Hello. Testing. Am I on? Oh, hi. I’m… the knee. Yes, I know. You havent heard from me before. I’m kinda low on the totem pole… so to speak. I only talk to you, some of you, when trouble is afoot (leg humor). When I have just had it with all the agendas, all the running around …. then I speak up and get some respect.
But most often I’m just cruising along here below your hip…. moving only in the sagittal plane. Bending extending, bending exten…. well… not really extending. Ok…. here’s my complaint. You dont ever really extend me. Its always this pseudo-kind-of extension. And then we go right back to bending again. You know what I’d like. What I’d really like?! Stretch the back of me. Oh yeah. Extend me completely. Open up the back of the knee so that my muscles there finally get some freedom. And not just when you’re doing a hamstring stretch. But when you are standing upright. That would be great.
Now, if you’re a person that hyperextends all the time or has an “issue” with one of us…. be careful. Try it slowly… easily…. and not too much. But I will tell you…. us knees…. really want this. Its kind of sexy for us. Strangely enough…. while the back stretches open more, the front closes off more. And muscles that were never shortening and contracting to their fullest in front now get to do just that. Ahhhh…… such joy when you help us out.
If you study us in more detail you’ll find that the distal end of the femur slides on the cartilage/meniscus that is on top of the proximal end of the tibia. If us knees never get completely straight…. we never slide completely into place. You’ll see examples of this when you watch someone walking in high heels and they look somehow “awkward”. So do us a favor…. and straighten those knees! But never hyperextend us, be careful if you have any injury or pains, and be even incredibly more careful if you are working out with weights.
Alright. I’m done here. Just thought you knee-ded that.
