Knee Mobility

[Timothy Aiken]

My knee mobility is awful. I had Osteochondritis Dissecans (OCD) for a year. OCD is basically a degradation of the cartilage from lack of blood flow. It doesn't get enough nourishment and dies. This has since been resolved and I am now able to do SLS work! However, there's a problem. When I do handstands, no matter how hard I try I notice that my legs do not look straight. They cannot lock out. This is because with OCD, my knee hurt like hell to lock out, due to a lesion of thin cartilage, and I therefore didn't lock it out too often due to the pain. So now I am paying the price with a not so mobile knee joint! 

 

What are some drills I could do to fix this? I want my movement to look pretty, and my body to work well. Plus, I'm not looking to get OCD again, and would like to keep consistent blood flow in this area, which just won't happen if I lack ROM.

 

My lack of full knee lockout is demonstrated in this video of my press handstand. I was actively straightening my legs throughout the movement, yet they maintain a slight bend. 

 

The (bad) stalder press begins at 0:15. Please forgive my high back lever, awful round off, and that strange aerial looking flip thing My round off has improved greatly, and my back lever is completely level now. That aerial thing just kinda happened one day and I thought it was kinda cool.

 

 

It's not too bad when I stand, yet it is still there. It seems to not be as prominent in an L sit strangely. Either that, or it's a fluke of angle.

 

 

 

 

[Timothy Aiken]

Any tips are appreciated.

[pogo69]

Not overly helpful, but you're already doing my biggest tips - F1.  The SLS progressions (both PE and iM) and synergistic movements like Swivel Hips are continuously rejuvenating my historically problematic knees, ankles and feet.

[Karl Kallio]

Things I know of for getting more knee extension.

 

1 Stretching the posterior part of the leg - i.e. calves, hamstrings, glutes, pike, pancake you name it.

 

2 Stretching things like seated pike and pancake sitting on the floor with the heels elevated about 5 cm.

 

3 Having someone push or sit on your knees while in #2 - its not my favorite solution, I would only use it after everything else has been done lots of times

 

4 Sit on floor, legs extended, lean forward into pike, pull up on feet with hands while pushing down on knees with elbows

 

5 Sit on floor, legs extended, good posture, flex feet and tighten quads to raise heels off floor, hold or do repetitions.  You can add in flex/point toes.  Can be done feet together or legs open in pancake

 

6  Kneel on floor, toes pointed, hands on floor in front (easy) beside knees (medium) or by ankles(harder).  Straighten knees to lift to a pike position, lower and repeat- do not twist ankles into monkey feet

 

7 Lie in hollow hold. bend one knee so that thigh is vertical then raise foot until foot is over hip lower and repeat.

 

8 Lie face down or in cobra pose.  Flex feet, tuck toes under.  Tighten thighs to lift knees off ground, hold or do repetitions.

 

9 Lie face up, legs perpendicular to ground, open to middle splits and close concentrate mightily on maintaining the same knee extension throughout the movement.