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The quadriceps are very important muscles as they are mainly anti-gravity, which means they help us stay upright. We need them to do any physical activity; from walking, running, cycling and many more exercises. That is why every athlete is always looking to exercise them and keep them in shape. When any quadriceps exercise, whether squats or any other type, is performed incorrectly, the pressure on the cartilage that protects the kneecap ends up damaged and chondromalacia patella develops, an injury that often keeps us out of sports for long periods. In this video we will show you how to do more quadriceps exercises without seriously damaging the patellar cartilage. To do this we have four very simple tips. 1. Avoid a flexion range between 60 and 90 degrees: We must be especially careful not to work between 60 and 90 degrees of flexion, here the pressure between the patella and the femur is greater, and therefore, it is when we can injure the patellar cartilage the most. If we flex less than 60 degrees the pressure does not have to be so damaging. Remember not to work too much and above all not to add a load between 60 and 90 degrees of knee flexion. 2. Practice more isometric exercises: When we do exercises in movement we are attacking in two aspects; with the hyperpressure that its cartilage suffers, and secondly we are making it rub during that movement. If we do these exercises in a static way; with a friction of the knee and we stay there, the quadriceps are trying hard to maintain that tension and however the patella is only being subjected to tension, we are not adding the effect of friction because we are not making movements. 3. Exercise the quadriceps with more repetitions and less intensity: We all want to complete our training in the shortest time possible, so we put a lot of weight and flex very deeply, which damages the kneecap. The solution is to replace those four repetitions with ten with less flexion and less load, so we use a little more time, we still exercise the quadriceps, but we are not damaging the cartilage of the kneecap. So more light repetitions and less aggressiveness in each repetition. 4. Practice gentle joint rolling: Gentle stationary bike, swimming, any exercise in which we are massaging the kneecap against the femur without using force, we are activating the repair of what we have previously damaged with the quadriceps exercises. Between sets of quadriceps exercises, let's practice some joint rolling. When we do exercises with rolling, we avoid progressively eroding the cartilage of the patella until it can cause an injury such as chondromalacia patella, which in many cases keeps us out of sports for long periods. #quadriceps #injury #pain #exercise #medicine #routine #training #sportsmedicine #chondromalacia #kneecap #chondromalaciapatella #chondromalaciapatella