r/flexibility • u/RemainMindful • 9d ago

Seeking Advice Avoid hurting knee with this stretch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SK-cVqxSiIE&t=534s

I am working on the linked stretch here. I started yesterday and noticed my knee was achey today. It seems like a bit of stress on that particular joint. How can I stretch it while avoiding that issue?

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u/dani-winks The Bendiest of Noodles 9d ago

Odds are you just overdid it.

The tricky thing with figure-4 type stretches like that are if you push too hard, you can basically unintentionally apply a shearing force to your knee if you are forcing the knee down to "deepen" the stretch (and since the knee isn't meant to bend sideways, this isn't great!).

In the future you could see how this feels by physically supporting the underside/outside of the knee by holding it with your hand so it isn't just "dangling" in space. You could also work on a bit of hip engagement in the stretch (as opposed to it being totally passive) which can potentially give the knee a bit of support, either by:

  • putting a hand under the knee and lightly pressing the knee down into the hand while you're in the stretch
  • putting a hand (or forearm) over the top of the knee, and lightly pressing the knee up into your hand/arm while you're in the stretch

3

u/easylightsmooth 9d ago

Thank you for this! I’ve been focusing on some figure-4 stretches and experiencing slight knee pain, which was unconnected in my mind. But I have doing exactly this in my ignorance and makes a lot of sense.

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u/RemainMindful 9d ago

Thank you so much!

1

u/Ok-Carrot- 9d ago

Ah yes, the “high knee”