From the ground up: legs and knees

This is the second in a series of articles I've been writing with my sister Kim, a physiotherapist in Stockholm, looking at how we can best take care of our roots. In the first article we looked at our feet – our sole mates (...groan) – and how we can strengthen them and work on some common problems.

In this article we're going to look at another part of our roots: the knees. But before we get onto that, let's talk a bit more about roots.

Do humans have physical roots? This might sound like a strange question. Of course not - we're not plants...

"Root"
pronunciation: /ruːt/
1) a part of the body of an organism that grows downward into the ground, anchoring or supporting the organism.
2) the basic cause, source, or origin of something

Don't we have a part of ourselves that grows downwards, supporting us on the ground? Thousands of years of self-exploration by various sages, yogis and spiritual practitioners have revealed that there is a very important area around your pelvic floor called in yoga the Muladhara or Root chakra. It is here that our roots begin, and extend all the way down our legs to our feet (and with our mind, out of the feet into the ground). Our roots and root chakra are associated with "things of the earth" – stability, grounding, physical health, vigour, nourishment, and is the basis of both our masculine and feminine energies. This means that having healthy roots is vital for living in this world!




The knees: Locking and overextending

You might have often heard yoga teachers talking about 'locking' (or not locking) the knees. You might also have been told that you are 'over' or 'hyperextending' when you think you are 'locking'. Hyperextension of joints is in fact chronic in the yoga world.

Locking and over/hyper-extending:
The knee joint is simple – it moves in two directions, bending and straightening. When the leg is straight the thigh bone (femur) and the chin bones (tibia & fibula) should be directly aligned with one another. When we push into (or for some people, relax) into the back of the knee, this is called overextension or hyperextension. The body's weight is no longer transferring directly through the bones one on top of the other, but is 'hanging' in the soft structures (ligaments) at the back of the knee. These structures are not designed to be put under so much pressure and so this can be very damaging for your knee (see this nice article for more info).

Try: standing upright. Now see if you can 'push' your knees back beyond straight.

Hyperextended knee joint

If you could, then chances are you don't naturally hyperextend in your knees. If you discovered you couldn’t push your knees back any further, then there's a good chance you were already 'hanging' in the ligaments at the back of the knee. It's important for the knee to be soft and not locked back so it's able to cope with impact and help us keep our balance. This is why in yoga teachers often encourage you have a 'micro bend' in your knees. You can also try this little test in a more challenging yoga posture (e.g. standing forward bend, warrior) to check if you are hyperextending.




Knee stability:
To give the knees the most strength and stability, we need to be engaging the muscles on the back and front of the thigh. Some teachers advise their students to 'lock' their knees in certain postures to presumably give strength, but the word 'lock' implies rigidity and blockage. Really it's the opposite that we're trying to do – it's the openness, strength and alignment of our knees that facilitates connection to the ground and allows the energy to flow (see below).

Try: Come into Trikonasana (triangle pose) as our skeleton is showing below. This is a pose that's particularly tricky when it comes to knee stability – especially the front knee. We'll now try to find how to engage those muscles on the front (quadriceps) and back (hamstrings) of the thigh to help stabilise the knee.

Credit: www.bandhayoga.com/keys_knee_hype.html

Bend the front leg slightly (as in the picture to the left) and draw your foot backwards against the friction on the mat. Can you feel your hamstrings activating? Now to find the muscle at the front of your thigh (the quad), straighten the leg again and try lifting your kneecap upwards. This should get it working.

You might need to practise this a few times to reliably find and activate these muscles. If you find it difficult try one at a time, with straight legs or bent. When you have found both muscles you can try activating them at the same time to stabilise your knee in all your postures (skeleton picture to the right). Your knee will thank you dearly in the years to come!


Knock knees or bow legs

Knock knees describes a condition where the knees fall in towards each other rather than staying neutrally aligned. Interestingly, most kids under the age of 6 appear to have knock knees, but grow out of it as their body shape changes. It can arise either structurally in the knee joint or the surrounding bones, and it which case it's just your natural body shape. Or it can arise due to a muscle weakness in the legs or hips: weak external hip rotators causing the thigh to internally rotate, weak hip abductors allowing your knees to drop in, or tight/asymmetric quads or hamstrings causing a misalignment of the knee joint. If you see someone who appears to have knock knees (particularly as they walk) and their kneecaps face inwards, then it's most likely down to muscle weakness.

Bow legs are much less common, and most often due to true structural issues in the bones. It's normal for babies to have bowed legs before the bones ossify (solidify). From a muscular point of view, bow legs can arise when the opposite of the aforementioned muscles are weak.

Unless your knock knees or bow legs arise from the shape of your bones or joint, it’s not actually the knees that are the culprit. The real culprits are their muscular neighbours: the thighs, hips and feet. The feet were the subject of the last post in this series, and in the next post we'll be looking at the top of our roots – the pelvis, hips and thighs – so stay tuned!


Knees and energy flow
Energy ('prana' in yoga or 'qi/ki' in Chinese/Japanese) flows around the body through certain channels known as 'nadis' in yoga or 'meridians' in Chinese medicine.
When our limbs are properly aligned through balanced muscles and correct posture, energy can flow like water or electricity, connecting and nourishing all the parts of the body. Locking (or hyperextending) our joints restricts this current, and like a kink in a hose, it can cause a build-up or blockage. In Qigong they say "When Qi flows freely along the meridians, people are free from illness. If the Qi is blocked, then pain follows" – so blockages can result in pain or illness (an obvious one is arthritis). One of the principles of Tai Chi and of my yoga practice is to keep the knees (elbows, and all other joints) soft (bent) for this exact reason.

In this system, the knees are one of the primary connection points between our upper body and the ground. This is why it is so important not to lock or misalign them, so that we can maintain that all-important sensitivity to and connection with the ground.

Come and join me in exploring your roots at one of my yoga classes at ZenYoga in Camberwell. See my website for my class schedule and more details.

I'd love to hear from you

Have you suffered from leg and knee problems in the past? How have you got on with these exercises? I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment below, join the discussion. 

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