General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Good exercise for posterior knee injury prevention? Rss Feed  
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2008-12-29 11:24 AM

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2008-12-29 10:38 PM
in reply to: #1875866

Melon Presser
52116
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Subject: RE: Good exercise for posterior knee injury prevention?

It's hard to tell without really knowing where these problems come from. "Posterior knee" could really be anything from hamstrings to calves to IT, or, rarely, actually the posterior cruciate ligament.

Strength training or stretching for injury prevention is controversial. It's hard to prove that something prevents injury, as opposed to rehab, where you're healing an existing injury and making it less likely to recur. But it's hard to tell without knowing what's really wrong. You might get recommended an exercise that exacerbates what's going on.

You might even need orthotics. You might need to warm up better before the hard runs. You might need more or a different kind of training to build up to these hard runs.

I really wish I could be more helpful, but these are some of the questions/issues that you might want to look into in order to address why you're having these problems.

Best of luck in figuring it out! 

2008-12-29 11:31 PM
in reply to: #1875866

Elite
2608
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Denver, Colorado
Subject: RE: Good exercise for posterior knee injury prevention?
What TriAya said. I've never heard of a calf-hamstring strength imbalance. Most strength imbalance problems happen with opposing muscle groups. For instance, a quad-hamstring imbalance where the quads are stronger than the hamstrings is very common. Because quads and hamstrings are on opposite sides of the body they don't always work together. Muscles on the same side of the body tend to work together so there is less chance of an imbalance. Hamstrings and claves are on the same side of the body, the posterior, so they work together in, for example, running. Also, because the calf muscle has to move a relatively short limb (even a size 13 foot is short compare to the entire lower leg) joint in a relatively short range of motion, calves tend to be very strong without needing to be very large.

Having said all that, strengthening the hamstrings is very important in keeping the knee stable. So, hamstring curls, deadlifts, and Romanian deadlifts are all good exercises to do. But first, do what TriAya has suggested and figure our the exact cause of the problem.
2009-01-06 10:32 PM
in reply to: #1875866

Coach
9167
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Stairway to Seven
Subject: RE: Good exercise for posterior knee injury prevention?
Have you had a coach look at your running form? It's be silly to turn to strength related solutions when it may be form related.
2009-01-07 12:40 PM
in reply to: #1875866

Master
2010
2000
Falls Church, VA
Subject: RE: Good exercise for posterior knee injury prevention?

It has been my experience that achilles pain as you describe is from calf tightness rather than a lack of strength.

I use "the stick" after speed sessions and long runs on the calf muscles and this seems to really help.

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General Discussion Triathlon Talk » Good exercise for posterior knee injury prevention? Rss Feed