keep the knees behind the toes at all times never letting the knee protrude over the toes.
• Keep knees slightly wider than feet when bending or standing. When bending or flexing the knee joint, be sure the knee is “just” slightly wider than the foot.  This “pushing out” of the knee happens in the hip joint, believe it or not.  So, don’t roll to the outside of your feet to accomplish this.  Practice by flexing at the hips and knees slightly and simultaneously, then push the knees out by contracting the muscles on the outside of the hip.  Don’t forget about keeping your knees behind your toes while practicing.
• Push the hips back before flexing or bending the knee joint. If you’re going to perform a squat, kneel down, perform a lunge or walk down a flight of stairs, you must first push the hips back, then bend the knee.  The sheer forces to the knee are too great if the hips fail to flex first.  This can cause pain in the knee cap area which can lead to pain elsewhere in the knee as the list of compensatory patterns builds from a simple joint activation and timing problem.

The above list will be added to with the next post.  Just practicing the above movement patterns while you are exercising or just moving about your day may make you feel completely off kilter until you get used to them.

Don’t be surprised if you find it easier to perform the exercises without shoes.  If this is indeed the case, you most likely need new shoes and probably should try a brand that fits your foot instead of your foot fitting the shoe.  Look more toward a brand or style of shoe that allows the muscles of the feet and legs to support your joints versus the shoe doing the supporting for you.

Vibram Five Fingers is my choice.  Check them out and leave me your comments in the comments section below.  Until next time…

Get strong and stay strong,

Rochelle Gravance

Today’s discussion dives into the missing link.

Why do I have knee pain?

Where is it’s origin?

It’s like hunting.

We see the signs of pain in the knee, or the tracks that have been left.  Now we go in search of the den, or the possible origin of the pain which has left it’s tracks in your knee joint where the pain is being expressed.

I was working with a client today that has lower back pain.  We were working on a particular muscle activation exercise that proved to be very difficult for the client.  The reason for all the difficulty is that the client’s inherent movement patterns have been lost due to injury.

While attempting  to assume the starting position for the activation exercise, the client began to experience knee discomfort and foot discomfort/pain.

This is where, as a trainer and movement specialist, I get excited and fascinated all at the same time.  I could see that the loss of the movement pattern that we were working hard to reestablish was causing the pain in both the knee and the foot.  A trickle down effect that originated in the hip, torso and pelvis.

Once I was able to point out all the compensations that were being made throughout the chain of muscles and joints from essentially the head and neck right down to the foot, the client was able to eventually make the corrections necessary AND reestablish the pattern with much success that we were attempting to recreate.

Maybe, equally important was that all the discomfort felt in the knee and the foot was completely relieved as well.

Next, I had the client stand on one foot without shoes.  The foot that wasn’t experiencing the initial foot and knee discomfort.  The client was able to stand and hold the position with balance for 30 seconds without difficulty.

When we switched feet to the leg the client was experiencing the foot and knee pain, the client was no longer able to stand securely with balance without rolling to the outside of the foot and swaying in the torso.

What does all this mean?

Quite a lot of things, quite frankly.  But, the most important realization the client left with was there is a way to trace the pain back to it’s origin(s) and once the inherent patterns were reestablished, all the discomfort was relieved.

Does this mean that all pain can be relieved by correcting movement patterns, probably not.  Can much improvement be made through body awareness and reestablishing inherent movement patterns, absolutely.

The  next task is to hold these patterns together by getting stronger.  This client is not quite at that point yet because there is much work to be done in the realm of increasing flexibility and muscle activation work, but we’re getting close.

I’m following the exact sequence of work that I use in my LoseTheKneePain program to help this client become pain free, or as close to it as possible.

If you have knee pain and you desire to be in better shape, you need to get your hands on a copy of the LoseTheKneePain program that will be available right here on www.LoseTheKneePain.com.

It will soon be complete.  I’m putting the final touches on it right now.

This program is designed to get you moving better and as pain free as possible.  Then it takes you far beyond.

Once your movement patterns have improved and your knees have been relieved of the stresses that caused the pain, then we really turn up the heat with strength exercises that challenge your fitness level and hold those movement patterns in place.  You’ll also get great nutrition strategies and done for you healthy recipes that help you lose that extra body fat to relieve those knees even more.

Keep checking in here at the blog for all the news updates and get ready for the program that’s going to help you lose body fat, get in shape and lose the knee pain.

Get strong and stay strong,

Rochelle Gravance

I’m asked this question quite a lot, “What’s the one thing I can do to help me lose my knee pain?”

More often than not, my answer is this, “Reduce the pressure on your joints.”

Next question, “How do I do that?”

Answer, “Lose some weight.”

My style is quite “matter of fact”.

This may offend some but I don’t believe in beating around the bush.  You ask, I answer.

Follow up question, “Right, but what else can I do?”

Answer, “Still the same.  Lose some weight.”

Honestly, it is the one thing you can do right now, today, to help alleviate the pain you may be experiencing in the knee joint.  It’s the absolute best home remedy for knee pain I know of.

I think most of us could stand to lose a little (or a lot) of weight.  Not only will it help reduce joint pain, it will also most likely improve your overall health if done in an organic, healthy way.

Here’s how I would go about the task of losing excess body fat:

1. Cut out most, if not all processed foods.  This, in itself will improve your health, most likely reduce inflammation in the body which can intensify joint discomfort and help you lose weight.
2. Move your body more and more often.  The body was designed for movement, not hours of sitting.  Do anything you can that doesn’t cause pain.  Walk, swim, bike…whatever comes natural.  Next, get started on the Lose The Knee Pain program to get stronger to support those joints.
3. No liquid calories.  Drinking your calories is a huge mistake and contributor to excess body fat.  Cut out all soft drinks (diet ones too), fruit juices, coffee drinks, etc.  Drink water, organic teas and even a little organic coffee each day (with no sugar) if you like.  Just be sure the teas and coffee don’t substitute for your required daily intake of water.
4. Don’t eat too much.  Spread your calories out throughout the day.  Don’t go too long between meals so you aren’t ravenous come meal time, especially dinner.  Have a snack between meals consisting of fruits, nuts and/or veggies.
5. Get in your protein.  You need protein to rebuild the tissues and bone structure your body naturally loses every day.  Make sure your protein is organic, grass fed, hormone and antibiotic free and wild caught if it’s fish.
6. EFA’s are key if you have knee pain.  Essential fatty acids (EFA’s) can be found in dark, cold water fish like salmon and mackerel.  These are called essential because your body cannot produce them itself.  You need to consume them.  The reason EFA’s are so important if you have knee pain is they are thought to reduce inflammation in the body.  Less inflammation makes for happier knees and joints and also makes it easier for your body to lose weight.  Other sources of EFA’s are nuts, avocado, olives and olive oil as well as coconut and coconut oil.  Be sure to get a well rounded source of these fatty acids in your daily diet.

So, this is where you should start and where we’ll end for today.  It’s quite enough to get you started losing that excess body fat which, in turn, will help alleviate unnecessary stress on your joints.

Until next time…

Get strong and stay strong,

Rochelle Gravance

PS-If you have any helpful tips that you use that have helped you lose excess body fat, help the other readers out and leave your tips in the comments section below.  Thanks.  Talk to you soon….

Whether or not you are a female and reading this post, pay close attention to the information and be sure to pass it along to all the women in your life.

It’s a fact that women sustain more injury and experience more discomfort in the knee joint than men.

Science will continue to discover more information about the body and why these particular incidences occur, but we do know some very relevant information that every female, particularly active females and female athletes, should know about.

The first major difference and obvious risk factor is the female anatomy.

Built with wider hips, the female pelvis creates a sharper and greater angle in the thigh bone from the hip to the  knee.  This angle often causes the knee to shift inward which places greater pressure on the inside of the knee.

This can also cause a more narrow gap or tunnel which the ACL  moves through.  Less room means less maneuverability which stresses the ACL.  In addition, if the tunnel is small enough, this may prevent the ACL from growing as large as it originally would have had there not been the restriction from the bone.

An ACL with less strength and ability to move and support the joint is susceptible to more injury.

The second cause for the increased rate of injury is hormones.

Because of the female hormonal system, women tend to be more flexible in the tendons, ligaments and muscle tissue allowing for greater ranges and motion and looser joints.

This is not the ideal situation when external forces like jumping and changes of direction impact the connective tissue of joints.  These forces wreak havoc on the connective tissues which lead to more injuries and damage, especially to the ACL.

The third factor, which is similar in nature to the previous factor, is the hormone Estrogen.

Many knee injuries, especially to the ACL, are associated to a higher presence of estrogen.  When estrogen levels are highest in the body during ovulation, females are three times more likely to sustain an injury to the ACL.

This increase of estrogen is thought to affect either the muscles, ligaments or the nervous system.

The fourth factor that women must consider, and this is a “biggy”,  is the difference in strength between the front of the body and the back of the body.

Women tend to rely on the muscles of the quadriceps, which are the muscles on the front of the thigh, and tend to have weaker hamstrings and glutes.

The hamstrings help to stabilize the knee and take pressure off the ACL.

Women that rely on the quadriceps muscles tend to stand upright more which doesn’t allow bending and flexion in the knees and hips.  A straight knee going into a change of direction movement or attempting to absorb impact from a jump, places tremendous stress on the connective tissue of the knee joint, especially the ACL.

This factor leads us right into the fifth factor, which is a tendency to avoid bending the knees.

A lack of hip and knee flexion when attempting to absorb shock, change direction or pivot adds intense pressure to the connective tissue of the knee joint, especially to the ACL.

This also prevents the female from transferring pressure from the toes to the heels upon impact from a jumping movement.  A correct transference of external forces would allow the hamstrings and glutes to support some of the load relieving the connective tissue, including the ACL, of the impact pressure.

At this point, you should see a theme building.

So what to do?

GET STRONG!

Ladies, you must balance the strength around the knee joint to help support the loads it’s forced to carry.

You can’t do anything about your bone structure or your hormones, but you can get stronger and improve your body mechanics.

Reduce the risk factors and reduce your chances of receiving a knee injury.

This also applies to knee pain without an initial injury.

Support the joint and the incidences of pain will reduce or be eliminated.

One way to go about getting stronger and being more aware of inherent body movements and mechanics is to get started on the Lose The Knee Pain program.

Take it from a person that has experienced the ACL injury and has all the same risk factors as you.

I know. I’ve been there and will continue be there in this lifetime.

I believe the only reason I live pain free is because I have reduced my risk factors by getting stronger to support the knee joint, especially since it doesn’t have an ACL anymore.

You need a step by step program that teaches you how to properly move the body which will stimulate the muscles to get stronger while alleviating the pressure on the joints and connective tissue.

That’s exactly how I designed the Lose The Knee Pain program.

I’ve helped myself and many others with knee pain, and I know I can help you.

Get started by downloading your free DVD on this page.

The free DVD covers all the exercises and stretches you’ll need to get you started on this step by step program.

Feel free to pass this information along to your friends and family.

Get strong and stay strong,

Rochelle Gravance

PS- Leave me your knee pain or ACL story in the comments section below.  I bet we have quite a few similarities and stories to share.  Thanks.