Our Take on the New York Times Hip Injury Article Part #2

Here are some of the examples I was talking about in the last post. Remember that we are all about the question “Why?”. When the athletes started suffering from a rash of knee injuries trainers assumed it was a strength issue. We feel there might be another issue all together. What if the anatomical position the knees were in was incorrect? The knee itself is like a hinge on a door. It is designed to flex and extend on a single plane. The knee is composed partially by the end of the Femur and the head of the Tibia and Fibula. Obviously there are the many muscle origins and insertions that cross the knee and there is the cartilage and ligaments as well but lets keep it simple for now. Simple has proven to be most effective for me when working with the human body. 

So if you have a hinge, what would happen if one half of it became bent? Obviously the hinge would not work correctly and the harder you tried to force it to, the more likely it would break. Personally I think the knee is exactly the same. Look at this picture to the right, Notice how the athletes knees are pointing out to the sides as opposed to straight ahead? This is a college athlete who has spent the last year training for Track. As with many athletes his sport is very flexion dominant. By this I mean he gives significantly more stimulus to the muscles in the front of the legs than he does the back. This in turn causes a strength imbalance that begins to pull his pelvis forward into an anterior tilt as seen in the picture to the left. This is very common posture for todays athletes. The exaggerated curve to the lumbar spine and the anterior tilts are a direct result of the stimulus that our athletes are receiving. The flexion dominance of the sport we play coupled with the over use of flexion dominant moves like squats and cleans and the thousands of speed and agility drills are really what is to blame for the rash of knee injuries. 

Keep in mind all this is simply an opinion on my part. I usually get mocked by those in the medical community saying that because I am not a doctor means I would have no idea what is really happening with the athletes. Without proper medical training how could I possibly have any idea what I am talking about. It is obvious they are offended that I could possibly have a rational explanation to their “complex” issues. To be quite honest it is far more insulting that they would assume that I lack the intelligence to pick up a book and read. Anatomy and physiology is the same no matter where it comes from. Anyone can understand the movement of the human body in relationship to the the muscular and skeletal systems. Understanding how to impact the muscular system in such a way that is allows for proper movement and  protection of the joints is done in the field working with thousands of clients, each with their own unique muscular imbalances.