timtak

I have had sore knees, a sore butt, and recently hip instability threatening to make me decrepit but I think I have found an exercise that cures these problems, that is painless and quick. I recommended it to anyone with sore knees, and or unstable hips. Here it is (2 minute video)


The road to pain free knees:
I am 56. When I was 40 I got fat, took up swimming instead of jogging, and I got a spinal hernia when I kicked too much doing crawl. I took up cycling and "timtaked" my road bike bars to a very forward time-trial like position, so that I did not have to use my butt muscles to avoid sciatica.

Ten years later my right knee, and 15 years later my right hip gave out. What was going on? It was clear that my back problem was the original cause because the pain and instability was on the same side.

I found that pedal extenders helped with the knee pain. I did not believe that I needed more Q on one side of my body. I thought it had something to do with the fact that on the contrary, the increased Q made me want to turn my foot inwards, but I forgot about it.

One legged "Rumanian" Squats helped a lot. I thought I was exercising the small muscles around my knee. But, I found it more and more difficult to get into high gears. I also made my stem short and rearwardly offset my saddle and rode like a normal cyclist. This strengthened my back but my hips got worse.

From about 2 years ago I got hip instability. This was threatening to force me to give up running, perhaps soon cycling, certainly karate, and sitting at work. I only use standing desks and kneeling chairs these days. I did loads of
Flying dogs
Hip abductions
Side planks with abduction
Hydrants (by the thousand)
Hydrant to donkey kicks
Donkey kick to hydrants
Squats and more squats
Lunges and curtsey lunges
I was just about keeping decrepitude at bay but only just.

I notice again that ROTATIONAL leg exercise was effective
0) That pedal extender (that I had forgotten about)
1) One legged squats on a wobbly board
2) One legged squats on a rotating machine
3) Scything with a big grim reaper scythe
4) Doing The Twist

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...bcOYjDK2a0OFqg

Then I saw a physiotherapist give a lady clamshell exercise training explaining that rotational strength at the hip cures knee pain because it prevents one from going knock needed.

Bingo. I realised that was my problem and why my back hernia had caused knee pain. My spinal hernia cause sciatica which caused "glute (butt muscle) amnesia" that caused weak rotational strength, which caused bowed knees, as many old men have, which caused knee pain and eventually hip instability.

So all I needed to do was increase my internal rotational strength. Easier said than done. The standard exercise is "the reverse clamshell" where you lie on your side with knees bent, put an exercise band between your ankles, and rotate your ankle upwards. It did not work for me until I worked out to do the exercise standing up.

Attach a stretchy band to a wall or table leg. Step into it with the leg furthers from the table/wall. Step over it with the other leg. Holding onto the wall or table, rotate your banded lower leg out backwards away from the wall. Repeat. I did about the 100 or these a day for he past two weeks and, it seems to be the elixir of legs, the fountain of femoral youth and the philosophers bone, thigh bone.

Because, I am back to whizzing along in top gear (53 - 11). The best thing it is that unlike squats, the standing reverse clamshell does not load the knee and just exercises the muscle that is weak. So do a few of these exercises day before getting on your bike and your knees may love you.

shelbyfv

Yes, 53-11

timtak

I had been only using 53-14 or so for the past couple of years.

late

You can do both sides at the same time.


While that's a great exercise, I do some others for strength and stability in the hip area. This is one of my favorites:

Having a bar there is silly. You are not going to go very deep when you first do this in any case.

Another fave is walking against the resistance of a band, forwards, backwards and sideways. When you go sideways it's a 2 part process. Push off on one leg, and then use the other to pull your legs together. So you are doing external and then internal. On the initial push I do a slight twist inward to get the hips more involved.

timtak

Thank you! I will try doing both at once. And there was me thinking that my timtak tsiwts were the solution to life, the universe, and everything.


I have seen that Athlean video before. The stretch is similar to one we do in Karate.If you make a video of your exercises walking against a band I would like to see it. Do you attach the band to a belt around your waist, I wonder.

late

It's new to me, I just stumbled across it a couple weeks ago, really like it.

I can't make a video, but I can tell you. Grab a band that is attached to something, and walk against the resistance. 2 bands are better, you're not fighting the twist. When you go sideways, push off on the same side you're holding the band. Then pull yourself back together with the other leg, working the inside muscles.

Even if you can't do a lot of these exercises (I can only do the first one) I think you will like this. It's Zuu, an Australian calisthenics thing:

timtak

I see, I hold the band as I walk away.

I like the Zuu!

I tried the "both at once, seated" but I think I am going to stay with timtaks because, I was sitting on the muscles that I was attempting to exercise, with my standing version I can get a double range of rotation, rotating from maximum outwards rotation (if the band is taught when my rear facing leg is crossed behind my support leg, so that it is facing the anchor point) to maximum inwards rotation, when my knee is rotated inwards as far as I can go, and because I prefer to exercise standing up.