Ok, so last time I went over a few of the "lo-tech" strategies for dealing with knee pain so naturally today I will progress to the more "mid-tech" approach.

 This means toys and tools.

 Let’s take a look.

This is what we’ll call a foam roller.  It looks innocent enough doesn’t it?

This one is simply called "the stick".  Not glamorous sounding but it will get the job done.

   And finally we have a plain old tennis ball.  Cheap and effective.

As I mentioned in the previous installment, knee pain is mostly a symptom of what is going on in the tissues above and below the joint itself.  Using these tools will help us penetrate and alleviate some of the overactive muscles associated with this type of pain.

I like self massage because it’s cheap and it allows you to do it more frequently than you would when dealing with a massage therapist.  The two types of self massage I will be going over are scanning/holding and basic full stroke massage.

1.  Scanning and Holding:  You’ll use this technique to scan your muscles for any "trigger points".  A trigger point is essentially a knot that will prevent the muscle from performing its function normally.  You’ll scan the entire length of the muscle, once a trigger point is found, you want to hold pressure on that spot for no less than 30 seconds (this can be very painful).  Any of the three tools mentioned above can be used for this method.  

2.  Full Stroke Massage:  Getting rid of trigger points can take several days or even weeks.  If you’ve eliminated all trigger points within a muscle it is then time for some tissue quality maintenance.  Here you’ll use either the stick or the foam roller to perform long smooth strokes from the top of the muscle to the bottom.  It’s best if you perform from 8 - 10 strokes.

If we’re dealing with knee pain the main muscles we’ll want to manipulate are the …

• Quadriceps
• IT Band (long sheath of fibrous tissue that runs the outside length of your leg)
• Calves/Peroneals

Quadriceps                                                      IT Band

Calves/Peroneals

Tips

• Trigger points often return.  Become aware of your trouble areas.
• Although the technique is expected to be a little painful.  Do not push yourself past your own threshold.
• The more often you perform self massage the better.  Frequency is key.
• Combine self massage before stretching for even better results.  (see first article)
• Try to incorporate some self massage before your regular workout routine.

Knee pain.  It sucks and no one should have to deal with it.  When it comes to knee pain I’m a firm believer in exhausting all of your options before submitting to the dreaded knife.  

Surgery is expensive.

Rehab is long, painful, and extremely unrewarding in its early stages.

That being said, I’m no doctor.  You should listen to yours and always consult her/him before engaging in any type of exercise program.

Knee pain, for the most part, is a symptom that tells us that there is some sort of dysfunction above or below the joint and not necessarily within.  Today I’ll explain to you a few "lo-tech" steps you can take to start appropriately dealing with knee pain.

1. Stretching - We’ll start by stretching muscles that are most often associated with knee pain.  Hold each stretch for 30 seconds and do them several times a day to maximize their benefits.                                                            

Gentle Quad Stretch                                     Advanced Quad Stretch

Calf Stretch (back leg)

2. Mobility - If you want the knee joint to be stable that means you want the hips and ankles to be mobile.  Any limited range of motion in the hips or ankles has to be made up at the knee.  This leads to problems.  As you can see on yourself, the hips and ankles were designed to move in many directions.  The knees, not so much .  Repeat each movement 10 - 15 times.

Hip Mobility (hurdle step over a bench)

Ankle Mobility (with the toes elevated gently push the knees over the toes)

3. Activating - The tissues above and below the knee joint can typically become dysfucntional when a few specific muscles are not doing their job.  The glutes mainly.  In this case you want to try and wake these muscles up with a few activation exercises.  Again do about 10 - 15 reps.

Glute Bridge (be sure to squeeze your butt cheeks at the top)

One legged Dead Lift (notice I bend from the hip and do not lean forward at the spine)

Conclusion - This is nowhere near a complete list of the strategies you can use for dealing with knee pain.  These are just a few of the simple lo-tech solutions I use when dealing with clients whom suffer.  Next time I’ll break out a few toys and show some of the more "mid-tech" tricks.

Until then, post any questions below and I’ll be sure to answer them promptly. 

Been working at your desk all day?

Playing video games for way longer than you should be?

Hunched over a text book studying for hours on end?

Chances are you either feel or will feel neck pain at some point during your career as a full time geek.

A while back I did some serious damage to my own neck.  Only this came as a result of being in a submission fighting tournament, not poor posture.  You see,  I was put into a very painful neck crank and instead of “tapping out” I tried to withstand the pain for as long as possible or until I gained a better position.  End result, I won the match but spent the better part of 3 months afterward rehabbing my neck.

Till this day I have to be very careful not to aggravate my neck during my workouts.

Here are 5 of my favorite exercises I use to keep my neck and shoulders mobile and pain free.

1. Levator Stretch:

Sitting in your chair or on a bench, reach one arm back and around your body.  Tilt your chin and point your nose to your opposite hip.  With your free hand, place it on the back of your head and apply gentle pressure.  You should hold each side for at least 30 seconds.

2. Thoracic Mobility:

I use a half foam roller but 2 tennis balls taped together will work just as well.   Start at your mid back, roll back for 2 or 3 repetitions keeping your hips down.  You should then move the roller up your back towards your shoulder blades and repeat this process 2 or 3 more times.  (Do NOT try this on your lower back.)

3. Face Down Touch Down:

Lay face down on a bench.  Keeping your thumbs facing the ceiling, raise your arms above your head like a football referee calling a touch down.  Perform 10-15 repetitions.

4. Wall Slide:

Back against the wall keeping contact with your head, shoulders, hands, and elbows.  Slide your arms up the wall as high as you can go and then bring them back down without losing contact with the wall.  (You should feel this between the shoulder blades.)

5. I Give Ups:

Seated or standing.  Raise your arms above your head.  Then shrug your shoulders.  Perform about 10-15 repetitions.

Starting from the ground up, the glute bridge is by far one of the most important exercises that you should master.

For you beginners the glute bridge is one of those fundamental exercises that teaches your body how to stabilize and recruit those glute muscles that are far too often neglected.

For you experienced lifters the glute bridge is a great warm up and can be used prior to your workout in order to ensure proper firing of those gluteal muscles when appropriate.  I highly recommend this if you are prone to knee or low back pain as the glutes play a big role in protecting the joints above and below.

Dig your heels into the mat.  Really squeeze your but cheeks at the top.  You should be making a 90 degree angle between your lower and upper leg.

Primary muscles worked.

• Glutes
• Spinal Erectors
• Hamstrings

This was a great documentary. If you have not seen it yet I highly recommend it. Even if you’re not big into gaming its a truly interesting story.

As someone who specializes in correcting posture I did notice that Steve Weibe and many other classic gaming pros sat down a lot when they were playing. Granted, they play for several hours at a time but these games were designed to be played standing up.

The problem with this seated posture is that it encourages a forward head position as well as a shortening of the quadriceps and hamstrings. Being in this position for any extended period of time can really wreak havoc on someones posture and can lead to all sorts of neck and back pain.

If I was a betting man I’d also assume that most of these pros work a job where they are in a similar position.

Anyway, thats my take on the whole thing. A great movie go check it out if you haven’t seen it already.

PS My all time favorite “classic style” arcader has to be Street Fighter II. I loved that game and cant wait for SFIV.

A little bit if evidence that I may not be as crazy as everyone thinks.

Bare Feet for health? Shoeless

Don’t knock it until you try it.

Ok, so I start with a lame LOTR joke.

Now for my topic.

Hypothetically, lets say I’m way too busy to do a full workout. When not working I have a really busy lifestyle filled with reading comics, playing video games, and looking up funny cat pictures on my computer. Or maybe I’m not busy, I just can’t keep track of all these crazy exercises, when to do what and where.

What if I could only choose just one exercise? What would it be?

The Deadlift

Why the Deadlift?

1. For a low impact exercise it recruits more muscles than any other exercise providing you do it with proper form.
2. More muscles recruited = more work = more calories burned.
3. Its a posterior chain exercise. In our anterior posture dominated lives this is something we need. We spend our lives in what almost appears to be the fetal position. At desks, in cars, on the couch your hips are flexed and your shoulders are forward.
4. It takes a tremendous amount of flexibility, mobility and stability to perform properly. As you get better at the deadlift, each one of these important physical traits is improved. Improvement in these three areas decreases your chances of being injured when performing any number of your daily chores and tasks.
5. Gluteus Maximus!!!

Ive provided a small clip to show what a proper deadlift looks like. The speed is a little fast and the weight a little light. But the form is golden.

Do you suffer from tight hamstrings?

Did you know that if you stretch “tight” hamstrings you might actually be doing more harm than help?

One of the main causes of tight hamstrings is an excessive anterior pelvic tilt. This is a common symptom of people who sit a lot during the day. When I say sit a lot I mean more than 2 hours a day.

How can you tell if you have an excessive anterior pelvic tilt? Heres the first test, look in the mirror. Does your lower back seem to arch a little more than most peoples. Also if you’re wearing a belt does the buckle point towards the floor. And finally, take your middle fingers, place them on your front hip bones that stick out. Keeping your fingers there take your thumbs to your rear pelvic bones and hold them there. Your hands should look like they are holding a bucket. Are your thumbs higher than your middle fingers? If so than you have excessive anterior pelvic tilt.

When in this posture your hamstrings are already lengthened and stretched out more than they should be. This is why you probably feel you have tight hamstrings. Stretching them will only reinforce this negative posture.

If this is the case what you should be more focused on is stretching the opposite musculature. The hip flexors and the quadriceps.

Thats it for this week. Please send any questions in to ask@thebuffgeek.com

When most people think of corrective exercise they think of someone who is injured and needs rehab or maybe someone who needs serious postural re-adjustment.

The truth is that most of us have some sort physical dysfunction whether we know it or not. It could be the slumped shoulders of an upper crossed posture or even an excessive anterior pelvic tilt at the hips. Its not our fault, it occurs because of previous injuries, or even just the way we hold our posture during our daily routines.

I’m bringing this topic up because what Ive noticed from the variety of clients I have, no matter what their goals are, in the long run, a little corrective exercise can help them reach those goals faster.

So the question. What can corrective exercise do for you?

Athletes: Eliminating asymmetries can help with injury prevention as well as making athletic movements more efficient. In turn this would make for a faster stronger athlete on the field.

Asthetics: Even if your goal has nothing to do with performance wouldn’t you want to avoid major set backs in the gym from overuse injuries and all the other pains you seem to grind through during your workouts. It amazes me how many people think shoulder and knee pain is just another part of working out.

I bring this topic up now because in my following posts I will be discussing in more detail how and why I train myself and the variety of clients I have.

My philosophy is based on the building of a strong foundation, allowing the body to perform the movements it was designed for in a safe and functional manner.

Thats all for now, come back next week and we’ll get into some more details.