LIFESTYLE NEWS - Exercise is one of the ways to improve your physical wellbeing and it aids in great measure to get rid of ailments, aches and pains.
Follow the exercise programme provided by the biokineticists at Anine van der Westhuizen Biokineticist in George and feel the difference.
This week biokineticist Megan van Huyssteen discusses an exercise for meniscus injury, which was discussed previously.
The VMO (vastus medialis oblique) is one of the four muscles of your quadriceps (front thigh muscle). If you contract your quadriceps (just above and to the inside of the knee cap), you'll notice a muscle toward the inner part of your thigh that almost looks like a rain drop. That's your VMO.
The VMO is an active stabiliser of the patella (knee cap), which means it helps with the "tracking" of the patella when the knee is bent and straightened. A lack of muscle activation and weakness in the VMO causes maltracking of the patella.
Exercise: Sit to stand
All you need is a chair and a small ball or something you can place between your knees (e.g. a pillow folded double).
Sit tall near the front of the chair seat and don't lean back.
Knees must be bent at about 90 degrees - try to use a chair high enough to position your hips slightly higher than your knees.
Your feet should be hip width apart, facing forward.
Place a small ball / pillow between the knees and assure that your "foot-knee-hips" are in a straight line.
Activate your bum muscles (glutes).
Lean forward with a straight back and start lifting your bum of the chair.
As you stand up, focus on using not only your thigh muscles, but your bum muscles as well.
As you reach a standing position, keep the ball squeezed between the knees and slowly start to lower the bum again.
As you lower, try to keep the bum squeezed and focus on the VMO muscle.
This is what we as biokineticists call a "functional" exercise - one that makes use of a movement pattern you use during your everyday life.
What not to do
- Don't pull your feet closer to the chair, resulting in your knees moving forward.
- Don't lift your toes or heels of the ground. Keep your feet in a fixed position.
- Don't lock your knees as you stand up. Keep your knees slightly bent (soft knees).
'We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news'
