K N E E   C O L L A P S E

Knee collapse, more commonly known as “knee buckling”, occurs many times when people perform lunges, squats, and gait patterns such as walking, jogging and running. We have all seen it happen: picture that person in the gym who looks like they’re squatting with more weight on their back than they can handle. Their knees are coming in towards the midline of the body and toward the foot instead of pointing strait forward or pushing out. Areas of the kinetic chain that are affected by this movement flaw are the hip and knee joints.

This could be caused by tight muscles in and around the hips, weak hip stabilizers, or just a general lack of understanding of how to correctly perform this movement. If not corrected, knee collapse could lead to injury of the ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and/or meniscus as well as increase the risk of ankle injuries, muscle imbalances, and more.

To correct this movement, you may need to work on mobilizing the muscles in and around the hips as well as work on stabilizing those muscles. If the movement feels and looks good without adding any weight and progressively gets worse as more weight is added, then the real problem lies in the fact that you simply just might not be ready for that additional weight yet.

Mobility exercise: Supine hip flexor stretch

While laying in the supine position (laying on back), place one ankle slightly below the knee on the opposite leg. You should feel a stretch in the glutes (maximus and medius) and lateral hip flexors.

To deepen the stretch:

• Press your elbow (on the same side as the bent leg) on the inside of the thigh until you feel tightness in the hip flexors, as pictured above (right).
• Sit up and instead of holding the opposite leg up in the air, place the foot on the ground in front of you. Keep your bent leg where it is and to deepen the stretch, lean forward with hands places on the ground behind you until you feel tightness.

Stability exercise: Hip bridges

1. Begin by laying in supine position with knees bent and feet placed shoulder width apart in the ground.
2. Press through the heels and lift body by squeezing your butt muscles until body is in a strait line from your knees to your head
3. Slowly lower your body by rolling down each vertebrae at a time starting from the cervical spine (upper back) all the way to the lumbar (lower back)

T I P S:

• Make sure to engage the glutes and hamstrings at the top of the bridge to ensure you’re working the correct muscles as well as ensuring you’re not putting all the weight into the shoulders and cervical spine
• Make sure to do this exercise slowly, as we want to engage all the muscles
• It might not burn at first, but after multiple repetitions you should feel this in the glutes and hamstrings (as well as the abdominals).