LEG EXERCISES TO HELP COMBAT JUMPERS KNEE - FIGHTERS KNEE - RUNNERS KNEE

HOW TO GET RID OF JUMPER'S KNEE - PATELLA TENONITIS

WARNING NOTE – I AM NOT A DOCTOR. I AM NOT A PHYSICAL THERAPIST. IF YOU ARE INJURED, GO SEE A PROFESSIONAL.

I shot this video 10 weeks out from my Muay Thai fight in Thailand and wanted to share with you. I was feeling a little tweak in my knee (patellar tendinopathy), when I was skipping, in my prior training session and knew right away, my quads (which I hadn't worked in a while due to fight training) needed some love...and hence the workout.

I played professional indoor and beach volleyball for over 15 years.

What does that mean? It means a lot of jumping up and down, moving side to side, back and forth and the increase in the potential of getting knee injuries.

I am sure over the span of this period; I probably jumped up and down over 100,000 times, between practices, matches and beach volleyball games.

One of the most common nagging injuries for me and other volleyball players alike was the patellar tendinopathy, better known as jumper’s knee. This injury has put many athletes on the shelf, but with a few tweaks, many athletes can avoid this.

So with years of research, testing on myself and visits to my Physiotherapist, I found a few ways to combat jumper’s knee throughout by strengthening and stretching my quads and legs.

In this article I will give you a quick overview of what patella tendinopathy, some of the symptoms and ways I have found to help prevent and combat this nagging injury.
 


WHAT IS PATELLAR TENDINOPATHY (PATELLA TENDONITIS) ?

Jumpers Knee or Patellar Tendinopathy occurs when the patella tendon, which joins the kneecap (patella) to the shin bone, comes under a large amount of stress due to individuals who actively put extra strain on the knee joint. This is seen in individuals that perform sports that involve direction changing and jumping movements.

With repeated strain, micro-tears as well as collagen degeneration may occur as a result in the tendon. Not to be confused with patella tendonitis (tendinitis) which is a condition that indicates an inflammation of the tendon, tendinopathy is more about degeneration of the tendon.


SYMPTOMS:


Some of the symptoms that you may be experiencing if you have Patellar Tendinopathy are:

• Pain at the bottom and front of the kneecap especially when pressing in

• Aching and stiffness after exertion

• Pain when you contract the quadriceps muscles.

• The affected tendon may appear larger than the unaffected side.

For me, as soon as I felt that pain at the bottom of the knee, it was FUNK’S REHAB to the rescue.

I found when researching to write this article that there are 4 levels or grades to Patellar Tendinopathy

• Grade 1: Pain only after training

• Grade 2: Pain before and after training but pain eases once warmed-up

• Grade 3: Pain during training which limits your performance

• Grade 4: Pain during every day activities

If you have any of these symptoms, see you doctor first and then try my below suggestions



TREATMENT - How to Treat Patella Tendinopathy

This is the moment you have all been waiting for. Here are some of my suggestions for treating your jumpers/fighters/runners knee

• Quadriceps muscle strengthening program: in particular eccentric strengthening. These exercises involve working the muscles as they are lengthening and are thought to maximise tendinopathy recovery – see video and below Quad Workout.

• Stretching the quads, hamstrings, calves

• Ice packs to reduce pain and inflammation after any form of exercise

• Wear a knee support, or jumper’s knee strap to reduce pain and ease the strain on the tendon.

• See a sports injury specialist who can apply sports massage techniques to the tendon and advise on a rehabilitation program.

• Muscle strengthening of other weight bearing muscle groups, such as the calf muscles, may decrease the loading on the patellar tendon.

• Massage therapy - transverse (cross) friction techniques may be used.

• Rest from training

FUNK’S TREATMENT


My number #1 treatment is to try and strengthen the quad muscles and keep your legs strong and power full to ensure you take the pressure off your knees and on your quads when jumping, striking and/or running.

Implement the below workout into your weekly training schedule to ensure that your quads and legs are strong and powerful.



FUNK ROBERTS QUAD WORKOUT

1. BARBELL SQUAT 5 SETS OF 10 REPS (GO HEAVY, GO DEEP, GO HARD)

2. BODYWEIGHT BULGARIAN SPLIT SQUATS – 3 SETS OF 10 REPS

3. LEG EXTENSIONS – 3 SETS 10-15 REPS (GO LIGHT)

4. RIDE THE BIKE FOR 10 MINUTES

5. STRETCH, STRETCH AND STRETCH


BEST EXERCISES FOR YOU LEGS

These are the exercises that everyone should have in their workout arsenal. If you are not performing these moves then you are just wasting your time in the gym. Not saying that you have to these all the time, but these exercises need to be part of your workout regime. These are the Best Damn Exercises for Period


Training legs is probably one of the most overlooked, let me rephrase that, neglected body parts in peoples workout regimen. Unless you are a bodybuilder, very few invest the time to develop strong, powerful, yet leaned and ripped legs. They are your foundation and must be trained for optimal performance, injury prevention and overall your look.

REF: http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/cybertherapist/front/knee/indexjumpersknee.html

WORLD REKNOWN COACH SELBY - STRETCHING FOR VOLLEYBALL PART 1

World Renown Coach Selby lends a helping hand to my Toronto Ruffriders Volleyball Club and all volleyball players a-like



Coach Selby is the nation's leading sports stretching, injury prevention and energy recovery coach for amateur athletes in the US. Coach Selby's training advice can help athletes succeed like never before. He is a University of Miami graduate and former division one basketball star.

His system to incorporate coordination, rhythm, confidence, timing, strength, flexibility and desire into your training that will get you jumping 6-10 inches higher in 2 to 4 weeks time.

Check out his website

http://www.stretchexpert.com/

http://www.youtube.com/user/stretchexpert

Coach Selby - World's Premier Injury Prevention Stretch Expert

Coach Selby is the nation's leading sports stretching, injury prevention and energy recovery coaching for amateur athletes. Recognized as the world's premier injury prevention-stretch expert, and energy recovery authority, Selby's injury prevention coaching and skills work for athletes everywhere. He is a University of Miami graduate and former Division one basketball player. He has coached basketball fundamentals for The Five Star Camps and has worked with several elite athletes.

I started using the below stretching fundamental this past weekend at my volleyball tournament, and although I will need to continue to practice, I could really feel a difference.

Holding a Stretch from ten seconds to three minutes is best for athletes?

No! This thinking is old school. Old! Old! O-L-D! This method worked 30 years ago. The pain of a new idea is one of the greatest pains in human nature. Your favorite notions may be wrong, your firmest beliefs ill founded. And your favorite stretching methods may be the root cause of your greatest pains! It is a fact of life that people find it much easier to believe a lie they've heard a thousand times than a fact that they've never heard before.

Coaches and young athletes must first unlearn all the ineffective stretching habits instilled since their younger days, and then familiarize themselves with the real facts concerning stretching, injury prevention and energy recovery. And there is no need to take anyone else's word about all of this. If you simply follow the basic common sense guidelines for a few months- stretch one muscle at a time and only hold stretch for 2-seconds— your body will provide all the evidence you need and unless you don't care about your performance levels and athletic longevity you'll make the changes to new injury prevention habits.

Understanding this fact is key to increasing your vertical!

Muscles can stretch, when they're healthy, up to 1.6 times their length, but they generally don't like to do that. If you stretch a muscle too quickly or too far, it automatically and ballistically recoils to protect it from ripping. This compensation is called a "myotatic reflex" and it kicks in at three seconds. This is the old ballistic type stretching. Remember the cadence-1-2-3 clap?

Imagine yourself the last time you tried to do the splits. Unless you are unusually flexible, it went something like this. You leapt out of the chair and stood straight up on the floor. You slid your right foot forward and your left foot backward until you felt a "tug" on the insides of your thighs. You either pulled up immediately or buckled your knees and dropped to the floor to get that pressure off your hips. You drew your knees up to relax the tension. You were experiencing the "myotatic reflex": a loud and clear message to you that you were going to rip in the next second and you needed to let go NOW.

The trick in progressing in flexibility is to stretch a muscle, but not allow it time to engage the "myotatic reflex." You work quickly and gently. The muscle you are stretching is totally relaxed because the muscle on top of it is doing all the work. The stretching muscle never has time to fire. Because it is stretched, held for two seconds, and released, it doesn't need to protect itself. The "myotatic reflex" is never engaged.

Work on accept and putting into practice this new idea of two second stretch for your pre and post workouts. I guarantee it will make a difference in your performance right away. If you are still stuck on doing a 30 second stretches consider this option. Do 12 to 15 two second stretch. This will be the same amount of time except the muscles will be warmer and more prepared for action. I wish you much success on your developing your training program.

To Your Vertical Success,

Coach Selby

You’re 21st Century Basketball Stretching Coach
because everyone (even Michael Jordon) needed a coach

P.S. Now, if you are really serious about growing your
game exponentially by improving your basic
flexibility, energy recovery and strength slam dunk your
way here for a visit.

www.Stretchexpert.com
www.myspace.com/coachselby007
www.youtube.com/coachselby007

Stretching program made to order!

Coach Selby is the nation's leading sports stretching, injury prevention and energy recovery coaching for amateur athletes. Recognized as the world's premier injury prevention-stretch expert, and energy recovery authority, Selby's injury prevention coaching and skills work for athletes everywhere. If you use sites like fitness on line, health and fitness tips, sport fit and others on line fitness sites. Coach Selby training advice can help athletes succeed like never before. He is a University of Miami graduate and former Division one basketball player. He has coached basketball fundamentals for The Five Star Camps and has worked with several elite athletes. Better than what just fitness centers could ever offer, Coach's Words, products and ideas turn athletes into quantum performing competitors while decreasing likeness of injuries and increasing energy weather you are a peewee, junior, high school or senior athlete.

The EnergyFlow Warm Up

The EnergyFlow Warm Up

Sgt Shanahan shows the warm up elite athletes use to resist injury and achieve ultimate performance. It's simple and very effective. I use this and have seen great improvement in all areas of sport, fitness and recovery.



Funk Roberts

ARE YOU SORE THE MORNING AFTER A WORKOUT?

HERE ARE FOUR WAYS TO BE LESS SORE IN THE MORNING Cardio

10-20 minutes postworkout

Stretch

10-15 minutes after cardio


Supplement
400-800 IU Vitamin E and 1-2 g Vitamin C

Ice Massage
10-15 minutes before bed

Try this and you'll find yourself ready to hit the gym as soon as you wake up.
Funk Roberts

Funk Roberts Fitness Tip of the Week

Tip of the Week

Between sets flex and stretch muscles you're working (if you not supersetting) to gain additional hardness and separation. Stretch afterward to clear the muscle of lactic acid.

Funk Roberts

Don't Rush the Beat!