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 Lock the knee!Moderators: Moderators Jump to page : 1 2 Now viewing page 2 [25 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
| Yoga -> Bikram Yoga | Message format |
johnb838 |
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| johnb838 |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442      | Why do they say "dialogue"? Is it not a monologue or do you folks get to talk back?  | ||
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| Nick |
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 Location: London, England | Hi Glenda, I have a theory as to why the instruction to lock the knee is prevalent-It's not just in Bikram yoga, but in every form of yoga that I have done or read about. I did an in-depth post on this a few days ago, but I posted it and the site crashed, so I left in disgust, I'll try and have another go. The instruction to lock the knee is often accompanied by the instruction to contract quadriceps, or sometimes more specifically, vastus medialis. My theory is that a yoga teacher whose anatomical knowledge is meagre would read in a textbook that the action of quadriceps is to extend the knee-this description only gives a partial account of the function of quadriceps. Most textbooks will only give the action of a muscle in a open kinetic chain (the foot is free to move). This is how chiros and physios test a muscle's function-an open kinetic chain allows them to isolate a muscle and find out whether it is strong or weak, long or tight. As an example, this means that I can test your biceps by getting you to pull your hand to your shoulder, with me holding onto your wrist and providing resistance. I can test your quads by getting you to bend your knee and then holding your ankle to provide resistance as you try to straighten your leg. So because an open kinetic chain allows us to isolate a muscle, this is the description given in books. But in life, things get much more complicated! In yoga, for example, the instruction to lock the knee by activating vastus muscles is done with the foot on the ground-this is a closed kinetic chain-the foot does not move, and our muscle's actions serve to change the position of our body parts in space. In the closed kinetic chain the function of muscles completely changes-the hamstrings for instance, can serve to straighten the knee, and the quadriceps can serve to slow down the bending of the knee. But the closed kinetic chain does not allow us to isolate a muscle's function-in a pull-up for example, is it the latissimus dorsi which is weak, or the biceps-weakness in either would affect our ability to pull ourselves up. When a teacher tells their student to lock their knee, they may be helping some students, but there will also be some whose knee health is ruined by this action-the quadriceps introduce huge shear forces when activated strongly-this is one reason why seated leg extensions have been dispensed with as a means of knee rehabilitation. Better instead to strengthen the knee with the foot on the ground, and to remember that the vastus is by no means the only important muscle crossing the knee-we didn't develop massive hamstrings just for show, or in order to stretch them in yoga postures  I think another reason that the instruction to tighten the quads is used is that there is a phenomenon called reciprocal inhibition-when you tighten muscles on one side of a joint, the muscles on the other side are inhibited-this allows us to move. So if you tighten the quads, you will be able to stretch the hamstrings, or part of them (when we think we are stretching a muscle, we may actually be stretching something else-there have been lots of new insights into what constitutes muscle stretch recently-we may not be doing as much muscle stretching as we think by practicing yoga!). Take care Nick | ||
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442 | Oh Nick - I find these long anatomy lectures tough to read first thing in the morning!  Bascially you are reiterating that "lock the knee" is not a good instruction. We agree. | ||
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| njguy |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442 | NJ- welcome. We've had some American Iyengar teachers come to our studio who were completely taken aback by everyone saying "thank you" when they are adjusted. One of them said something like "wow - you people really ARE that polite,aren't you?" I am really glad there are some Bikram teachers out there who can keep their students safe. | ||
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| njguy |
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| Nick |
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Location: London, England | |||
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442 | I realise now I forgot to say - I am Canadian  We say "excuse me", "pardon me" and "sorry!" when we bump into, go around or inconvenience someone. And we say "you're welcome" after someone thanks us, Not "uh-huh."  | ||
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| Nick |
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Location: London, England | Hi Glenda, Sorry, always presumed you were American-I'll never presume again! Well, not until the next time anyway Nick | ||
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| bstqltmkr |
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442 | Nick - you are excused - this time! BQ - I am very close to Vancouver and my daughter lives there. It is a beautiful city and often is said to be one of the most "liveable" cities in the world. They are going a bit nuts there right now getting ready for the 2010 winter olympics. I agree with the usefulness of the word "lock." It is too bad it has developed such an unfortunate connotation, but I have been watching people day-to-day since this thread has been going and I see sooooo many people do this action of pushing the knee back in regular standing position that it really has to be changed as a habit. It is often accompanied by a sway in the low back (anterior pelvic tilt, Nick would say) that is just a huge recipe for knee and low back pain. I have spoken with other yoga teachers and body workers of various stripes and we all agree it is hard to not go around correcting everyone we see some days! | ||
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Location: London, England | |||
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Expert Yogi Posts: 8442 | |||
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| johnb838 |
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