Muscle & Fitness Australia — November 2017

58 MUSCLE & FITNESS / NOVEMBER 2017

PAIN-FREE LEG TRAINING PA RT 1

You’re doing:

leg press

Do this instead:

goblet squat

WHY The set-up for the leg

press requires you to fix your

back into place. This takes

your hips out of the equation,

leaving your knees to do most

of the work as you push the

sled Therefore it’s important to

does this perfectly while

keeping your back straight up.

DO IT Hold a dumbbell like a

goblet, right below your chin.

Descend into a squat until

your thighs break parallel

with the ground, keeping

your weight on your heels.

THE FIX

First off, always consult a doctor when it comes

to an injury. However, one fix might be to simply

strengthen your legs. Stronger legs mean that

the supporting muscles will help alleviate some

pressure that could be translated through the

knee while empowering the lower body to move

efficiently and properly. Even if your knees are

already achy, you can still train legs. You just

have to be smarter, mainly by avoiding high-

impact and fixed movements that push the knee

too far forward and amplify its vulnerability. Try

these exercise swaps to maximise your leg day.

sled. Therefore it s importannt to

focus on moves that engage

the hips and help mobilise tthem

better without pressuring yyour

knee joint. The goblet squaat

does this perfectly while

KNEE JOINT 101
Your knee acts as a stable hinge
that allows your quads to flex
your lower leg forward and your
hamstrings to retract it back. It’s
connected to the tibia and fibula
bones by a network of ligaments
— mainly composed of the anterior
cruciate ligament (ACL), the medial
collateral ligament (MCL), the
posterior cruciate ligament (PCL)
and the lateral collateral ligament
(LCL). And due to the complexity
of this network, both the hip and
ankle – which are the primary
movers of athletic movements
like jumping and sprinting – play
a role in knee joint health.

KNEE

NIGHTMARES
The hinge-like design of the
knee does not allow for much
side-to-side movement, which
is why ACL and MCL injuries are
common in sports that require a
lot of lateral cuts, like soccer,
basketball and football.

Lacklustre mobility in your
hips and ankles forces your
body to compensate by relying on
your knee to pick up some of the
slack for movements it’s not suited
for. On the field, this could be a
sidestep, and in the gym, it could
be a weighted lateral lunge. And as
stated before, the knee is a stable
joint, so if it’s asked to partake in
a movement that it’s not suited for,
then, eventually, an injury is likely.

While side-to-side movement
can cause a tendon tear,
too much forward flexion – which
causes the tibia to stray in front of
your knee – can lead to wear and
tear, also known as osteoarthritis
(OA). It’s common, too. More than
two million adults in Australia are
affected by OA, according to the
Australian Bureau of Statistics.

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