Unlocking Knees
Dancing Smart Newsletter
June 2, 2005
Announcement! (Drum roll) My book, TuneUp Your Turnout is ready to be ordered and shipped out. It has beena crazy week, with manytechnical problems with servers and shopping carts. Please go to www.thebodyseries.comto check out my summerintroductory specials, and, the newly designed website! The membersof this newsletter, with all your wonderful questions, were a major source ofinspiration forme. With your emails and questionsyou have let me know in no uncertain terms that this type of detailedinformation is desired. Thank youso much!
Onto the question of the week from Lesley.
Thank you so much for your weekly newsletters. I find it really helpful to read theadvice and guidance you give us all, and really appreciate the time you take toshare your knowledge. My questionrelates to straightening one's knees: I have danced for more than 50 years, mostly ballet, some modern andjazz. Only recently have Idiscovered that I straighten my legs by locking my knees back (didn't realize Ihave slightly sway-back legs), instead of pulling up my knee-caps. Only when my teacher actually ran hisfinger across the muscle and told me to pull it up did I understand what todo. I'm now finding it reallydifficult to focus on those muscles, which seem to be weak and very hard toaccess. So, my question to you is what can I do to strengthen the muscles thatpull up the knees, and how can I change the habit of locking back my knees intoone of pulling up the correct muscles?
Many thanks,
Lesley
Good question, Lesley! Just this week I worked on this very problem with a dancer who hadhyperextended knees. When you are hyperextended it is so hard to shift your muscle engagementas your knees don't FEEL straight when you don't hyperextend them.
It will take some time to make the change, but I've got someideas to help you.
Start by sitting on the ground with your legs in front ofyou. Typically, when you straightyour knees and they go into hyperextension your heels come way off thefloor. Your first goal is toengage the quadriceps muscles pulling the kneecap up towards your hips and keepyour heels as close to the floor as possible. Pay special attention to the medial quadriceps muscle,making sure it puffs up, or engages, as much as the lateral quadricepsmuscle. You may want to lightlystroke the medial quad as you are engaging it to help wake it up.
Once you are able to engage the quadriceps muscles withouthyperextending the knee as you are sitting, then you can try standing easily ina neutral parallel position. Standing in front of a mirror that would be usefulfor observing the kneecap movement. In this position engage your quadriceps without allowing your knees topush backwards into hyperextension. This may be challenging. Ifyou are unable to pull the kneecaps up without pushing back into the knees, tryto do it one leg at a time. Dothat by shifting to stand primarily on one leg, lets say over to your left leg,and then try engaging the right quad to lift the patella. It is easier to do with less weight onthe leg. You'll work your way tostand, fully weight bearing, and be able to lift the kneecap up.
Another useful tool is to do your demi pliés against thewall. Standing in parallel withyour buttocks lightly touching the wall, and your heels a few inches away fromthe wall. Practice your demi pliés and notice that if you allow yourknees togo into hyperextension your alignment shifts. Typically, the pelvis movesaway from the wall and the upperback gets closer to the wall. Youend up in that slight S shaped alignment when viewed from the side. Havingthe wall help monitor your alignment is wonderful, I always use the wall whenteaching demi pliés.
If you find that you have some weakness to the quadricepsmuscles then you can do the traditional strength exercises. The most common one is sitting on achair or table with a 1-3 pound weight on your ankle, and slowly straighteningthe leg. Not into hyperextension, but just until the knee, hip and ankle are inalignment. Bend the leg slightly,about 5 inches, and straighten again. It is the last few degrees of extension (or straightening) of the kneewhere the inner or medial quadriceps works the most.
Single leg demi pliés are also a very easy way to strengthenthe quadriceps. Start by standing facing the barre with both hands lightlyplaced upon the barre for balance and do between 5-10 pliés. Watchyouralignment, keep square, anddon't lock back into the knees. Excellent strengthener.
On with the dance!
Deborah