Knee Exercises?

Bander87 · Post by **Bander87** » 21 Jul 2005 19:37

Does anyone have any exercises for stronger knees? I can feel mine burning and would hate to mess it up. When starting freestyle, do people normally get used to the stress or does it not work that way?

Thanks.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 21 Jul 2005 19:45

You really need to strengthen your leg muscles as you're getting really good, especially if your knee is hurting. This probably means your muscles are too weak and your joints/tendons/ligaments/shit are taking the impact, which is no good.
Go to the gym. Do lots of leg presses, leg curls, and calf presses. That will (should) help you a lot.

Senor Grommet · Post by **Senor Grommet** » 21 Jul 2005 19:54

To answer one of your questions:

do people normally get used to the stress or does it not work that way?

Yes, but not if great skill is achieved too quickly. The body has more time to cope/adjust/learn/grow with your newly acquired skills if they are aquired over a long period of time. So yes, the body adjusts, but maybe not as fast as it needs to if your footbag progrssion is quick.

Go to the gym . . . or stop getting so good so fast.

Bander87 · Post by **Bander87** » 21 Jul 2005 20:18

Man, some solid advice! Thanks guys a lot.

HooD · Post by **HooD** » 21 Jul 2005 20:21

Footbag fitness

Here are some stretches and strengthening exercises you can do for the lower extremities. Have any questions, just PM me or msg me on AIM.

verena · Post by **verena** » 22 Jul 2005 01:44

i think a really good exercise is to stand on one leg and then bend it until you seem to sit on a non-existant chair.

(hope you know what i'm talking about)
repeat that.
it's really hard.
it helps a lot though. it strengthens the thigh. i did this a lot when i injured my knee and it helped me so much.

Anz · Post by **Anz** » 22 Jul 2005 02:24

I've heard that the exercise that Verena is talking about would be bad for knees?

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 22 Jul 2005 06:28

It's just a single leg squat. What about it would be bad for your knees?

HooD · Post by **HooD** » 22 Jul 2005 06:55

The further you go down on one leg, the more stress is put through the knee. As long as you don't go too far down it'd be a good exercise only if your legs are already strong enough to do so. It's pretty much like any other squatting exercise, just don't go down too far.

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 22 Jul 2005 07:12

Concerning squats, my PT also told me that 1.) You should sit back far enough that when you look straight down over your knee, you should still be able to see the tips of your toes just underneath it, and 2.) You should come back up just before you at are at 90 degrees with your lower leg.

HooD · Post by **HooD** » 22 Jul 2005 07:18

Yup yup, that sounds about right. If you want to add difficulty, you can always hold hand weights, or give a 5-10 sec. hold in the squatted position. Or if you're a bad ass with Ales legs, do both !

Anz · Post by **Anz** » 22 Jul 2005 07:48

Yes, I also though that you ass shouldn't go lower than your knees are.
Good tips! I'll do that exercise for my knees!

brian relly · Post by **brian relly** » 22 Jul 2005 08:47

ana_ali wrote:Yes, I also though that you ass shouldn't go lower than your knees are.
Good tips! I'll do that exercise for my knees!

That's what I meant. Your ass at your knees is 90 degrees.

Oh wow, I'm going to have to save that one for later.

Bander87 · Post by **Bander87** » 22 Jul 2005 12:46

Yeah, I've acuatly tried the one leg squat a few times. Should I start with the regular two leg squat? I've also been doing calf raises everyday, but only for 1 min.

HooD · Post by **HooD** » 22 Jul 2005 15:53

Yeah bander, i've got some exercises on my site, check out the wallslide exercise. Start with the easiest and then as they get easier, progress to the next step up in difficulty. Progress from :

2 leg squat
2 leg squat with holds
2 leg squat with weights
2 leg squat with holds and weights
1 leg squat
1 leg squat with holds
1 leg squat with weights
1 leg squat with holds and weights

Hope that helps.