Say good-bye to knee pain: discover the right way to bend your knees
It’s all very well being told to bend your knees but what if it hurts too much? If your knee hurts too much to bend it, you’re probably making a very common mistake.
Introducing the mistake everyone makes
You’re forgetting to bending your hip joints at the same time as you bend your knees.
What can be more basic than remembering to bend your hips at the same time as you bend your knees?
Kind of “duh, of course”, isn’t it? And yet, I see very few people who remember to bend their hip joints when they bend their knees. How can they forget something so basic? Let’s find out.
Imagine what would happen when you bend your knees and not your hips. Close your eyes and visualise going from standing straight to bending only your knees. What would happen to your upper body? Would it move forwards or would it move backwards?
Of course, it would move backwards.
If the only joints you’re bending are your knees…
then your upper body is going to tilt backwards as your knees bend. It has to because tilting backwards is what your thighs are doing and there’s nothing bending in between. In fact, you’re going to end up in a “doing the limbo” position.
Do you see that? Good
Next step: stand up and actually bend your knees. Don’t imagine it this time, do it.
Done that? When you bent your knees, did you feel your hips bend forward so as not to end up in that “doing the limbo” position? I’m guessing you did. If so you’re probably thinking, “So where’s the problem?”
You have a problem
To see the problem, find a long mirror and stand sideways on to it. Notice what angle your upper body is at right now. Then bend your knees. Notice whether your upper body moved backwards.
Do you see what’s happening? You feel like you’re bending forwards at the hips but actually you’re not — or not nearly enough. Although your leaning backwards, your “limbo”, is not as much as it would be if you did it on purpose, it’s still there.
You go into that unintentional “limbo” every single time you bend your knees. That’s what’s putting pressure on your knees, wearing them out, and making them hurt.
So what’s the solution?
How can you stop doing the limbo when you don’t mean to? (Remember that’s the only way to take the pressure off your knees).
You need to bend your hips more.
You can see that, can’t you? Just bend your hips more and you won’t be doing the limbo anymore. So I’m going to send you away to practise bending your hips more when you bend your knees.
Actually, no.
That would be really mean of me. You see, there’s another twist to this saga. The twist is that hardly anybody knows where their hip joints really are.
They believe their hip joints to be somewhere different and they act as if that were true. Most people bend at their hips instead of their hip joints.
Huh, what’s the difference?
Read the second article in this copy of “Back in Action”, it will put you straight. Then, when you know where your hip joints are, you can go away and practice bending knees and hip joints together.
Note added much later
There is now a better article for finding your hip joints than one I mentioned in that last paragraph: “Getting rid of a hunchback, part 3: swing your legs from your hip joints“.
This article is included under the following categories:‒
Personal Coaching by Philip Pawley
If you want to get the best kind of help, come to me for an introductory lesson in Liverpool.
If you’re too far away, then the next best thing is to get personal lessons and advice from me online at Repoise.com, my on-line school. (Both far-away and local pupils use Repoise).
In more detail:–
If you’re in Liverpool (or can get to Liverpool)
- There’s nothing better than individual lessons. My practice is at 37 Hope Street, Liverpool L1. Ring me on 0151 708 6172 to book an initial consultation and first lesson. (Leave your number so I can get back to you).
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If you’re short of funds, you can still have first class training from me — though it will require a little more work on your part.
The thing to do is have an individual, in-person lesson just once a month. That will entitle you to also get regular on-line lessons from me through Repoise. That way, you have the best of both worlds: in-person lessons and very regular, even daily, on-line Personal Coaching by Philip Pawley from me. That’s a real bargain because Repoise costs the equivalent of three lessons a year to everyone else.
Ring me on 0151 708 6172 if you want to arrange this.
- I occasionally run group lessons. If you’re interested in these, go here for details.
If you’re further away and can’t get to Liverpool
- There’s still nothing better than individual lessons. Here’s where you can find a teacher near you in the UK or elsewhere
- I suggest you also get direct day-to-day guidance from me by joining Repoise.
If you’re having plain Alexander Technique lessons from someone else, you still need to discover the Smiling Back Method of the Alexander Technique. You’ll get a lot more out of your lessons when you do.
37 Hope Street, Liverpool, Merseyside L1 9EA, England
Telephone: +44 151 708 6172 Mobile: +44 7872 905 154
Copyright © 2007-2012 Philip Pawley
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