Athlete_s Guide to Knee Pain

AN ATHLETE’S GUIDE

TO CHRONIC KNEE

PAIN, PART Itheories and solutions for patellar

tendonitis, jumper’s knee, and patellar

tracking problems

© Anthony Mychal 2012 Page 1

DISCLAIMER

The author will not be held responsible for any issue (be it

injuries, pains, aches, equipment misuse, animal fertilization, or

other) that results from reading this eBook. Its purpose is strictly

informational and legal action cannot be taken against the author

for any reason on account of this written work.

Although the author admittedly bases the medical industry,

understand that he is not legally authorized to replace your

physician as a clearance prior to engaging to physical activity, nor

is he authorized to recommend anything that overrides your

physician. Be sure to get clearance from the appropriate

professional personnel prior to becoming physically active or

engaging in a rigorous exercise regimen.

My name has been cleared.

LEGALESE

All rights reserved. No part of this eBook may be reproduced (by

any means) without the expressed written permission of Anthony

Mychal. By purchasing this eBook, you (the buyer) understand

that is not meant to be shared or distributed to anyone outside of

yourself. Respect goes a long way in creating friendships, and I

like friends.


A BRIEF THANKS

First, I want to thank you for reading this. Unfortunately,

without other crippled athletes I have no audience. Don’t forget

about this guide. Print it, highlight in it, write in the margins, take

notes, and make it a personal experience. Knee pain is clever,

and you’ll repeat the process whether it’s when you become a

nine-to-fiver, or when you play basketball seven days a week.

You’re always vulnerable.

Second, remember me. My thanks are given in a reliable

contact. Send me love mail, hate mail, questions, casual things,

whatever. I always answer.

[email protected]

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I have learned from many people in my decade of travels.

First, a nod goes to James Smith and Buddy Morris, formerly at

the University of Pittsburgh. They survived my company for 500+

hours and not only taught me physical preparation, but also the

art of coaching.

Second, I want to thank: Nate Green, Alex Vasquez, Chris

Korfist, Kelly Baggett, James “Smitty” Smith, Dan John, John

Romaniello, Bret Contreras, JC Deen, Zach Even-Esh, Roger

Lawson II, and Mark Rippetoe. They are quality guys that gave

their individual time to answer my petty. I will never forget their

time and kindness.

Third, I want to thank Jon Call, AKA “Jujimufu,” from Tricks

Tutorials. He was my sole motivator and role model back when I


was an out of shape teenager. I can’t thank him enough for all he

has done for me, both directly and indirectly.

Fourth, and most importantly, I want to thank my family and

my girlfriend Katie. Without your support, I wouldn’t be writing

this. Thanks for being open minded enough to let me grow into

what I am. I love you all.

Onward and upward—


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One – Autobiography…………………………………………………………...…9

Chapter Two – Pain……………………………………………………………………….…...12

Chapter Three – Theories……………………………………………………………………21

Chapter Four – The Real Reason……………………………………………………….…25

Chapter Five – Considerations…………………………………………………………….31

Chapter Six – Soft Tissue…………………………………………………………………….33

Chapter Seven – Tracking…………………………………………………………..………40

Chapter Eight – Weight Distribution……………………………………………………53

Chapter Nine – Forefoot……………………………………………………………………..57

Chapter Ten – Femoral Control……………………………………………………..……70

Chapter Eleven – Stretching and Mobility ……………………………………………92

Chapter Twelve – Stuff You Should Be Doing …………………………………..….101

Chapter Thirteen – Rehabilitation…………………………………………………..…104

Chapter Fourteen – The Program………………………………………………..…….109

Chapter Fifteen – Q&A………………………………………………………………………123

Book Two……………………………………………………………………………….………..127


PREFACE

THE SPAWNING

My written experience with knee pain started when I made a

fitness blog. I was a lifetime sufferer, and after rehab my

confidence was climbing alongside my health.

“The Bee’s Knees” was finalized in five articles, detailing

easy ways for athletes to stop knee pain. But my blog wasn’t

popular, so the information just sat in cyberspace. School work

forced me to neglect my blog, and I forgot I had ever written the

articles. Life went on.

A few loose thank you e-mails trickled to my inbox from “The

Bee’s Knees,” months later. This was encouraging enough for

me to want to read the originals.

I was embarrassed at what I found.

Perhaps it was my novice writing style or how much I had

grown since then, but my only chance for redemption was to

rewrite them, the way they deserved to be written. I’m wondering

if I’ll say the same about this eBook in a year’s time.

IS IT FOR ME?

Ignorance rules the fitness industry. One side of the bridge

houses Ph.D.’s with no experience outside of a Petri dish athletic

environment. The other side, personal trainers that found their

credentials after an eight hour weekend workshop.


It’s best to look at people that have done what you want to

do. Don’t search the weak to find strength. Don’t listen to the

small to get big. Experience is better than science because the

two highways haven’t merged. As Timothy Ferriss alluded to in

his newest book, The Four Hour Body, doctors could learn about

steroids if they chatted with bodybuilders.

This text isn’t about shoulder health, how to cut hair, or

giving a woman a fifteen minute orgasm (with the success of The

Four Hour Body I should reconsider). It’s for people that live

feeling twenty years older than their age. It’s for athletes with

tendonitis and tracking problems. It’s for people with knees that

make more noise than the rocking chair in the corner of the living

room. It’s for the athlete that looks to the sky for a semblance of

health. It’s for you.

Experts say you need medicine, surgery, or expensive

physical therapy. I hate medicine, I don’t like cutting flesh, and

I’m poor. I looked for another way.


ON FEMORAL CONTROL

In April 2011, Kelly Baggett released an article entitled, “Do

the Hip Flexors Really Deserve to be Ignored?” At that time, I

was revising this Guide for the fourth time, and what Baggett

described as femoral control summarized my theory.

The definition given from his website is, “the muscles that

attach on the upper thigh bone from up around the waist (the

psoas and glutes) should be fully in control of the thigh bone,

rather than those that attach lower, such as the TFL.”

Kelly’s article was about training the hip flexors, but the

concept is the same. In respect to knee pain, the muscle of our

hip (psoas and glutes) should power lower body movement. They

are specialized muscles with limited functions – hip extension or

hip flexion. When our hip fails, the quadriceps and hamstrings

take on more responsibility. They are the body’s failsafe because

they can also flex and extend the hip. But they are weaker and

smaller. They aren’t capable of handling high volumes and loads

like the glutes and psoas. The glutes are the largest muscle in

the body, and it’s not a coincidence. It’s expected to be a

powerhouse.

Yet we live funky lives. Our high volume of sitting and other

habits make the smaller muscles work in place of the bigger

muscles. This stresses structures more than what they are

capable of, resulting in pain. It’s like continuously working

overtime without extra pay. Eventually the workers strike.

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/hipflexors.html

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/hipflexors.html


What follows in this text isn’t all encompassing, because I

picked a simpler path. Often times, authors jam information and

pictures into their work because we associate bigger with better.

You’re not going to find detailed anatomy here because you can

just step over to Google for that.

A 200 page book may seem more informative than the 100

page book, but it’s rarely the case. The 100 page book has an

advantage in that each concept, idea, and sentence has to be

refined, clearer, and more useful. Writing a 200 page novel isn’t

difficult. What is, however, is condensing those 200 pages to 100

pages by eliminating the unnecessary.


CHAPTER ONE – AUTOBIOGRAPHY

HISTORY = FUTURE

At 21 years old, I could have a conversation with my knee

and enjoy a beer at the same time. My problems started way

before that though. When I was a kid, my knees clicked on

command. My mother warned of permanent problems to frighten

me.

I grew, and my problems shrunk. But my left knee still

clicked, and after a season of basketball I ended up in the

doctor’s office with a broken finger and achy knees.

He did his special tests—twisting, bending, and turning—

waiting for me to wince. I didn’t. He asked for my activity history,

which was pretty loaded. I played basketball six days a week and

I was a closet acrobat. My problems weren’t shocking to him.

Telling your doctor that you do backflips in your backyard won’t

end well.

My knees were overused and my finger was beyond repair.

At least, that’s what he told me. I was given pills and told to rest.

Turns out he was right about my finger. My knees, not so much.

Years later, I fell in love with barbell weight training. Legs

were my strong point, and I squatted often (to stave off upper

body embarrassment) using what most call an olympic squat—

high bar position, close stance, and deep. My knees would hurt,

just like they did in high school. I didn’t think they could be fixed.

After all, they were just overused, right? What was I supposed to

do? Not walk?


I mingled around the fitness industry and became obsessed

with fitness, strength, and health. My favorite book was Starting

Strength by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore. After reading the

squat chapter, my high bar squat transformed into the low bar

squat described in the book.

An injury forced me to start back at the beginning, so I ran

the Starting Strength program as written. After work one day, I

prepared for my workout – three sets of five, at 335. During my

first work set, my right knee popped as instability radiated through

my leg. My knee always made noise, but it was never this audible

and the feeling wasn’t the same. Normally, when my knee felt

stiff I could make it click to relieve pressure. But I couldn’t. My

superhero clicking powers were gone. And that’s when I learned

the difference between a click and a pop.

I guessed that my meniscus was partially torn. I feared the

doctor because I feared surgery. No news was better than bad

news.

The healing process was a struggle. The pain was above

the tolerable level I seesawed with through my teens. I ended up

going to a sports medicine doctor. My hopes were low, but my

psyche was so unstable that I needed reassurance.

My appointment was more of the same that I encountered

four years back—x-rays, tests, and recollection. My knee

described my problem better than I could, because I had severe

crepitus.

Surprisingly, my meniscus was healthy, but I was diagnosed

with patellar tracking problems and patellar tendonitis. Instead of

going to physical therapy (he said I didn’t need to because my

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po-6yu6r_2k


quadriceps were well muscled), he gave me some exercises and

a knee brace.

My medical expenses were adding up fast. My insurance

didn’t cover the $50 brace, which broke when I tried to put it on.

Add the two $25 co-pays from my other visits, and that’s how you

blow $100 on knee pain.

Knee Tip #1

Swallow your pride and make sure your pain isn’t a serious

medical problem. Check with your insurance company and make

sure this won’t cost more than a co-pay. You also want to be

wary of anything the doctor tries to give you, like a brace. These

are considered luxuries, not covered under insurance.


CHAPTER TWO – PAIN

MEDICAL BABBLE

You’ve read everything the internet has to offer. You know

the anatomy of the knee inside and out. You’re 100% confident in

saying you know what your problem is.

You’re wrong.

You need to see the inside. This requires a doctor

appointment, so schedule one. X-Rays are better than your

eyeball, but not as good as a MRI or CT-Scan. See what your

insurance covers so you don’t screw yourself financially. And

before you go, have a diagnosis ready for the doctor. Telling

them what you think is wrong will give them an idea of not only

where the pain is, but also what you’re going through.

INJURIES

Injuries can occur for many reasons. When it comes to knee

pain that can be fixed without surgery, you’re looking for an achy

pain that fades in and out with no origin. The pain is chronic,

meaning it has been occurring over a long time. Typical overuse

problems fall into this category. What starts as knee pain

becomes pain left of the knee cap, which becomes, “I need a

cane.” Although this sounds depressing, chronic injuries don’t

require the needles, knives, and Novocain.

But acute injuries surely do. They affect the deep structures

that stabilize the joint, are usually severe, and can be traced back

to one moment in time. Snapping or popping noises are signs,


especially after one particular incident. Fall off of a ladder and

hear a pop? Yeah, you have problems far beyond my control.

PATELLAR TENDONITIS (JUMPERS KNEE)

A Google search of, “patellar tendonitis,” gets around 48,600

hits. “Jumper’s knee,” about 148,000. Most people get the two

confused, but it’s one of those “the same but different” situations.

Patellar tendonitis is an acute inflammation of the patellar

tendon, the strong rectangular band that connects the knee cap to

the shin. It’s not much of an injury, just a temporary problem. On

the other hand, jumper’s knee is a chronic condition. The tendon

is no longer inflamed, and it’s technically not tendonitis, but rather

tendinosis or tendinopathy, which means the tissue is degrading.

If you’re going to play a game of hoops it will shake out like this:

Patellar Tendonitis – no problems before or during game, but

some soreness, pain, or flare ups after.

Patellar Tendonosis – you have to warm up an extra 20 minutes

so your knees feel good, and even then you’re playing through

pain.

With tendonitis, pan usually nestles below the knee cap in

the tendon itself. With tendonosis, however, it’s common for the

pain to creep above the kneecap. Regardless, it all happens in

the same band of tissue that forms from the rectus femoris and

the convergence of the quadriceps.

Most resources say both conditions are caused from

overuse, and cured by rest-ice-compression-elevation (RICE),

quadriceps exercises, stretching, and painkillers.


If it were only that easy.

PATELLAR TRACKING

Sometimes your kneecap gets pulled in a direction that

displaces it from its normal groove. Because of this, it doesn’t

glide where it is supposed to. The body responds with a lot of

pain, and a lot of noise (usually crepitus). Don’t confuse tracking

problems with a true dislocation. Your steering wheel may be

misaligned, but your tire didn’t fall off.

PATELLOFEMORAL PAIN

Tendonitis and tracking problems are a small portion of a

category called “patellofemoral pain,” which translates to pain

around the kneecap.

Chondromalacia, an irritation of the knee’s cartilage, is

another common problem. Once again, Google consultation

reports symptoms of pain in or around the knee and treatment by

strengthening exercises, RICE, and pain killers. It’s sad to say,

but the name is arbitrary when it comes to patellofemoral pain.

Treatment is the same.

INTERNAL ANATOMY

Your knee is a hinge joint. It flexes (foot to butt) and extends

(kicking a ball). It’s a stable joint with limited range of motion

(ROM), unlike your shoulder. Movement outside of flexion and

extension is problematic.

There are structures to prevent rotation and lateral

movement. The lateral-collateral ligament (LCL) and medial-

collateral ligament (MCL) run from the side of your leg (femur) to


the side of your shin (tibia). They prevent your knee from

collapsing inward or outward.

Under your leg and above your shin, the anterior-cruciate

ligament (ACL) and posterior-cruciate ligament (PCL) form an “X,”

to keep your shin from moving back and forth under your upper

leg.

Lastly, there are menisci. They are like Dr. Scholl’s Gel

Insoles, so your bones don’t crash into each other. One outside

(lateral), one inside (medial).

And that’s the fastest anatomy course you’ll ever take.


INJURY MECHANISMS

As you will read in future chapters, the knee tracks over the

second toe. Inward collapses are most common and more severe

than outward collapses, with the former likely involving the MCL,

ACL, PCL, or meniscus. Be nice to your doctor if this happens;

you’ll be visiting frequently.

Left – Inward collapse / Center – Perfect alignment / Right – Outward collapse

CASE STUDIES

A few of my friends were willing to share their experiences

with knee problems. Click on the name if it’s hyperlinked. Notice

how most examples are traced back to a specific incident, which

hints to internal injury.

TylerFM

“This happened to my knee a while ago and the bone is now

sticking out next to my knee. Also, it is unaligned which has

caused me back problems. The doctors couldn't find anything

wrong and it still hurts.”

Waza

“This is how I nearly tore my meniscus. As you can see in the

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNbyGg9wbQQ

http://www.vimeo.com/7155529


video, it doesn't look that bad. That's what I thought, so I just kept

on tricking. Three months later, it was suddenly unbearable to

walk, so I saw a physical therapist and that's when all the shit

started. I was out of tricking for a month and a bit.”

Seiji

“Pole vaulting accident when I landed funny on one leg. My knee

made a loud, deep, popping sound and suddenly I was in a lot of

pain. About a minute later I got up and walked away to go get

some ice for it because I knew something was severely wrong. I

would occasionally feel instability by moving my knee a certain

way, it felt like the accident happening again except without pain.

It didn't swell noticeably until about 4 hours later, but the real

swelling happened when I went to sleep. The next day, I couldn't

see my kneecap anymore and my ROM (range of motion) was

terrible. X rays showed nothing, so an MRI was ordered which

revealed an ACL rupture. The orthopedist made sure of it by a

positive anterior drawer test. It tore off of the femur, so now it just

sits on top of my tibia doing nothing.

I honestly don't know how it happened; I didn't land any differently

than I had before.”

Mads

“I had a gymnastics accident about 2 years ago. My right knee

dislocated, tearing my acl, pcl, lcl and a muscle. The tibia slid

about an inch up on the femur, crushing my main artery and

causing some nerve damage. My first surgery was a bypass later

that night, just to get the blood stream back in my leg. They also


had to perform a fasciotomy because the injury caused me to get

compartment syndrome. About 2 weeks later they transplanted a

new acl, and reconstructed my lcl. Because of the bypass they

didn't want to replace the pcl. Then one year later at a different

hospital they transplanted a new pcl, and reconstructed my lcl

again using some of my hamstring from the left leg.

As of today, I got 4 screws for my acl and pcl, and two metal

anchors for my lcl, and a total of 165 stitches. I'm still in

rehabilitation, and I've gotten most of my (slow) strength back, but

still missing a lot of the explosive power. My knee makes a lot of

cracking and popping sounds and is a little bit "looser" than my

good knee.”

Yuri

“When I was younger I had a couple occasions where I twisted

my left knee, felt a pop and it hurt a bit the next day or two.

However, I was usually ok after a little time off though I do wish I

was smarter back then.

A little over a year ago, I landed on my right leg onto a mat with

the knee straight and my body still twisting. I heard a pop and got

a weird feeling in my leg and got worried. This was the morning of

the first day of working a gymnastics camp so already the rest of

the week was going to be shitty. The weird thing was that I was

ok for the next few hours. Though the knee felt a bit off, I still had

full ROM and was able to squat all the way down and straighten

the leg. That evening is when it set in. It started to swell (it felt a

lot more swollen than it looked) and I lost ROM in it. It hurt to

move the knee to a position other than slightly bent. I could not

fully straighten or bend the knee and there was a good amount of


pain with it. I drove to sporting goods store after work and

hobbled in to buy a knee brace. That night I lathered up in thera-

gesic and hoped for the best.

The knee brace helped a lot, and I spent the next few days

walking in a half-limp, slowly working up my ROM. It took about

two weeks to get full ROM back in the knee, and I did about a

month (maybe 6 weeks) or so of rehab. Might have been overkill,

but I had to be sure. I did lots of glute and hamstring work in the

rehab and it helped a lot as well as made my ass more defined. I

never went to the doctor, but my diagnosis was a torn LCL. The

knee is fine today, no damage done.

Knee Tip #2

As a general rule, internal damage will require heavy medical

assistance. Other small problems like patellar tendonitis/jumpers

knee and patellar tracking problems can be fixed without

tremendous intervention.

A BOOK OF PREVENTION?

I know you’re thinking about it, especially after the horror

stories: can this book fully prevent injuries?

No, no it can’t.

As an athlete, you engage in high risk activities—there’s no

escaping that aspect of sports. You can’t prevent landing in a

compromising position after losing your awareness during a

twisting flip in the air. You can’t prevent someone from landing on

the side of your leg. You can’t prevent a puck from hitting the

side of your knee. You can’t prevent a knee on knee collision.

These are accidents that need to be accepted as possibilities.


Outside of these scenarios, however, measures can be

taken to reduce the risk of injury. The principles in this book can

surely help.


CHAPTER THREE – THEORIES

BARBELL TRAINING

Stronger muscles go a long way in preventing injuries. Guys

like Joe DeFranco and Kelly Baggett make their living on keeping

athletes strong and healthy. Since this guide is written for

athletes, I hope you have a basic understanding of barbell

exercises. It’s not necessary, but it will help. If you’re worried

about not knowing enough, look into Mark Rippetoe and Lon

Kilgore’s text, Starting Strength. YouTube is your next best

friend. Although I’m recommending different sources, be warned

that this eBook will differ from them. But for “general concept”

sake, it’s good to know as much as you can.

For everyone else, let’s take a look at some popular theories

about the origin of knee pain.

DOMINANCE THEORY

Certain exercises have tags that indicate which muscles will

be used most during the movement. For instance, a squat (and

its variations) are quadriceps dominant. A deadlift (and its

variations) are hip, hamstring, or posterior dominant. Muscles

most involved are a consequence of body position.

Quadriceps dominant exercises will stress the quads the

most. This happens, usually, from a more upright torso which

causes the knees to extend beyond the toes to keep the body

balanced.


The deep position of a free squat. The knees are slightly forward of the toes and

the back angle is more vertical to accommodate

Hip dominant movements will stress the hamstrings and

glutes. The torso is more horizontal and the knees barely move,

keeping the lower leg nearly perpendicular with the ground.

The deep position of a deadlift variation. The shins are nearly vertical and the torso is

parallel to the ground placing more stress on the posterior structures.

One theory of knee pain is predicated on doing too many

quadriceps dominant exercises, which creates a strength

imbalance between the muscles on the front of the leg compared

to the muscles on the back of the leg. Squats have gotten a bad

name because of this, but most of it is unwarranted.

Avoiding things that cause pain is a good strategy, unless

you’re hiding the problem instead of correcting it. And if you’re


following this theory, someone is yelling “ready or not, here I

come.”

THE VASTUS MEDIALIS OBLIQUE THEORY

Another muscular imbalance theory says the vastus medialis

oblique is the cause of your knee trouble because it doesn’t fire

correctly.

It’s responsible for end range knee flexion and rehab

strategies will target the top portion of a squatting motion with

exercises like terminal knee extensions and petersen step ups.


But there is no holy grail exercise that cures knee pain. If

adding a few sets of easy exercises were effective then why is

knee pain so prominent?

Knee Tip #3

Everything you know is wrong, including the ‘dominant’

movements theory.

Knee Tip #4

Training through pain is a surefire way to always have pain.

THE SOURCE

There are more theories, but they all focus on the site of

pain. Complaining to (most) doctors about knee pain results in a

long look at the patellar tendon. After all, that’s where the pain is

and as the saying goes, “where there is smoke, there is fire.”

But if you spend your time watching the flames, you won’t

see arsonist breaking for the woods. It’s about what is causing

the problem, not where (or what) the problem is. Instead of

overanalyzing your quadriceps and patellar tendon, start looking

at your hip and ankle. Your knee is caught between two faulty

structures.

Knee Tip #5

Don’t blame your quadriceps, they are not the problem.


CHAPTER FOUR – THE REAL REASON

The popular theories predicated on having a dysfunctional

knee seem to make sense. But if these theories were valid, knee

pain wouldn’t be as prominent. They didn’t apply to me, I know

that. To consider the whys and hows, you have to go back to

science class.

PHYSICS

When your foot hits the ground during movement, force is

transmitted from the ground up through your body, like electricity

flowing through a circuit. If you’re hitting a baseball the current

goes through the foot, ankle, knee, hips, shoulders, elbows, and

wrists, before it gets to the bat, and eventually the ball. Any

hitting coach will tell you power is generated in the legs.

Sometimes the electricity doesn’t exit the system as it does

in baseball. Sticking a landing in gymnastics involves the

electricity going up the chain and then back down the chain in an

effort to keep rigid. A lot of times, harnessing the energy like this

is harder than letting it flow out.

Knowing that every link in the system has a responsibility,

you can see that if something underperforms, something else has

to over perform to compensate.

Knee Tip #6

Physics and force can explain the cause of your pain if you have

the ability conceptualize it.


THE ASSEMBLY LINE

Your lower body is an assembly line. Each major joint

(ankle, hip, knee) are equipped with a certain amount of workers.

The hip is the workhorse. It requires 50-60% of the employees.

The next largest is the knee requiring 20-30%. Lastly, the ankle,

being the smallest, needs 10-20%. (I think Bret Contreras uses a

similar analogy, but with a waterfall.)

Why are different joints assigned a different amount of

workers? Because muscle size hints to capacity. The glutes are

the largest muscle in the entire body, let alone lower body.

Maintaining a bigger facility requires more workers.

Employees have the potential to work above normal capacity

in dire times. But 10 employees doing the job of 20 employees

comes with a price. Because more work is being done in the

same amount of time, the quality diminishes. It’s frantic and

rushed. Things are missed and skipped. Workers get angry.

Their paycheck isn’t reflecting extra work. A strike is around the

corner.

If the hip is only working at 50% of its capacity, the

breakdown changes. The knee has to work more than twice as

hard to cover for it. Our patellar tendon doesn’t like that workload

– it’s not built for it.

LIFE

You like muscles that you can see in the mirror. Flexing

your biceps and quadriceps is easy because you have more

control over what you can see. Flexing your latissimus dorsi is


difficult for a non-fitness enthusiast. Trapezius? Hamstrings?

Even more difficult.

Compared to your knee, you have little voluntary control over

your hip muscles. There isn’t as much visual stimulation. Your

life sucks you down further. Desk jobs, chairs, cars, and

computers put our hips in an unfavorable situation. Has your butt

ever fallen asleep from sitting too long?

Having no control of your hip forces a bypass in favor of the

quadriceps. Foot and ankle problems are directly related to hip

function. Smash your big toe with a hammer if you don’t believe

me. Force follows the path of least resistance, and you will use

the quadriceps if they work better than the hip, even if it’s not built

for it.

Knee Tip #7

Your knee pain is caused by lack of voluntary control over the hip,

not a lack of strength of the hip.

LISTENING AND BACKING OFF

Fluid, fast, and forceful movement is a memory if you have

knee pain. This gets frustrating, making it tempting to push the

limits of comfort to become your former self. But in quicksand, it’s

better to remain calm.

You’ve suffered enough. Your body doesn’t know how to

feel healthy. Human psyche adapts and expects things that occur

frequently in life. Attachment to people, places, feelings, and

emotions shape who you are. A daredevil needs the adrenaline

rush. A husband needs his wife (depending on who you ask, of


course). Don’t let your body need pain. You can’t fix it if your

body expects it. Mental healing comes before physical healing.

Star football players that get hurt on Sunday are usually

limited in practice. Why limited and not inactive? Because they

can do things that don’t cause pain, which helps retain skill.

If you have to cut back, do it. But don’t succumb to bed

rest. Do what you can do within your comfort zone. A lower

body injury shouldn’t prevent upper body strength work. Explore

new hobbies. Don’t let it destroy you.

For three months, my lower body workouts were lifts with

135 pounds. It was boring, but it facilitated my recovery. Don’t

obsess about losing your strength. Regaining abilities is much

easier the second time around. Besides, without health strength

is useless.

The great lifter, Vasili Alexeyev, once said, “It seems to me

that some of the talented athletes lack one thing—they haven't

had an injury. That's right! An injury that will put them out of

commission for a year during which time they'll have a chance to

weigh every-thing.”

You can’t take the flour, eggs, and sugar out of a cake that’s

already baked. Own your defeat. Clean the kitchen, buy new

ingredients, take your time, and follow the recipe.

Do what you have to do to feel healthy, but make sure you

keep tabs on how your injury feels. This is where doctors that

prescribe rest and painkillers fail. It’s obvious that after downing

medicine that kills pain and avoiding what causes pain, you won’t


have pain. But it doesn’t mean anything healed. You’re just

masking a permanent problem for a small window of time.

If you have a strong urge to touch hot metal objects, you’re

going to get burned. If you’re given medicine to treat your unique

mental disorder, you’ll stop touching scalding stove tops. But

once the medicine is gone, you’ll still have the problem. Just

because something can be done to prevent a problem doesn’t

mean that something has been done to correct a problem.

Knee Tip # 8

Bed rest will only appear to cure your knee pain.

THE HORIZONAL PLANE

Dysfunction starts with a lack of voluntary hip control. The

quads become hyperactive and are used more than they should

be, exposing the patellar tendon to an enormous workload. But

why do you lose voluntary control of the hip? How can the

strongest and largest muscle in the body fall asleep?

First, you sit down a lot. There’s nothing natural about your

butt falling asleep in a computer chair. Sitting requires hip flexion,

which stretches the glute. Static stretching inhibits. So by sitting,

you’re inhibiting the glutes.

Second, your life takes place in the axial vector, or the up

and down direction as I like to call it. You walk up steps. You get

up from sitting in the car. You stand up from the potty.

Everything is up and down.

Third, your training takes place in the up and down direction.

You squat down and up. You bend down and pick the bar up.


You’re more concerned about a vertical jump than a sprint. I’m

sure you’re getting the picture now.

Fourth, you wear heeled shoes. The higher the heel on a

shoe, the less hip extension occurs during your stride. You rely

more on an up and down bouncy walk, which brings us back to

that damn axial vector.

And fifth, you’re more concerned about your biceps and

mirror muscles.

Everything we do lowers the function of our hip, ankle, and

foot. But the problems don’t manifest at home, so they never get

tagged as a problem. Yet knees and lower backs are hotspots for

pain. Stop looking at the site of pain to find a reason for pain.

With the knee, look above and below the joint. I can’t say you’ll

understand the knee better after you have read this eBook, but

you’ll understand the hip and ankle like you never have.


CHAPTER FIVE – CONSIDERATIONS

To become a better athlete and to fix your knee pain, you

need to follow what I call considerations. They are rules, yes, but

I like the term “considerations” because they are things you

should, well, consider before doing anything that involves the

lower body.

From here, the next six Chapters are broken down into each

consideration for easier referencing. If you’re looking for

exercises that target a particular consideration, just visit the

Chapter. It’s easier than scouring through the stages of

rehabilitation, trying to remember when an exercise was

introduced. If a headline is colored teal, it means the exercise

that follows is used in the rehabilitation plan.

After those six Chapters, the specific prescriptions are given

with workout logs using the detailed exercises, and I also tie up

some unresolved issues you may have.

The considerations are given their own page (p. 22) so that

you can print them out and litter them everywhere. Put them on

your dashboard. Put them near your computer. Read them every

morning and a part of a pre and intra-workout ritual. Make a t-

shirt out of them. Whatever. As long as you’re reading them

often.


CONSIDERATIONS1.Take care of soft tissue problems through self

massage and self myofascial release.

2.Track the knee over the second toe.

3.Keep an even weight distribution in the weight

room.

4.Optimize forefoot function.

5.Establish femoral control.

6.Regain flexibility and mobility in the hip flexors.


CHAPTER SIX – SOFT TISSUE

IT’S ALL IN THE FASCIA

Massage and foam rolling are healing methods that pin point

a portion of the muscle complex called the fascia. But like other

gadgets, they are used without knowing the how’s and why’s.

Static stretching used to be the epitome of muscle care, but

people got tired of the blood coagulating in their brains when they

were touching their toes. Other forms of stretching became

popular (dynamic, static, PNF, etc.), especially after static

stretching was shown to reduce power output. And not too long

ago someone noticed that when we stretch, we stretch the muscle

belly. But the muscle belly is sheathed with a film (fascia) that

runs continuously with the tendons, which raised the question: If

the muscles needed stretched, shouldn’t the fascia need

stretched?

SOFT TISSUE CORRECTIVES

SELF MYOFASCIAL RELEASE

To stretch the fascia, most people use a foam roller. It’s a

fancy tube encased in hard Styrofoam. The technical term for

stretching the fascia via foam rolling is self myofascial release

(SMR).


Left – PVC roller encased in a yoga mat / Center – Lacrosse Ball / Right – Foam Roller

Foam rolling has become so vogue, I’ve heard some people

pretend they are releasing the fascia of their armpit as they apply

deodorant (I might have made that up). Regardless, you want to

avoid rolling around on cylindrical piping like a jackass without a

purpose.

In addition to releasing fascia, foam rolling can relieve pain

by the same mechanism of massage. Neural impulses are sent

that dull pain receptors, making it an inhibiting activity. Yet it is

recommended regularly as a warm up tool despite static

stretching getting the ax not long ago for having the same

inhibiting powers.

To shake the fascia, you need to be aggressive. Most

commercial foam rollers are too gentle. Instead of buying a roller

online, go to your local hardware store and get a 4”-5” PVC pipe

and a roll of duct tape. Duct tape the PVC pipe so your clothes

grab on it better when you roll. In the picture above, I taped a cut

yoga mat to the PVC, which can also be done. Not only am I

saving you money, but you’re creating something more effective

than anything you can buy in a fitness store.


The sensitive spots will be your quadriceps and IT band,

specifically the rectus femoris and vastus lateralis. There isn’t

any wrong position, but it is best if you spend most of your time on

your “hot spots,” which is a fancy word for places that hurt like hell

when pressure is applied.

Using the PVC creation is as easy as putting it on the ground

and cramming the muscle in question with it. You’ll see most

people roll up and down on it, but that’s not as effective as it could

it be. Think of your fascia like hair. It takes a few downward

swipes through your hair with a comb before you get the knots

out. But if you go side to side or front to back with the comb, the

knots magically reappear. Pick an area, concentrate on it, and

move in all directions. I like rolling side to side and doing mini up

and down pulsations on real sensitive areas. It may look mildly

sexual, so make sure no one around you is a comedian. If you’re

new to this kind of thing, your muscles will be sensitive. Progress

to leaning more of your bodyweight onto the hot spots. Go slow,

and dig in.


SELF MASSAGE

If you’re rich enough to see a massage therapist or ART

practitioner, then book your appointment for an IT band release or

an aggressive friction massage that involves the quads. They’ll

have something brutal for you if you tell them you’re in for knee

pain. If you don’t want to spend the cash, here’s a thrifty third

generation recipe that was mutated from some old Charlie Francis

advice.

1. Grab your favorite menthol rub (icy hot, blue heat) and

odorless aspercream. “If you do not want to absorb the

chemicals is those creams,” Paul Rossi, a blog reader says,

“a good substitute is a homemade mix of coconut oil and

cayenne pepper. Make sure the coconut oil is at or above 75

degrees F so the cayenne pepper can be mixed in it.”

2. Before you go to sleep, lube up your knee cap, patellar

tendon, and vastus medialis and lateralis (going 1-3” above

the kneecap).

3. Massage the creams in—get some positive vibes going.

4. Be gentle to the patellar tendon and the knee cap, but be

angry with the quads.

5. Make it a very Zen process.

6. Go to sleep with your knee ablaze.


Yellow – gentle area / Green – aggressive area / Gray – angry area

THE LACROSSE TREATMENT

The lacrosse ball is a specialized version of a PVC roller. It

has the same purpose, but because it’s smaller, it’s much more

focalized (providing more pressure, as your face will soon attest

to).

You’re going to merge the PVC rolling and self massage

sections above to provide specialized relief to the rectus femoris.

If you have the time and want to explore other areas, that’s fine.

But for the purposes of this eBook, the lacrosse ball has to be the

rectus femoris killer.

I like using the roll and bend technique. This entails doing

mini back and forth rolls over an area, and then bending the knee

a few times. This stretches and moves the rectus femoris,

allowing the ball to break up adhesions.

Start at the anterior superior iliac spine and the external

rotators on the hip and finish directly above the knee cap. You

have no idea what I’m talking about, so just look at the sequence


of pictures. Put the ball on those places, lean your bodyweight

into them, oscillate and wiggle back and forth, and then bend your

knee ten times. Try to seek some sense of relief in each area

before moving on.

Knee Tip #9

You MUST induce positive feelings into your knee for it to heal. If

it constantly feels pain, it won’t know life without it.

The hot spots of the lacrosse treatment. Focus on each of the above five areas. Use

pressure and knee bends to relieve the areas.


An example of a knee bend. Once the ball is secured on a sensitive area and ample

pressure is applied, bend the knee to shake the soft tissue. Use this technique on each of

the five trigger points.


CHAPTER SEVEN – TRACKING

Patellar mistracking can be a devastating conditioning. But

considering it doesn’t involve surgery or invasive treatment, you’re

lucky. Mistracking occurs when the knee cap doesn’t sit in its

groove. It is a misunderstood condition, and those that are

diagnosed with it don’t know what the hell to do.

Common treatments are terminal knee extensions and other

movements as described in the Vastus Medialis Oblique theory.

Some people praise the VMO theory of knee pain, and I’ve had

blog readers tell me that terminal knee extensions are miracle

workers. But miracles don’t happen to everyone, and I certainly

wasn’t an ample candidate.

Most people that have patellar tracking problems are heavy

squatters and deadlifters that do a lot of lifting without their knee

properly aligned over their foot (as discussed on pages 10-11).

This is largely a consequence of hip control and avoiding it

requires following my golden rule: the knee must track over the

second toe.


Correct alignment with the knee over the second toe.

An inward or valgus collapse, the weight is carried more so on the inside of the foot. This

is a risk position for severe internal damage during forceful movements.


An outward or varus collapse , the weight is carried more so on the outside of the foot.

This can cause patellar tracking problems.

Powerlifters and barbell enthusiasts are susceptible because

of exaggerated cues. Shoving your knees outside during a squat

is a good idea if they are collapsing inward. But there is a chance

they could be going too far outside, just like they can be going too

far inside. It’s like getting in a huge anterior tilt to prevent back

injury. Sure, you’re protecting your back, but you’re exposing

your abs. Anytime you deviate to an extreme, something is

getting compromised.

When your knee isn’t tracking with your second toe, you’re

altering the linear hinge that the knee is fond of. It’s like a pair of

pliers – twisting the handles in opposing directions grinds the


components together. This is why most people with mistracking

have crepitus.

Whether you’re running, jumping, landing, squatting,

deadlifting, scuba diving, canoeing, drawing, cooking, knitting, or

kissing – keep the knee over the second toe. If you don’t,

mistracking manifests to other motor patterns. Squatting without

correct alignment, means jumping without correct alignment.

Soon enough, you’ll be in enough pain to re-read this PDF.

Knee Tip #10

The knee must track over the second toe.

You may be familiar with common tactics to deal with this

problem. People like to squat with bands around the knees, or

with a ball in between the thighs.

Yes, it is tempting to mimic Jessica Biel, but both of the

above are ineffective and can actually cause patellofemoral pain.


As you should know by now, I’m a firm believer in fixing the

hip and foot before worrying about specific knee modalities. Even

though I haven’t cited anything, I’m not pulling this information

from the sky. There are many studies that show that anterior

pelvic tilts and foot problems (specifically navicular drop) are more

prevalent in those that have knee valgus or previous ACL injuries.

The foot on the right is overly pronated, a position similar to navicular drop.

A squat with pronated feet – navicular drop – that risks severe internal knee injury. As

you can see, the knee are collapsed inward leaving the knee astray and off of the second

toe alignment.

If you’re pronating the foot, the knee juts inward and tracks

with the big toe or further. Anterior pelvic tilting makes tracking

more difficult because the hip is disengaged and weak. This

wouldn’t that big of a problem if the hip rotators didn’t dictate thigh


positioning – which ultimately determines knee and foot

alignment.

So when you’re in an anterior tilt your rotators are

disengaged meaning that your thigh is free to roam. If the thigh

roams, the foot will accommodate and the knee then settles in

between them.

But when the hip is engaged the thigh is controlled. Good

feet and good hips mean good knees, especially when it comes to

rotation. Stand up, squeeze your glutes, and trying wobbling

your legs. Now, get into an anterior tilt and try wobbling your legs.

Crazy, eh?

TRACKING CORRECTIVES

Tracking the knee over the second toe is an artifact of

sucking the hip into its socket and being conscious of the

problem. Unlike other considerations, there aren’t specific

exercises that magically track your knee over your second toe, it’s

just something that you have to mentally prepare for – especially

as you progress through rehabilitation. Don’t shrug off improper

tracking as something that can’t be treated. It can be, but it will

come from doing the right things at the hip and foot and keeping

your mind conscious of correct alignment.

Having said that, you know the hip rotators play an important

role in controlling the femur. In order to cover all aspects of hip

control, you have to give them some attention.


CLAMSHELL

The clamshell is the quintessential Pilates “I’m lazy and

exercise lying down” exercise. Nevertheless, it’s a basic

movement that fires the hip rotators.

Above: Correct start and finish position for the clamshell.

Keep the torso rigid, and open the hip as far as comfortable.

Don’t force yourself past your means. Keep your free hand on

your hip to feel it contracting.

Above: When trying to open further than capable, the chest opens towards the

sky. Do not do this.

X-BAND WALKS

As the name suggests, you’ll need a band for these. Bands

are cheap and can be used for a lot of things. Sack up and get

one. One mini band and one average band will cover most

needs.


Loop the band around your feet and hands, forming an “X” in

the band. Tension increases with hand height. Optionally, you

can loop the band around your neck. Get enough tension to

make it challenging, but not so much that it alters your mechanics.

Keep your spine neutral with a slight bend at your hips and

knees. Lift one leg off of the ground and step sideways within

your comfort zone. Plant your foot and then control the trailing leg

just as you have done with the first. Don’t slide it along the

ground without effort. You can do this exercise many ways, but I

like taking one step to the left and then one step back to the right

because it saves room.

The hips power this sideways walk. Don’t wobble back and

forth with your steps. Keep your toes pointed forward at all times.

Imagine that your spine is a steel rod that extends up to the

ceiling and down to the ground. Your spine is motionless.

Remember this, because it holds true for the next two exercises.


Above: When your torso leans, you’re no longer letting the hip do the work. Stay

upright. Do not do what is shown above.

PALLOF PRESS

The pallof press might seem like a wildcard in this section

because it’s traditionally seen as a core exercise. But as you will

see in future sections, isometric exercises have prime time uses

because they prepare you for more complicated dynamic

movements in the future.

There are many ways to perform the pallof press, but I prefer

the one demonstrated in the pictures. You can use a band or a

cable machine for resistance. Keep your hips shoulder width

apart and take a slight bend in the hips and knees. Arrange the

band so that it’s parallel to the ground and at about naval or chest

height. Affix the band to something that won’t move and take a

few steps away from it while holding the band close to your torso.

This is the starting position. From here, press the band or cable

away from your body and hold for five seconds.


It’s very similar to the band x-walk. Your spine is

motionless. Your feet are in concrete. Nothing moves except

your hands pressing the band in and out. And if something else

does move, you – of course – have too much resistance. So take

a step closer to the origin of the band or lower the weight on the

cable machine.

This is an anti-rotation exercise. Yes, you’ll feel it in your

abs but make sure you also think about what’s happening at the

hips. They are stabilizing the lower body. Make every attempt to

“feel” them working.

Oh yea, and when you see this exercise mentioned in the

rehab, please tell me you know to do the reps on both sides.

Please?

HIP ROTATIONS

Hip rotations are underrated. So underrated, in fact, I don’t

think you’ll need any resistance at first. Truthfully, the main


proponent of this exercise is Bret Contreras, and I give him all of

the credit I can muster for what follows.

Hip rotations are difficult to explain while speaking let alone

through text. But if you were diligent with the pallof press, you’ll

pick up easily.

Stand in the pallof press finish position – arms extended

from the body, feet shoulder width, slight bend at the hips and

knees. (As with the pallof press, you’ll do all reps on both side.)

For now, assume you’re going to be turning to your left. Get on

your right tip toe and internally rotate your hip. Rotate back to

the starting position. Do this slowly. Each rep should have a two

second concentric and eccentric portion.

Just like the x-band walks and the pallof press – the hip

powers the movement. So just as with those exercises, the non

working leg is planted in concrete, and the spine is

connected to the ceiling and the ground. Now, you’re free to

rotate, but you’re only rotating because of your hip. This means


that your outstretched arms stay in line with your naval. As long

as this happens, you’re rotating from the hip which is what you

want.

If you start rotating from your torso, this nice straight line

becomes crooked. If you must, hold a band around your waist or

a stick in your hands that is pressed against your chest to make

this happen.

Above: Straight line between the chin, naval, and fists. This is correct, and is held

constant the entire movement.

Above: Rotating the arms before the hips. Do not do this.

Above: Rotating the hips before the torso. Do not do this.


If you’re doing this right, rotating your hip in and out, your

glute should be just about ready to call the fire department on rep

ten – precisely why adding resistance from the get go is

unnecessary. After mastering the motion, however, you may

want to use a band or cable machine to add resistance.

Remember, however, to affix yourself offset of the band or cable

so that there is tension at the finished position.

REFERENCES

The drop-jump screening test: difference in lower limb control by gender andeffect of neuromuscular training in female athletes.

The influence of in-season injury prevention training on lower-extremitykinematics during landing in female soccer players.

Sex Differences and Representative Values for 6 Lower Extremity AlignmentMeasures

Hip strength in females with and without patellofemoral pain.

Gender differences in three dimensional gait analysis data from 98 healthyKorean adults

Lower extremity malignments and anterior cruciate ligament injury history.

Hip Strength in Collegiate Female Athletes with Patellofemoral Pain

Hip strengthening prior to functional exercises reduces pain sooner thanquadriceps strengthening in females with patellofemoral pain syndrome: arandomized clinical trial.

Patellofemoral pain syndrome and its association with hip, ankle, and footfunction in 16- to 18-year-old high school students: a single-blind case-controlstudy.

Gluteal muscle activation during running in females with and withoutpatellofemoral pain syndrome.

The relative timing of VMO and VL in the aetiology of anterior knee pain: asystematic review and meta-analysis.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15701605




http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2681213/?tool=pubmed

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2681213/?tool=pubmed

http://www.mendeley.com/research/hip-strength-in-females-with-and-without-patellofemoral-pain/

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0268003303002389

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0268003303002389

http://jssm.org/vol3/n4/4/v3n4-4pdf.pdf

http://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/Abstract/2007/08000/Hip_Strength_in_Collegiate_Female_Athletes_with.4.aspx












CHAPTER EIGHT –WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION

If dysfunctional, the force that the ankle or foot should

handle gets thrown to the next joint in line, which you now know is

the knee. To prevent this, you have to respect and take care of

the leaks in the system.

Structurally, you have three bony areas that should make

contact with the ground when standing. Theoretically, our weight

balances evenly over these three points, which are the base for

movement.

Blue – Medial Forefoot / Yellow – Lateral Forefoot / Green – Heel

Blue & Yellow – Forefoot / All Three Points - Tripod

Together, they form what is called the tripod of the foot. The

front of the tripod, closest to the toes, houses two of the three

points, which are known as the forefoot. The point nearest your

big toe is the medial forefoot point. The point nearest your pinky

toe is the lateral forefoot point. The last point, near the Achilles

tendon, is known as the heel.

In an ideal world, your bodyweight gets balanced evenly

over these three points. But as discussed, you tend to live and


train on your heels. Thick soled shoes and high heels force our

heel to be the prominent tripod contact. In the weight room, you

always are advised to keep your weight on your heels – another

common cue taken to the extreme.

The tripod is the foundation for balance. Why should you

only use half of it when you have hundreds of pounds on your

back or in your hand? I know you’re afraid of losing your balance

forwards – and it can happen if you carry your weight too far

forward, just as losing your balance backwards can happen if you

carry your weight too far back – but I’m not telling you to squat on

your toes. Keep it even and use your natural balancing system,

allowing your body work the way it is supposed to.

Heel problems, like mistracking, spread faulty motor

patterns. An athlete that lives on their heels is what you call a

benchwarmer. Don’t be that guy or gal that sprints heel to toe

because you do nothing but stay on your heels in the weight

room.

WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION CORRECTIVES

When I talk about keeping an even weight distribution, I’m

mainly referring to standing barbell exercises. It’s customary to

keep your weight on your heels (as alluded to), but using the

whole tripod makes you much more grounded – lessening the

chance for patellar tracking problems.

Mastering weight distribution is similar to fixing tracking

problems in that there aren’t special correctives that automatically

fix the problem. This is going to emerge as a characteristic of

every stage because change isn’t just running through physical

modalities. It’s every bit mental as it is physical. A single


exercise isn’t going to transform your life – it has to be a holistic

production.

Having said that, there are exercises that help us feel what

an even weight distribution feels like.

FIND YOUR TRIPOD

Stand barefoot with your feet shoulder width and assume

good posture – chin down, shoulders back, elongated through the

spine, with a mild glute contraction.

Finding the three points of the tripod can be difficult, but a

little trick is to lift your toes to the sky. It exploits each point

making them much easier to find. Balance your weight evenly

over the three points (with your toes still to the sky). In this

position, you shouldn’t feel one point of the tripod dominate. It will

be very comfortable and you will feel weightless. Gently set your

toes back down, and if you can, splay them outwards. Ideally,

you want to have some sort of “V” between your big and second

toe because it indicates an activation of the arches.

As a recap – your weight is evenly distributed, your arches

are engaged, and your toes are free to wiggle. Once you set your

toes down, your arches may start to cramp. Just shake them out

and get back into the position.


I don’t want to insult your intelligence, but always do this

exercise barefoot. It may seem easy, but it gets difficult when

you’re maintaining this balance during active ranges of motion.

It’s a position that you eventually want to be able to assume

without the toe pointing and preparatory work.

UNILATERALLY FIND YOUR TRIPOD

In the rehabilitation program, as a progression, you’re going

to move onto doing the same thing outlined in the above section,

but only on one foot. Set up the same way with your toes to the

sky, balance, and then set and splay toes.

The unilateral element will challenge the forefoot’s balance

and put more pressure on the foot’s structures. This one of the

exercises that helps people realize how important the forefoot is

as it struggles to control the everting and inverting at the ankle. It

is the pendulum of balance that can affect the entire kinetic chain.

FINDING YOUR TRIPOD BEFORE MOVEMENT

Also mentioned in the rehabilitation program is finding your

tripod before doing an exercise. This entails following the same

progression – toes to the sky, balance, set and splay toes. Don’t

skip steps, even as you become more proficient. Remember, the

purpose is to ingrain motor patterns, and you have to make sure

the correct ones are being programmed.


CHAPTER NINE - FOREFOOT

As I mentioned, it’s common to carry too much weight on

your heels. When you think about distributing your weight over

your entire foot, it’s about feeling comfortable nudging some of

your weight off of your heel and onto your forefoot. Doing so

reduces the potential knee pain for a few reasons. First, it primes

your body for horizontal propulsion, helping you tap into your hip

muscles. Second, by tapping into your hip muscles, you prevent

your knee from moving forward in respect to the foot. Third, it

helps you dissipate force throughout your kinetic chain,

preventing huge impact forces that slowly destroy your body.

My light bulb moment in respect to the power of the forefoot

came after hill sprints. Those with knee pain can empathize with

me when I say walking down steep hills isn’t the most therapeutic

feeling motion. When on a downhill, the muscles of the knee get

the responsibility of deceleration, which can be very stressful.

Adding to that, the knee is moving forward in relation to the foot,

and the heel strike creates a very lax system. I experimented,

and led with my forefoot instead of my heel. This changed

everything.

During a normal gait pattern, you are wired to walk from heel

to toe. But shoes make it comfortable and easy to

overemphasize the heel strike. It’s like being in a total body

protective casing. You’re more apt to do things you normally

wouldn’t because your think your safer.

The large heel strike interrupts the heel to toe transitioning.

People rarely make it to the forefoot, let alone the toes – which


are your last link between your body and the ground. You’re

supposed to roll off of your big toe, but you rarely get there when

you have shoes.

The forefoot is a master at dissipating force compared to the

heel*. The heel has no muscle or structures outside of bone

working with it. The forefoot has the arches and intrinsic muscles

of the foot. That’s why barefoot runners have a mid-forefoot

strike, in contrast to shoed runners that have a heel strike.

Landing heel first creates a massive force spike – not very joint

friendly. The only reason the heel strike occurs is because our

body is given a false sense of security with the shoes. When you

take them off the body knows it can’t land heel first without

destroying itself, so it doesn’t.

Society has numerous knee, hip, and back injuries and no

one considers the power of the foot. That massive impact force

from an exaggerated heel strike wreaks havoc on our structure.

Run around your house, right now, propelling and landing only on

your heels. Notice how much noise you make and how much

rattles. Now, run around using only your forefoot.

*http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jrnj-7YKZE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jrnj-7YKZE


That extra force that destroyed your fine china is now being

absorbed by the body, and it’s all because of the power of the

forefoot.

Now, don’t get the idea that I want you to neglect your heel

when you walk. As I mentioned, the heel will strike first, but what

needs to change is how fast you go from heel to forefoot. It’s time

for a barefoot walking experiment.

The first time, take a stroll with an intentionally hard heel

strike. It will be uncomfortable, but this is what you do when

you’re wearing shoes because of the faux comfort zone they give

you. You’ll hear two thuds. One when your heel strikes, the other

when your forefoot thumps down. Notice how shaky and unstable

this feels through your entire leg.

The second time, take a stroll on your forefoot, keeping your

heel ½ inch off of the ground the entire time. Much quieter, no

thuds, akin to the jogging example. More importantly, however, is

that there is less wobble radiating through your leg. The forefoot

strike is stable and locked because the muscles and soft tissue

are handling business instead of your bony structure.

The above two paragraphs represents two ends of the

walking spectrum, your job is to breach the gap between the two.

Make your heel strike softer and transition to your forefoot faster

and smoother. Avoid any deep thud noises, especially a, “thud –

thud.” Roll off of your big toe and repeat. The best way to do this

is to program your mind that you’re walking barefoot, even if you

have shoes on. If nothing else, think about walking with some

damn grace. It might just save your life.


Throughout this chapter, I’ve been harping on the forefoot.

It’s common to associate the forefoot with a calf-raise motion

(meaning high on your tip toes). But if the heel is only elevated a

millimeter from the ground, you’re using your forefoot. And that’s

all that matters.

EVOLUTION

Imagine picking up a pencil with no fingers. In fact, don’t

imagine. Try it right now. Make two fists and pick up a pencil.

Notice how much your elbows and shoulder contort as you try to

trap in in-between your knuckles. This contortion and strain

wouldn’t happen if your fingers were probing out and about like

they should have been.

Fingers keep your shoulders and elbows healthy. Toes are

supposed to do the same for your hip and knee, but they don’t

because they get bottled up in protective casings. Without

fingers, your shoulders and elbows do a lot of things they

otherwise wouldn’t be doing. From a physiological standpoint,

you are “designed” with fingers to grasp and manipulate things –

just like you are “designed” with toes.

Our shoeless ancestors have different feet than you. Not

only are they are wider, but the toes are also separated, which

makes them resemble hands much more than your modern feet

do. As you can see below, they show the “V” separation I

mentioned in the Weight Distribution Chapter.


Feet conform to shoes. That’s why so many Americans and

“civilized” people have pinky toes that curl underneath the foot.

This is why I encourage you to splay your toes on your weight

distribution drills. It starts to awaken the arch and the dormant

muscles of the foot.

Feet are the last link between your body and the ground

during any standing movement, and often times the last link is

responsible for producing an effective effort. Throwing and hitting

in baseball are perfect examples. The legs generate the power in

both, making them a focal point of training programs. But how

effective would a pitcher be without fingers? A batter without

strong wrists?

The better the feet are, the better we are. It may seem like

I’m advocating never wearing shoes again, but that’s not the

case. So let’s talk a bit about acceptable footwear in and out of

the gym.


FOOTWEAR

Shoes have been a controversial topic as of late. Some riot

over the Vibram Five Fingers and others wear them when

sleeping. I follow Parisi Speed School on Twitter and they tweet

this message at least once a week, “Barefoot training isn't a fad -

it's a necessary part of training your base of support.” I’m also

their friend on Facebook, and here is a quote from their page:

It's a beautiful day for barefoot training- Barefoot training is

essential. Almost 33% of all joints in our body are in our

feet. Feet are your base of support, the foundation of

movement. If the feet lack strength, mobility, and

proprioception (the ability to feel yourself in space and the

ability to react) and we have strengthened the rest of the

body so that the force that will be put into the ground through

those feet is increased- we’re asking for trouble.

Others worship Olympic Weightlifting shoes. But if you go

back, I don’t like shoes that have heels. This is disappointing

because the Olympic Weightlifting shoe does so many good

things under a barbell. They are solid, stable, and firm. They

don’t compress, and they transmit force like a champion. Having

said that, the cons outweigh the pros.

Knee Tip #11

Almost all shoes will hinder your ankle function, and as a result,

can cause knee pain.

Some won’t agree with me, but realize that I coach athletes

outside of the barbell sports. And the only two disciplines that

demand the use of barbells are Olympic Weightlifting and


Powerlifting. Don’t worry. Once I fix you, you can crawl back to

your shoes. For now, just listen.

For weight training – you need a shoe that doesn’t compress

like marshmallows. Vibrams, New Balance Minimus Trails, Nike

Zoom Waffles, indoor soccer shoes, boxing shoes or plain ol’

wrestling shoes can get the job done. The problem is that

extreme minimalistic shoes like the Vibrams aren’t comfortable

during squatting. Deadlifting is another story as even the

strongest use slippers.

For field and speed work – again, stay away from

marshmallows. People like to jump right into barefoot activities,

but do me a favor and take a look at the pictures on page 44

again. Your foot is weak and unconditioned, so use caution.

Most can get away with doing their warm up barefoot, but always

know there is a risk of glass and other non-flattering objects that

can get lodged in your skin.

If you’re looking for one shoe to solve all of your woes, I’d

recommend the New Balance Minimus Trail. It beats the Nike

Free because it has a wide toe box, a smaller heel, and more

durability. It gives you the comfort of a shoe, something the Five

Fingers lack. As your foot grows stronger, I think the Five Fingers

are a great shoe for most field work (running, jumping,

plyometrics, bodyweight manipulation drills) and deadlifts.

A word of caution: wearing a miminalistic shoe puts your

foot and toes at risk of falling objects. Be careful. Dropping a 2.5

lb plate can be devastating.

A second word of caution: if you’re going to ignore me and

do the Olympic Lifts, use shoes regardless of your position. I cry


a little bit inside when people Olympic Lift barefoot or in Five

Fingers. The foot is a master of stealth movement, and there is

nothing stealth about stomping the ground as a barbell loaded

with 315 pounds slams against your shoulders and clavicles.

DISCLAIMER

You will not hold me responsible for any injury that may occur as

a result of not using shoes. Use caution and be safe. After being

encapsulated for years, the bare foot isn’t used to activity. Ease

into it to prevent system shock—there’s no 6 months of ‘x’ shoe,

and 3 months of ‘y’ shoe. Use good judgment, they adapt over

time. Start by doing your warm up barefoot. Light running and

general calisthenics can be handled at a low volume. Stop

wearing shoes and socks around the house. Let your toes

breath. Try to move each toe independently. Embrace the

feeling of grass, dirt, and sand. Cherish your calluses. Feel alive.

A QUICK NOTE ON ISOMETRICS

From here, you’re going to see a lot of isometric exercises

because they teach positions better than dynamic exercise.

Being locked down allows you to activate muscles that would

otherwise be ignored. For instance, it’s crazy to think that

activation exercises teach you how to use your glutes at the

bottom of a squat. The mechanics are off, the angles are

different, and there is less complexity. A better idea would be to

get into the bottom of a squat and simply try to contract your

glutes while toying around with foot position and back angle.

Traditional dynamic exercise happens too fast, negating

necessary time in money positions to facilitate motor

reprogramming, hence the use of isometrics.


FOREFOOT CORRECTIVES

ISOMETRIC FOREFOOT

The isometric forefoot hold is easy to learn once you have

mastered finding your tripod. The process is the same – toes to

the sky, balance, set and splay toes – but once do that, shift your

weight onto the two points of your forefoot.

DO NOT claw the ground with your toes, it negates arch

involvement. You always want the toes to be able to move freely,

hence splaying them in the drills.


ISOMETRIC PROPULSIVE FOREFOOT

When you propel off of your feet, you rarely have your

weight evenly distributed over the two points of your forefoot. The

big toe is big for a reason. The medial (inside) point powers

movement, so you need to be familiar with what this feels like.

Set up identical to isometric forefoot, but shift 60-70% of

your weight onto the medial forefoot contact. The same rules

apply.

BUNNY HOPS

Isometrics have primed the forefoot for more intensive work,

so now you’ll learn how to explode off of the foot in the right place.


Fix yourself in the same position as the isometric

propulsive forefoot. When you’re on your tip toes, re-reach your

toes to the sky so that your toes aren’t touching the ground (if you

can’t lift them that high, just get them as high as you can so that

your weight is being supported by your tripod).

From here, do quick bounds up and down. Work at the

ankle joint, not the knee or hip joint. Keep 60-70% of your weight

on the medial forefoot point as you bound. Squeezing your glutes

during this is also a good idea.

SPLIT STANCE SHIN RAISES

I harp on the forefoot, making it easy to forget about the

opposite side of the shin that controls bringing your toes and foot

to the sky. These muscles play a pivotal role stabilizing the ankle

and when underdeveloped or tight, can prevent you from using

your hips when you walk or run.

Assume a split stance with your feet 12 inches apart (no

need to be overly anal about this, it can be adjusted based on

feel). Your rear leg is flat on the ground with your toes pointed in

the air and, of course, you’re balanced evenly over your tripod.


Your lead leg can do whatever is comfortable. Bend at the

hips and at the rear knee. Drive the knee of the rear leg forward,

keeping the toes to the sky and the foot flat on the ground. After

hitting the sticking point, attempt to raise your forefoot and toes to

the sky and pause for two seconds.

Relax, and then raise your forefoot four more times. It

probably won’t get off of the ground, but you should feel the

muscles on the front of your shin working hard.

The exercises goes like this: drive the knee forward, raise

your forefoot for a two count a total of five times, and then

assume starting position. This is considered one repetition. The

goal is to drive the knee further with each rep. Keep your knee in

line with your second toe. People have a tendency to cave their


knee inward because it increases range of motion. But this

collapses the arches and negates the purpose of the exercise.


CHAPTER TEN – FEMORAL CONTROL

Developing femoral control entails gaining dominance over

muscles that control your thigh. To do this, you must first

understand how pelvic tilting affects muscular recruitment. As an

aside, I want to touch on the theory of muscular imbalances.

Injuries are rarely caused from a lack of strength. Soft tissue

restrictions, incorrect motor patterns, and improper form will

cause an injury before a lack of strength will. Athletics cause

imbalances because certain muscles need to be strong for certain

actions whether nature intended them to be in a strict ratio with

their antagonist or not. So when you hear that the quadriceps

and hamstrings have to have a certain ratio of strength to prevent

injury, don’t buy it. These measures are likely done with knee

flexion and extension – two movements that don’t occur in

isolation in a normal sporting environment.

POSITIONING

Understanding pelvic tilting helps you understand muscular

recruitment. You can’t maximally activate the lower back, glutes,

abs, and hamstrings at the same time. There is a give and take

relationship with the muscles that surround the pelvis. It’s just like

your bicep and tricep – when one flexes, the other extends. It’s

more confusing at the hip, however, because there are more

muscles and movements.


Tilt TableAnterior Tilt Posterior Tilt Neutral Spine

Lower Back Shortened,Contracted

Lengthened,Disengaged

Solid,Engaged, TheMiddle Ground

Lower Abs Lengthened,Disengaged

Shortened,Contracted


Glutes Lengthened,Disengaged

LikelyDisengaged,But Could be

HighlyEngaged


Vulnerabilities Abs Lower Back None

Left – Anterior tilt / Center – Neutral / Right – Posterior tilt


THE SWEET SPOT

With femoral control and barbell exercises, it’s all about the

glutes. The deep muscles on the front of the thigh that control the

hip (psoas and lower abs) are also important, but they rarely get

trained during traditional barbell exercises and you don’t have an

abundance of incorrect motor programming with them.

Maximizing glute involvement will require a close-to-neutral

spine. An anterior tilted spine is a common recommendation

during externally loaded exercises to prevent lower back injury.

Ironically, this lengthens the abdominals putting them at an

increased risk of injury (hernia, anyone?) Additionally, it puts the

glutes in an inhibited position when standing upright.

You can try this yourself by locking your back in an extreme

anterior tilt and trying to squeeze your glutes. If you want the

glutes to contract, the spine has to tilt to a neutral position, which

is controlled by the abs. Toy around by flexing the glutes and abs

at different times and intensities to see fluctuation in contraction.

For a maximum, squeeze the glutes and tighten the abs as if you

were preparing for a punch to the stomach. Contracting the

glutes and abs at the same time locks the hip in place.

Kettlebellers refer to this as snapping the hip during swings.

FEMORAL CONTROL CORRECTIVES

Things get complicated at the hip. The foot stuff, although

tedious, is easy. As alluded to in previous sections, there are no

magical exercises. In fact, any exercise can be used if properly

programmed and sequenced. True change comes from

conceptualizing and implementing a different movement lifestyle.


Say goodbye to the axial (up and down) vector. Nearly

every up and down movement needs to be performed as if it were

a back and forth movement. It’s difficult to understand, which is

why this section is the most intensive.

The king for learning standing hip extension is the romanian

deadlift. But as you’ll see, I also teach an isometric lunge

because it can aid in conceptualizing important principles (and

also helps with the Stretching Chapter). If you’re having

difficulties with the lunge, skip to the romanian deadlift because

it’s taught in a progressive sequence, making it easier to learn.

ISOMETRIC LUNGE

I first head of the isometric lunge from Alex Vasquez, which

he got from Jay Schroeder. Jay had some crazy ideas, but he put

isometric exercises on the map.

Lunging is traditionally a “quadriceps dominant” or knee

dominant exercise. But remember how I said isometric exercises

allow you to turn on muscles that normally wouldn’t? This is a

classic example, because the isometric lunge can teach you how

to use every lower body muscle except the quads. If you can do

the isometric lunge as I teach it, you’ll know how to apply

horizontal force to the ground in a vertically loaded position.

To Perform: Set up in a traditional lunge with the lead leg

bent at 90 degrees and the lower leg perpendicular to the ground.

Extend the trailing leg straight back from its original shoulder with

position. Don’t externally rotate it or extend it at an off angle. It’s

critical that you keep the hips square.


Knee tracks over the second toe. Shoulders stay square to the front and don’t rotate.

Rear leg extends directly behind its original position and not off to the side.


Do not externally rotate the leg like the picture above.

Your quads burn in this position because you’re doing an

isometric leg extension with your lead leg. Your rear leg is

dominated by gravity and it forces itself into the ground, which is

troubling if your knee hurts.

Look at the pictures below. The first shows what your legs

are trying to perform. The second shows what you will be

reprogramming them to do.

In a traditional lunge, your legs are working isometrically against the ground to hold

your position. Even though there is no movement, your legs are trying to perform knee

extension, which is driven by the quadriceps.


Reprogramming the body requires a glutecentric mind. Instead of knee extension, think

about hip extension with both legs. With the lead leg, also think knee flexion.

Instead of a leg extension, the lead leg does a leg curl

against the ground. Of course, your leg isn’t going to move. But

you need to paw back on the ground as if you were making a

realistic attempt at curling the ground. You’ll feel this in your

hamstring and glute. If you have too much hamstring, think more

hip extension and less leg curl. Toy around with your pelvic

positioning too.

For the rear leg, think about driving the heel to the ceiling.

Again, you’re not going to get your heel off of the ground, but you

want to make an attempt. Don’t rotate your hips and keep your

knee over your second toe.

By performing these contractions, you’re making both legs

perform hip extension as opposed to knee extension. That

should sound familiar because that’s the entire rationale behind

femoral control. Never hold this position longer than what you are

capable of while engaging the right musculature. You shouldn’t

feel your quads, at all. The moment you do, stop, rest, shake it

out, and then go back. Once you can hold the lunge position with

total glute control for 30 – 60 seconds, you’re making progress.


THE ROMANIAN DEADLIFT (RDL)

I teach hip extension via the RDL. As of late, there has been

a migration towards the hip thrust as popularized by Bret

Contreras. If you’re wondering why I use the RDL instead of the

hip thrust, here are my reasons.

First, I’d rather you be standing upright because it’s how

you’re going to move the majority of your life. Second, hip thrusts

have nearly the same amount of quad activation as a full squat.

That’s a lot of unnecessary knee extension when teaching

beginning hip extension. Third, it doesn’t teach you standing hip

extension. It teaches you hip extension lying on your back. This

position primes you for peak contraction but it’s not necessarily

going to teach you how to optimize function when upright.

Having said that, I’m a big Bret Contreras fan and we share a lot

of similarities.

I don’t care what anyone tells you. I don’t care what Arnold

did. I don’t care what bodybuilders want. If you’re doing any

compound lift that involves the lower body and you’re not

powering (and feeling) the glutes, you’re doing it wrong. It pains

me when people “feel” the deadlift in the lower back and

hamstrings instead of the glutes. The largest muscle in the body

is reduced to nothing.

Keep in mind, you’re doing the RDL to learn standing hip

extension. You have to consider the pelvic tilts because the

moment you hit hip extension depends on it. If you don’t lock the

hip down in neutral, you’re not going to get hip extension. Use

your abs to keep everything close-to-neutral and avoid rotation at

the hips. Everything stays tight and square.


Now I don’t want to treat you like a child, but I know some

people have trouble following a progression of exercises. They

like to skip to the flashy ending. But if you do that you will fail.

Yes, I know, the first two exercises are easy. Yes, I’m going to

make you do them longer than you want to. Yes, you’re going to

a high volume . Yes, it may get boring. But you need your mind

in every second of every repetition. The beginning is when you’re

telling your body the importance of the muscles. You’re going to

take it one exercise at a time because minimizing focus makes

mastery easier.

PRONE GLUTE

The first exercise and simplest form of hip extension is the

prone glute. It’s a short range of motion leg lift that hyper extends

the hip and teaches you how to lock down the pelvis.

To Perform: Lay on your stomach. Legs can be straight or

bent at 90 degrees. Lift one leg in the air by hinging at the hip.

Place the same hand of the working leg on the small of your back.

Dig the thumb into your lower back and the pinky into your glute.

This is so that you can feel the glutes working instead of the lower

back.

Working leg is bent at 90 degrees and the hand is in proper position to feel what

muscles are being activated.


In the second version, the working leg can be straight. It’s a matter of preference.

Lift your working leg in the air by squeezing the glute and

hinging at the hip. Perform each repetition slow and controlled

with a distinct lifting, holding, and lowering phase, each lasting a

minimum of 1-2 seconds. Never extend a set beyond capability

(proper form or glute activation) to get the reps done faster.

Quality requires time. Deal with it and plan for it. Range of

motion for this is very small. Your knee will only get a few inches

off of the ground.

The leg is lifted a few inches off of the ground from the original position. Think about

keeping the entire body stiff except for the hip of the working leg.


Same movement, only with the working leg straight.

Trouble Shooting: If your hamstring is cramping, or if you’re

feeling your hamstring or lower back instead of your glute then

think about shoving your hip flexor into the ground (or lengthening

the hip flexor). If this doesn’t work, toy around with the bent vs.

straight leg lift. Bending the leg is supposed to lessen hamstring

involvement, but I’ve found they cramp easier in this position. As

with the lunge, don’t externally rotate your leg (seen in the second

picture below).

The leg is square and the toes are pointing straight.


Do not externally rotate the leg as seen above. Leg is out to the side and the foot

follows.

MODIFIED BIRD DOG

The regular bird dog is a great exercise, but it’s too much.

You only need to reap the benefits of hip extension from a

quadruped position. The modified bird dog is similar to the prone

glute, except being on all fours adds range of motion and lessens

the base of contact.

To Perform: Get on all fours. Straighten one leg behind, but

maintain contact with the ground. From here, just think prone

glute. Lift the extended rear leg towards the ceiling via hip

extension. Again, each repetition has a 1-2 second raising,

holding, and lower phase. The hips stay locked and square with a

neutral spine. This means that the toes point to the ground.

Starting position for the modified bird dog.


Finished position for the modified bird dog. Note that extending the rear leg past

parallel is not important.

Do not attempt to extend the leg higher than needed as seen above. Doing so kills the

neutral spine and makes the movement worthless.

The glute powers the movement and it should be the muscle

that is felt the most. Don’t overarch your lower back to get the leg

higher. If you’re locking the hip down it might not even hit parallel.

Trouble Shooting: If you can’t keep the knee straight, think

about extending the leg to the wall behind you.


As with the lunge and prone glute, the leg stays square and doesn’t rotate. The toes

should be pointing to the ground.

Do not externally rotate the leg as seen above.

ADVANCED HIP EXTENSION, A QUICK NOTE

The prone glute and modified bird dog develop basic hip

extension patterns and a mind-muscle connection. There are the

only “glute activation” exercises necessary.

Normally, from here, people are eager to head to squats and

deadlifts. But transitioning requires more than doing hundreds of

reps on remedial exercises. I’m not covering either because they

can interfere with horizontal movement patterning. I’m teaching

you how to perform standing hip extension in hopes that you can

transfer this feeling into squats and conventional deadlifts when


it’s all over. You don’t need to muddle yourself with a barbell at

this point.

As we move into the RDL, the goal is to transform up

and down movements into back and forth movements. During

a squat your body moves up and down. In a deadlift, you bend

down to the bar and stand up with it in your hands.

Although hip extension takes place in a squat and a deadlift,

you don’t actually propel horizontally. Once you set our feet in

these lifts, you don’t move. The heavier up and down vector

training becomes, the more vertical a bar will travel. Mark

Rippetoe harps on keeping the bar path vertical for squats and

deadlifts because heavy things like to take the shortest path

between two points.

A squat or deadlift with what many would see as perfect form

– a nice back arch, below parallel – isn’t the goal. As I said,

you’re not going to worry about those exercises yet. Shift your

focus to the RDL so you can learn how to move back and forth,

without actually moving back and forth.

There are two ways to perform the RDL. There’s the up and

down way, which is what most people do. It’s a glorified back

extension. Then there’s the back and forth way, which is what

smart people do. It’s real hip extension.


RDL powered through back extension.

Via Back Extension: Most people that power the RDL

through back extension will have a nice arch in their lower back

that never goes away, even at lockout. The arch is “correct” by

most standards, but most standards need changed. It’s harder to

use the glutes, and consequently, most don’t. To imagine this,

pretend you have a rope around your neck that is tied to a car

behind you. If the car drives away, you’ll lose your balance

backward, leading with the chest and contracting through the

lower back.


RDL powered through hip extension.

Via Hip Extension: Requires tightness and stability

everywhere but in the hips, because they are the only thing

moving. Most will have a neutral spine and squeeze the glutes at

lockout, indicating hip involvement. Range of motion is shorter

because it ends when the hips hit their sticking point as opposed

to the lower back and hamstrings. To imagine this, pretend you

have a rope around your glutes that is tied to a car in front of you.

If the car drives away, you’ll lose balance forward, leading with

the hips and contracting through the glutes.

The difference between the two is that with hip extension

you’re pawing the ground with your feet, which propels you

forward. I didn’t coin the term “pawing,” in fact, I got it from Kelly

Baggett*. The analogy he uses is that it’s like a bull pawing the

ground even though the feet don’t move.

*Kelly is one hell of a guy. He always answers my e-mails and puts out a lot of free information. A huge inspiration and one of my

favorites. Check out his website: Higher Faster Sports. It’s worth your time.

http://www.higher-faster-sports.com/


FUNDAMENTAL TIP TOE POSITION

Pawing the ground allows you to use the muscles involved in

horizontal propulsion without actually propelling horizontally.

Referencing Baggett again, he mentions that it’s like trying to

bench press the bar from a standing military position in hopes of

getting maximum pectoral activation. The force is coming from

the wrong direction. This is where the fundamental tip toe

position (FTTP) becomes important. It bridges actually travelling

horizontally and theoretically travelling horizontally.

To Perform: Assume an isometric propulsive forefoot

position, toes pointed straight ahead or slightly out (15 degrees or

less). From this tip toe position, squeeze your glutes. Use your

pointer finger to feel your obliques and abs. Being on your toes

challenges your balance and squeezing your glutes forces the

abs to contract to maintain equilibrium. The abs and glutes work

together, remember! That’s why an anterior pelvic tilt, which

lengthens the abs, hinders glute function.

The FTTP. Hands are on the hips to feel the abdominals. The glutes are squeezed and

the weight is on the forefoot.


ISOMETRIC BOTTOM RDL

The FTTP is the finished position of a well performed RDL.

Now you’re going to learn the opposite end. If you can get the

start and finish, the stuff in between will take care of itself.

To Perform: Start in the FTTP with your hands on your

thighs. Rock back to an even weight distribution as you push

your hips back and your shoulders forward, sliding your hands

down your thighs. When you hit the beginning of the sticking

point, stop. Your fingers will be around knee cap level. This is

the position for the isometric bottom RDL. Explore this position

attempt to fire you glutes. You should feel the tension in your

glutes, not in your hamstrings.

The Isometric Bottom RDL. Spine and head are neutral, with the weight over the entire

foot. Hands are on the glutes to make sure they are contracting throughout the hold.

Trouble Shooting: First, although primitive, some respond

well to literally being punched in the glutes or abs as they hold the

bottom position because it forces you to tighten up. Try it, but

don’t kill yourself. Second, toy around with pelvic position to feel

the extremes. Try to default in the middle. Third, envision the

rope tied around your hips to the car in front of you. If it drives

away your glutes are going to fire, shooting your hips forward.


Fourth, see if you can envision what pawing the ground would feel

like and try to implement it.

THE RDL

To Perform: Start in the FTTP. Rock down to an even

weight distribution as you push your hips back and shoulders

forward. Keep a neutral spine, and don’t worry about how far

down you’re going to go. Stop at the first sign of the sticking point

and pause briefly. Paw the ground and shoot your hips forward to

get back into the FTTP.

Remember, you want this to feel like you’re going to travel

horizontally. If need be, do a little hop or lose your momentum

forward as long as you’re finishing in the FTTP with your glutes

squeezed.

Reps are to be done rhythmically, and will replace traditional

glute activation exercises.


ISOMETRIC HIP FLEXOR (SEATED)

To Perform: Keeping good spinal position, lift your knee off

of the ground as high as you can. You should feel it high on the

hip, not in the quad. To increase difficulty, lean forward.

ISOMETRIC HIP FLEXOR (STANDING)

To Perform: The standing version carries the same

principles as the seated one. The goal is to lift the knee as high

as possible while maintaining good spinal position. Difficulty

increases because your grounded leg needs to stay rigid, which

forces a glute contraction. Bending the leg is a sign of a weak

hip.

For the standing version, find an object that puts your thigh parallel to the ground. Lift

your foot from the object (as seen above) and bring your thigh as close to your chest as

possible.


Do not round your lower back or let the support leg’s knee bend. Doing so is a sign of

weak glutes. Stay tall and fire the glute of the support leg.


CHAPTER ELEVEN – STRETCHING AND MOBILITY

90% of setbacks are from skipping out on what’s in this

chapter. Don’t undermine the need for flexibility work, because

realistically you’re stretching every moment you live. When it

comes to knee pain and athleticism, it’s all about opening up the

hips. You’re going to do a lot of hip flexor based mobilizations.

The problem with traditional hip flexor stretches, however, is that

they neglect the rectus femoris.

I hate to blame knee pain on one portion of one muscle

complex, but the rectus femoris is one of the main bad guys. It

originates on our hip and attaches on our lower leg. When people

think about the quads, they think about leg extensions – the

kicking motion. That’s why they are such a common exercises

prescription when fixing knee pain.

But it’s not a strength issue and the faulty logic here is that

the rectus femoris also cross the hip. It not only kicks the soccer

ball, but it also brings your knee to your chest. Common

stretches target the knee and hip in isolation. Instead, they need

to be treated as a unit.

THE METHOD

Before I get into the specific stretches, I’m going to say I

hate long duration static stretching. There is a tendency to get

complacent and adopt a “just survive” mentality. But correcting

these issues takes a lot of time so it’s not optional. It’s

mandatory. Ditch the survival mindset and adopt an attack

attitude.


Don’t, however, stay in one static position and start the

countdown. Search for your hot sports, feel free to move. Adjust

your body, tilt your hips, do what you need to do to seek

discomforting positions, and once there, do what you can to make

it comforting. Do isometric stretching, active isolated stretching,

or whatever you want. I don’t care as long as you’re being

aggressive with the position in question for the duration

prescribed.

STRETCHING AND MOBILITY CORRECTIVES

THE QUAD-HIP COMBO

Although I’m going to give you a few stretches and exercises

to do, this one is the king. If you have knee pain, it’s going to be

your best, most hated friend. It hurts. It’s never fun. But it’s

necessary. You won’t look forward to it, but you have to pull

through and do it every day, as you’ll see in the prescription

chapter.

I first saw this stretch demonstrated by Kelly Baggett. Since

then I’ve seen it referred to as a couch stretch because it can be

done on a couch. I’ve also seen it done against a wall. But I’m

mean, and I’m only going to tell you this once. You’re not

allowed to do it against the wall or couch. You need to do it

against a bench, chair, or anything about knee height that

lets you stuff your leg underneath of it. You can’t get a good

stretch unless this happens. And you can’t fix yourself unless you

get a good stretch.

It resembles a bulgarian split squat in that your rear leg will

be elevated on the box, chair, or bench (remember this


terminology: rear leg=the leg resting on the platform, lead leg=leg

in contact with ground). Be careful, however, if your chair or

bench is too high or too low, it can cause pain because you’re

going to end up with your weight resting on your knee cap instead

of right above the knee cap. Be sure to differentiate between

discomfort and pain. This stretch will surely be discomforting, but

it shouldn’t be painful on the knee cap.

To Perform: Set up in front of the platform with your rear leg

resting on the bench. Squat down so that your knee is touching

the ground and tuck your knee underneath the platform as far as

possible (ideally, behind your hip). This is the only way to get a

maximal stretch. A lot of commercial benches will be too low to

the ground for this stretch, in which case seek out dining room

chairs or anything you can find.

On a commercial bench, the knee isn’t able to be tucked underneath of the rear leg.

Instead, use ninja tactics and steal a dining room chair out of a neighboring house (don’t

steal, it’s not nice.)


Much better. Be sure to steal the pillow too, making it more comfortable for the foot on

the chair.

Release your hands from the bench and hang out. This will

be painful the first time, but do not arch the lower back to ease the

pain. Do the opposite. Squeeze the glutes and hip into a

posterior pelvic tilt. Think about tilting the front of your hips to the

sky using a humping motion. Not the most child friendly way to

put it, but it works. The glute must be contracted for the entire

stretch. This is going to feel impossible, but you need to make it

happen. If you have to resort to punching your glute, then do it.

Do not overarch the lower back as shown above.


Instead, squeeze the glute and bring the abs down. It may help to grab onto the chair

behind you to get into position. If not for positioning, it will still help you from

screaming bloody murder.

Keep the shoulders square and the knee-ankle-foot in proper

alignment (knee over second toe) with the lead leg. In addition to

squeezing the glute of the rear leg, with the lead leg you want

to do the isometric hamstring curl that was discussed in the

isometric lunge chapter. Your lead leg isn’t passive.

Once you’re in position, experiment. Reach to the sky.

Twist your body. Reach and twist. Try getting your glute to your

heel (keeping your glute squeezed). You can even loop a band

around your gluteal fold and attach it to something stable in front

of you, forcing the band to pull your hip forward.


Different positioning to attack different parts of your hip flexor compartment. Just

don’t be a jackass like the guy above and let your knee un-tuck from the chair if you

stretch with the band. Who is that guy in these pictures anyway?

BOX HIP FLEXOR STRETCH

The quad-hip flexor stretch is the best all around stretch,

however, it doesn’t fully tax the hip flexors. You should already

have a knee height object from the last stretch, and you’re going

to need it again.

To Perform: Put one leg on the bench in front of you, and

extend the other leg back. When it comes to this stretch, a

picture says it all. Again, tilt your pelvis up via squeezing your

glutes. It will be difficult at first, but make it happen. Always

squeeze the glute. Try getting your rear leg straight. Explore

different parts of the hip flexor. When you internally rotate your

leg, the stretch becomes a lot more difficult. Spend some time

there to work out your kinks.

The taller of a box you get, the more taxing it will be.

Experiment. It’s all good if you’re getting a quality stretch in your

hip flexor.


Squeezing the glute and trying to get the rear leg straight by tilting the hips up.

Internally rotating the rear leg to hit a different compartment of the hip flexor. I

recommend spending some time here.

CALF-SOLEUS STRETCH

The calf-soleus stretch is a more concentrated version of the

split stance shin raise.

To Perform: Angle your forefoot on a wall in front of you,

square your hips, and squeeze your glutes. Lean forward into the

wall to stretch your calf. From this position, bend your leg to

stretch your soleus. Time should be split in half for this stretch (1

minute on each part for 2 minutes total). Remember: don’t let

your foot collapse inward to get more range of motion. Keep the

knee over the second toe. You’ll feel an abrupt sticking point, and

that’s precisely why this stretch is important. It’s a good idea to


wear shoes during this stretch to prevent your heel from feeling

miserable.

Keep this hips square and glute squeezed of the leg on the wall. To increase the stretch,

think about getting your hip close to the wall.

Same as above, but bending at the knee.

ALTERNATIVE COMBO QUAD-HIP STRETCHES

I’m not doing this happily, but I’m doing it. A few pages ago, I

mentioned that the combo quad-hip stretch needed to be done on

something that allowed your leg to get into some kind of hip

extension. The best way to do this is on a chair or something that

has an opening below the platform where you rest your foot.

The obvious choice is a bench press bench, but I know that

some people don’t have home equipment, and driving to the gym


just to stretch is a waste of time. This is especially useful because

I prescribe this stretch often, so being able to do it anywhere is

important. The same rules apply to all of these stretches as they

did to the original quad-hip combo stretch. Push the hip forward,

squeeze the glutes, and tighten the abs. Here are some

alternatives that can be done.

Pictured Above

Top Left: Couch Stretch

Top Middle: Wall Stretch

Top Right: Banded Pretzel Stretch

Bottom Left: Do It Yourself Stretch

Bottom Right: Banded Do It Yourself Stretch


CHAPTER TWELVE – STUFF YOU SHOULD BE

DOING

A grocery list of exercises isn’t going to fix your problem.

Change has to be more focused, meaningful, and controlled.

Stop looking at supplementary training, and realize that your life

to blame. How many times do you put a barbell on you back and

squat in one week? 100 times, on the high end? (This is the

equivalent of doing nearly 3-4 sets of 8-10 reps, twice a week,

factoring in warm up sets.) How many steps do you walk in a

week? Taking stairs with 6 steps 10 times per day equals 60 reps

per day and 420 reps per week. This is over 4x the volume of

your squatting sessions. And I bet most people exceed this

estimate because I am being conservative.

Considerer your life as one big workout. A good friend of

mine, Jon Call, once said, “We are training 24 hours a day. We

are recovering 24 hours a day.” Just because it doesn’t take

place at the gym during your workout doesn’t mean it can’t affect

you. Jumping around like a maniac, tackling other men in pads,

and squatting a lot of weight isn’t what your knees expected when

they emerged from the womb. Yes, you should focus on these

things to heal, but you have to consider and plan for daily

activities because, as I showed, the volume adds up.

Another example of this is sitting down and standing up on

chairs that put you above the half squat position. Just think of

how many half squats you do. In and out of bed. In and out of

the car. In and out of the restroom.


In your defense, squats are beneficial. But I go right back to

the underlying fact that you don’t know how to use your hip. The

top half of a squat is one of those danger zones and it eerily

resembles a RDL. Because you do it incorrectly so frequently,

the body reprograms itself. Here is a quote by Bret Contreras

about glute activation and half squats: “When you stand up from a

chair, quad activation reaches 70% of MVC, but glute activation is

around 10% of MVC. Brisk walking will only get glute activation to

around 30% of MVC, as will climbing stairs. So most individuals

never activate their glutes to over 30% of MVC in their normal

daily activity.”

THE NOTEBOOK

Buy a notebook and note any time you have knee pain. Go

a bit further and rate how severe it is on a scale of 1-10. I’m

talking any time you have it. In the weight room, in the bathroom,

in the car, whenever. You’ll be surprised that most activities of

daily living will be more painful than barbell squats. This stress

adds up. Chronic problems aren’t born from intense, short burst

moments, but rather the accumulation of small stressors over

time.

You’re recording your painful moments for two reasons.

First, you can see if the events that cause pain have

commonalities. Second, you can see what can be done based off

of the six considerations. My initial rehabilitation focused on

walking up steps differently. Yours will look similar if you expect

to be healthy.

Doing everything right during one hour time slot –

commonly known as a “workout,” will not undo doing


everything wrong during a twenty-three hour time slot –

commonly known as a “life.”

Give yourself time to adjust to the new mentality. You’ve

lived your entire life not thinking about these things. You’ll forget

because daily activities aren’t prompting events like exercises

sessions. But to undo the unconscious incorrect, we must

consciously correct.

The fun part about this rehabilitation strategy is that you get

to experiment. You’re not confided to a barbell and set rules. For

instance, I found that my knee felt a lot better if I stayed on my

forefoot when walking up steps, instead of keeping an even

weight distribution. Before every set of stairs I tapped into my

glute and forefoot and transformed the movement into a

horizontal propulsion, instead of a vertical clod up the steps.

Changing motor patterns require repetition and frequency.

Merging exercise with life accomplishes more in less time. I’m not

asking you to walk up stairs to become a better athlete, but to

adopt the mentality needed to be successful.

POSTURE & WALKING

In the forefoot chapter, I showed you how to walk better. So

start doing it. Gently place your hands on your hips when you

walk, and just think about getting them “active.” Walking with your

hips is the epitome of developing a strong mind-muscle

connection with your glutes, and it should be a focal point, but

don’t forget how the forefoot ties into it.


CHAPTER THIRTEEN - REHABILITATION

Rewiring your neurological pathways takes time. Buddy

Morris, in a series of YouTube videos, explains what you’re up

against:

It takes 500 hours to invoke a motor pattern before it

becomes unconscious. It takes 25-30 thousand reps to

break a bad motor pattern. So once you ingrain

something into the central nervous system it’s there

forever.

I’m being more optimistic about them being there forever.

But you have to remember that you’re not only reversing near-

permanent motor patterns, you’re also creating new ones. More

important than time, is frequency. When possible, you want to do

the corrective exercises twice per day. If it calls for two sets, do

one set in the morning and one set in the afternoon. It just works

better that way.

WHAT CAN I DO?

I get a lot of questions that deal with this foundational

question: what am I allowed to do during the rehab? My answer

is almost always the same: do whatever you want to do as long

as it doesn’t hurt.

Now people with thick heads misinterpret this. If it hurts to

barbell squat, don’t keep barbell squatting. But maybe you can

do goblet squats without pain, or just regular bodyweight squats.

I will say, however, that most times squatting is out because it’s a

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xPvlKXiSEM


big pain producer, along with broad jumps. But if you can find

healthy substitutes, then I’m all for it. But don’t be an idiot.

Don’t let it stop you from hammering upper body work. Get

in and get jacked as long as you’re not sacrificing time and focus

for your rehab work. You can preserve your lower body strength

with glute-ham raises, back extensions, or reverse hypers if you

have the equipment. But remember that the goal of rehab is to

learn hip extension and these exercises can interfere via

soreness and other problems.

There are different levels of disability. Some may only have

pain during one movement like squatting or jumping. Others may

not be able to do much. This is why I recommend having a one

week play time. I spent a lot of time creating, living, and teaching

the rehabilitation program. But I know not everyone is going to

need its entirety. I’ve seen crazy results from people that only

took care of their soft tissue problems with a lacrosse ball, or

learned how to keep their knee over their second toe. I’ve seen

the opposite end, when people need a complete system reboot.

If you’re feeling sketchy about spending the next eight weeks

without your pain producing provocative’s, spend one week toying

around with the methods and considerations. If you feel better

without going through the entire process, then more power to you.

But after that week if you still feel bad, you know what you need to

do.

REINCORPORATION

As mentioned in the previous chapter, this eBook isn’t a

rehabilitation program; this eBook is a lifestyle. Going through the


motions isn’t enough. People struggle, however, in finding a

direction after the rehabilitation program.

I can’t stress enough that the rehab isn’t a pill. It’s not

something that is done for a duration of time that magically fixes

the problem. In this eBook, I cover the basics of relearning hip

extension and lay the groundwork for future movement. It’s up to

you to take the concepts of the RDL and apply them to your life.

It’s up to you to actually think about walking up the steps by

powering with hip extension. I can’t yell at you or teach you this

unless you pay for my airfare and living expenses. You have to

make the concentrated effort.

The most confusing part for a lot of people is how to trek

back into activity after doing the program. You’ve sacrificed your

squats, your broad jumps, your vertical jump training, or whatever

it was that was causing your problem. You survived the eight

week rehabilitation protocol. Now what?

You have to take the principles you learned and apply them

to whatever caused you pain. Throughout this eBook, I make

references to barbells, squats, deadlifts, and other traditional

weightlifting methods. But the only thing I teach is the unweighted

romanian deadlift.

If you go through the eight weeks of rehab and squatting or

jumping still hurts, then you have to apply the principles I talked

about in this eBook. If you mindfully did the program, this won’t

be a problem. Try keeping a more neutral spine during a squat.

Perhaps teach yourself how to squat using an isometric bottom

position and using a back and forth motion (I gave you plenty of

analogies to help you with this).


If you’re a jumper, learn how to use your hips more.

Perhaps do the romanian deadlift as outlined, but actually jump

out of the FTTP. Make sure your forefoot is doing its job.

Yes, using the same principles of learning the RDL can be

used for squatting or jumping. I know because I have done it.

And yes, this requires starting at bodyweight. Drop your ego and

45 lb plates at the door.

There is a developmental continuum and it goes something

like this – endurance – strength – power. Each progression builds

on its predecessor. This eBook develops the endurance aspect

of the continuum. It primes your hips for action. It awakens them.

They are ready, you just have to find a way to load them. This

probably means altering the way you used to train and the form

you used to use. Things must change.

Look at the continuum again. This program isn’t the end.

It’s the beginning. Take your new concept of femoral control,

neutral spine, and horizontal propulsion into your barbell training

and explosive work after this. I’m not hinting at anything (maybe I

am), but I have a progression that works people back into barbell

and athletic training after this initial eight week conditioning

program.

If you can’t wait until the second part of this book series is

released (dealing about relearning the squat and how to

incorporate speed-power drills back into the mix) then feel free to

e-mail me. I’ll help you along the way.

I once had a guy tell me, “I bet professional athletes don’t

deal with this junk,” trying to rationalize his inability to get that you

can learn a squat in nearly the same sequence I teach the RDL.


But realize that if you have knee pain you’re a different animal.

You have to do things differently. You don’t have the easy road.

END OF STAGE PAIN RATING

At the end of every stage, I want you to do whatever it was

that used to cause pain. Squatting, jumping, running, whatever.

This is to test how the rehabilitation process is going. I’m not

telling you to take it to exhaustion or to make it painful, but spend

some time feeling your body’s limits to see if they have changed.


CHAPTER FOURTEEN – THE PROGRAM

STAGE ONE

Length: Two weeks

Goals: Lay foundation for future.

DAILY WORK

Prone Glute x 100 repetitions – Complete in as many sets as necessary to keep proper

form. Don’t rush. Each rep should last 3-6 second and the lift-hold-lower should be in

distinct phases. Can be broken into two sessions per day, with 50 reps per session.

Find Your Tripod x 2 sets of 2 minute holds

Isometric Forefoot x 1 x 1 minute hold

Clamshell x 1 x 20 repetitions

STRETCHING / SOFT TISSUE

Quad-Hip Combo x 2 x 2 minute holds – Preferably one set in the morning, one set in

the evening (works great if done after lacrosse, massage, and myofascial release).

Box Hip Flexor Stretch 2 x 1 minute hold – Preferably one set in the morning, one

set in the evening.

Lacrosse Treatment x 2-5 minutes per leg in the morning, and preferably more in the

evening.

Self Massage x 2-5 minutes per leg in the evening.

Self Myofascial Release x 1 session per day finding the hot spots, preferably in the

evening with lacrosse treatment and self massage.

End of Stage One Pain Rating ____ / 10


Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Self Massage Self Massage Self Massage Self Massage Self Massage Self Massage Self Massage

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release



Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Prone Glute x

100 reps

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Find Tripod

2 x 2 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Iso Forefoot x

1 min

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Clamshell x

20 reps

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Box Hip

Flexor

x 1 min

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment


Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release


STAGE TWO

Length: 2 weeks

Goals: Learn true hip extension and forefoot reliance.

DAILY WORK

Modified Bird Dog x 100 repetitions - Complete in as many sets as necessary to keep

proper form. Don’t rush. Each rep should last 3-6 second and the lift-hold-lower

should be in distinct phases. Can be broken into two sessions per day, with 50 reps per

session.

Seated Hip Flexor x 30 repetitions - In as many sets necessary to complete with good

form.

Unilaterally Find Your Tripod x 1 x 1 minute hold

Isometric Propulsive Forefoot x 1 x 1 minute hold

Band X-Walks x 1 x 10 steps (each direction)



the evening (works great if done after lacrosse, massage, and myofascial release).

1A) *Box Hip Flexor Stretch 1 x 2 minute hold

1B) *Calf-Soleus Stretch 1 x 2 minute hold


evening.




End of Stage Two Pain Rating ____ / 10

*Alternated every other day (see chart that follows)


Day 15 Day 16 Day 17 Day 18 Day 19 Day20 Day 21

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

reps

Seated Hip x

30 reps

Seated Hip x

30 reps

Seated Hip x

30 reps

Seated Hip x

30 reps

Seated Hip x

30 reps

Seated Hip x

30 reps

Seated Hip x

30 reps

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor

x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus

x 2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor

x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus

x 2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor

x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus

x 2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor

x 2 mins

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment


Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release



Modified Bird

Dog x 100

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

Modified Bird

Dog x 100

Seated Hip x

30

Seated Hip x

30

Seated Hip x

30

Seated Hip x

30

Seated Hip x

30

Seated Hip x

30

Seated Hip x

30

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

Iso Propulsive

Forefoot x 1

min

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

X-Walks x 10

steps (each

direction)

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus

x 2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor

x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus

x 2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor

x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus

x 2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor

x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus

x 2 mins

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment


Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release


STAGE THREE

Length: 2 weeks

Goals: Begin learning standing hip extension via RDL positioning.

DAILY WORK

Modified Bird Dog x 50 repetitions - Complete in as many sets as necessary to keep

proper form. Don’t rush. Each rep should last 3-6 second and the lift-hold-lower

should be in distinct phases.

Standing Hip Flexor x 30 repetitions - Complete in as many sets as necessary to keep

proper form.

Unilaterally Find Your Tripod x 1 x 1 minute hold

Bunny Hops x 2 x 30 repetitions

Split Stance Shin Raises x 2 x 10 repetitions

Pallof Press x 1 x 5 reps (5 second hold at lockout) (each side)

FTTP x 5 x 1 minute holds

Isometric Bottom RDL x 5 x 1 minute holds



the evening.



Lacrosse Treatment x 2-5 minutes per leg in the morning, and preferably later too.


Self Myofascial Release (SMR) x 1 session per day finding the hot spots, preferably

in the evening with lacrosse treatment and self massage.

End of Stage Three Pain Rating ____ / 10

*Alternated every other day (see chart that follows).



Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Pallof Press x5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

FTTP

x 5 x 1 minholds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 minholds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 minholds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 minholds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 minholds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 minholds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 minholds

Bottom RDL x5 x 1 min

holds


holds


holds


holds


holds


holds


holds

Quad-HipCombo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-HipCombo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-HipCombo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-HipCombo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-HipCombo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-HipCombo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-HipCombo

2 x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus x2 mins

Box HipFlexor x 2

mins

Calf-Soleus x2 mins

Box HipFlexor x 2

mins

Calf-Soleus x2 mins

Box HipFlexor x 2

mins

Calf-Soleus x2 mins

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment


SMR SMR SMR SMR SMR SMR SMR



Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Modified Bird

Dog x 50 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Standing Hip

x 30 reps

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Unilateral

Tripod

x 1 min

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 130 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10 reps

Pallof Press x5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

Pallof Press x

5 reps (per

side)

FTTP

x 5 x 1 min

holds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 min

holds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 min

holds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 min

holds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 min

holds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 min

holds

FTTP

x 5 x 1 min

holds

Bottom RDL x

5 x 1 min

holds

Bottom RDL x

5 x 1 min

holds

Bottom RDL x

5 x 1 min

holds

Bottom RDL x

5 x 1 min

holds

Bottom RDL x

5 x 1 min

holds

Bottom RDL x

5 x 1 min

holds

Bottom RDL x

5 x 1 min

holds

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus x

2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor x 2

mins

Calf-Soleus x

2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor x 2

mins

Calf-Soleus x

2 mins

Box Hip

Flexor x 2

mins

Calf-Soleus x

2 mins

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment


SMR SMR SMR SMR SMR SMR SMR


STAGE FOUR

Length: 2 weeks

Goals: Learn the RDL.

DAILY WORK

RDL x 100 repetitions - Complete in as many sets as necessary to keep proper form.

Don’t rush. Each rep should last 3-6 second and the lift-hold-lower should be in distinct

phases.

Standing or Seated Hip Flexor x 30 repetitions - Complete in as many sets as

necessary to keep proper form.

Find Your Tripod x 1 x 1 minute hold

Bunny Hops x 2 x 30 repetitions

Split Stance Shin Raises x 2 x 10 repetitions

Hip Rotations x 1 x 20 repetitions



the evening.




evening.




End of Stage Four Pain Rating ____ / 10

*Alternated every other day (see chart that follows).



RDL x 100 RDL x 100 RDL x 100 RDL x 100 RDL x 100 RDL x 100 RDL x 100

Any Hip x 30 Any Hip x 30 Any Hip x 30 Any Hip x 30 Any Hip x 30 Any Hip x 30 Any Hip x 30

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus

x 2 min

Box Hip

Flexor*

x 1 min

Calf-Soleus

x 2 min

Box Hip

Flexor*

x 1 min

Calf-Soleus

x 2 min

Box Hip

Flexor*

x 1 min

Calf-Soleus

x 2 min

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment


Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release



RDL x 100 RDL x 100 RDL x 100 RDL x 100 RDL x 100 RDL x 100 RDL x 100

Hip x 30 Hip x 30 Hip x 30 Hip x 30 Hip x 30 Hip x 30 Hip x 30

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Find Tripod

x 1 min

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Bunny Hops

x 2 x 30

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Shin Raises

x 2 x 10

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Hip Rotations

x 20

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Quad-Hip

Combo

2 x 2 mins

Calf-Soleus

x 2 min

Box Hip

Flexor*

x 1 min

Calf-Soleus

x 2 min

Box Hip

Flexor*

x 1 min

Calf-Soleus

x 2 min

Box Hip

Flexor*

x 1 min

Calf-Soleus

x 2 min

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment

Lacrosse

Treatment


Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release

Self

Myofascial

Release


STAGE FIVE

Length: Indefinite (As a warm up/cool down procedure)

Goals: Maintenance.

WORK (2-3 TIMES / WEEK)

Body Weight RDL with Fundamental Tip Toe Position x 20 repetitions

Standing or Seated Hip Flexor x 15 repetitions

Split Stance Shin Raises x 10 repetitions

Bunny Hops x 30 repetitions



WORK (DAILY)

Quad-Hip Combo x 1 x 2 minute hold

Lacrosse Treatment x 2 minutes per leg

Self Myofascial Release x one session per day finding the hot spots


WARM UP / COOL DOWN

DAY A DAY B

BW RDL W/ FTTP x 20 BW RDL W/ FTTP x 20

SEATED HIP x 15 SEATED HIP x 15

SHIN RAISES x 10 SHIN RAISES x 10

BUNNY HOPS x 30 BUNNY HOPS x 30

BOX HIP FLEXOR STRETCH x 2

MINUTES TOTAL

CALF-SOLEUS STRETCH x 2 MINUTES

TOTAL

DAILY

QUAD-HIP COMBO STRETCH x 2 MINUTES TOTAL

LACROSSE AND SOFT TISSUE WORK


CHAPTER FIFTEEN – Q&A

Q: I have no interest in barbell training, and I’m having

trouble falling along with this terminology.

A: It’s ok. Honestly, just look past it. You don’t need to be familiar

with barbells, really. I describe every movement separately. Just

hang in there, it becomes clear. If not, e-mail me. I’ll help you

along the way.

Q: I’m just a runner. How does this impact me?

A: More than you can imagine! Using your forefoot and hip is

paramount to preventing injuries.

Q: What if I can’t train seven days per week?

A: It’s understandable, and it does become mentally draining. If

you can’t keep up with it, I recommend training five days per week

on a 3 on 2 off schedule. You don’t want to go two days in a row

without doing some kind of work. 3 on 1 off is a good way to do

this as well.

Q: Where do I learn how to squat?

A: I like to think of the squat as a separate subject, and I knew if I

included it in this eBook, people would be trying to do too many

things. That’s why I’m creating a second eBook that deals with

repatterning the squat and programming explosive work.


Q: So after I complete this eight week stint, am I healed?

A: You’ll notice that you move differently and you’ll be a blank

slate at that point. All movement you layer on top of it should

respect the rules and patterning that you went through.

Q: I tried to squat right after the program and my knee pain is

back. Help?

A: It’s likely you’re not patterning the squat well enough. Your hips

are still failing you. Be on the lookout for my second eBook. It will

help you do this. E-mail me in the mean time.

Q: I’m getting knee pain in the isometric positions of the

RDL, what should I do?

A: Knee pain in the bottom RDL position is common, but what I’ve

found is most people that have it carry too much weight back on

their heels. Try shifting your weight to a more even distribution,

even erring on the side of the forefoot.

Q: What if I don’t have time to do stuff in the morning,

evening, and night?

A: Although ideal to spread the workload, you can cram

everything into one session. Do some supersetting to save some

time. When you’re resting from your activation stuff, hit a little soft

tissue work and such.

I will say, however, finding some time for the self massage and a

one-two minute quad-hip combo stretch a few times a day is

nearly essential.


Q: Why is this program eight weeks?

A: As Pavel points out in his newest work, Easy Strength,

“…based on German research by Neumann, who studied the

dynamics of adaptation for over 20 years and came to the

conclusion that complete adaptation takes at least six weeks.

(Neumann’s research led to the East German practice of planning

elite athletes’ training in six week units.)”

I added two weeks because most of us aren’t elite athletes and

with an issue like this, it’s best to err on the side of caution.

Q: Why train daily?

A: As Buddy Morris said, “It takes 500 hours to invoke a motor

pattern before it becomes unconscious. It takes 25-30 thousand

reps to break a bad motor pattern.” The work we’re doing is low

intensity enough that it can be done frequently, and the more

frequently it’s done the more motor programming takes place.

Q: I took your advice and I tried to incorporate some of your

ideas immediately, but I still have knee pain. What gives?

A: Any kind of question like this will assumedly get the same

response: do the program. The ideas are good and I encourage

you to test things out before dedicating eight weeks to the rehab,

but if you can’t get by with your tinkering, it’s time to man up and

do the rehab.

Q: If I have more time, can I do more?

A: It’s not necessary, but you can do more. It’s an individual thing.

Add another set or two at your leisure, or another session at

another time in the day.


Q: My legs are fatigued. Can this be fixed?

A: They should be at first. They are working harder than they ever

have. But your body will adapt. Stick through it and you’ll come

out a better person.

Q: How do I know if this is working?

A: In each stage, I have testing built in so you can gauge your

progress. People don’t really realize how the body should move

until the sixth week though, so stick it out until then.

Q: When should my pain start to go away?

A: Since you’re going to be avoiding the pain stimulus, it shouldn’t

bother you unless you provoke it in the beginning stages. It will

subside further when you learn how to use your hips instead of

your knee. It’s all a part of the learning. It won’t suddenly

disappear either, like magic. Your knee is damaged and

overused. It needs a little “me” time to get well.


AN ATHLETE’S GUIDE

TO CHRONIC KNEE

PAIN, PART IIincreasing strength and explosiveness

through barbell exercises, leaps, and

bounds


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter One – Pattern, Grind, Ballistic………………………..…131

Chapter Two – The Romanian Deadlift……………………….…135

Chapter Three – The Squat…………………………………….....146

Chapter Four – Jumps, Leaps, and Bounds…………………….168

Chapter Five – Sample Program…………………………...…….173

Chapter Six – Pay it Forward…………………………………..…179

]


PREFACEAfter releasing An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain,

Part I, I knew that I had more work to do. And that work consistedof truly finishing off the rehabilitation program and creating, what Ilike to call, an athletic enhancement program.

Getting rid of chronic knee pain is one thing. But learninghow to keep it off by incorporating the movement patterns learnedin Part I is another matter. This book was written specifically forthat. And over the years of doing this I always notice that peoplemake great strides, from an athletic standpoint, after finishing therehab program because their body functions a lot better.

So for the inquisitive minds wondering “what the hell isnext?” at the conclusion of part one. This is what the hell is next.

Let’s kill rehabilitation programs. Let’s give rise to whatrehabilitation programs should be. Let’s give rise to the era ofrehabilitation being an achievement of athletic enhancement.

THE VIDEO ARCHIVESUnlike the last book, I felt that the information in this book

needed video referencing and explanation. So I created privateYouTube videos that explains all of the movements that arediscussed. You will be linked to the appropriate video as we go.


THE MAINTENANCE WARM UP PROGRAMAt the end of the first book, I left you with a warm-up and

cool-down procedure. Keep. Using. It. Of course, you can (andshould) do more as a warm up. But this just maintains thepatterning that was set in place. Alternate between pure hip flexorstretches and calf-soleus stretches for the cool-down. So if youtrained Monday, you’d do the hip flexor stretch. Tuesday, you’d dothe calf-soleus stretch. On both days you’d do the lacrosse workand quad-hip combo stretch for two minutes each leg. And if youtook Wednesday off, you’d still do the lacrosse and quad-hipwork.

WARM UP / COOL DOWN

DAY A DAY B





BOX HIP FLEXOR STRETCH x 2 MINUTES TOTAL

(COOL DOWN)

CALF-SOLEUS STRETCH x 2 MINUTES TOTAL (COOL

DOWN)

DAILY




CHAPTER ONE – PATTERN, GRIND,

BALLISTICTerms have a propensity to change. At the end of the first

book, I told you that the contents developed the endurance aspect

of the endurance – strength – speed continuum.

Well, since then, I’ve come across a new way to categorize

this continuum. It means the same thing, but the words seem to

stick in people’s mind better because, well, they are way cooler. I

have to thank the great Dan John for providing these “new” terms,

but let me explain them.

The first part of teaching new movement patterns involves

developing the endurance in the pattern. This is what Dan John

calls patterning. You have a near infinite amount of time to

practice these kinds of contractions because they are low

intensity. Patterning is what we did in the first book. We first

learned how to use our hips through remedial activation

exercises. We then gradually incorporated our new found

activation into more complex movement patterns such as the

romanian deadlift (RDL). And to solidify this further, I made you

do about a billion of them so that your body could “learn” how to

move in a way to fully utilize the hips.

That was patterning. Tons of reps. Tons of conscious

control. Tons of practice. Tons of monotony. Tons of time to focus

on things. You stayed in the two positions of the RDL and had

nothing to do but think about your muscles contracting. This is


what it takes to develop a motor pattern. As Sam Snead once

said, “I figure practice puts your brain in your muscles.”

After you solidified a motor pattern, however, a continuation

of activation and patterning becomes useless. At some point you

have to replace activation with strength. This is what Dan John

calls grind. So after adopting a new motor pattern, the next step is

to incorporate strength in the pattern.

What’s not to be lost sight of, however, is that you’re still

learning at this point. You may be able to hold your newly found

motor pattern when there is no external resistance, but once

weight is added, you will break down fast. This is why you have

to progress through your strength work slowly. Always be

sure to maintain the new pattern. Pattern maintenance is

more important than weight on the bar.

A lot of people finish the initial eight week rehabilitation and

immediately try to squat or deadlift the weight they used to, only

to forego all of the patterning that was just completed. That is a

terrible error. Days later, they will complain of their knee pain

returning. You have to hold the pattern. When you don’t, your

pain will come back. It’s that simple.

But let’s say that you progressed sensibly, and you’re

actually developing strength in the newly found motor pattern. At

some point, because you’ve developed the pattern to such a great

extent from both an endurance and strength aspect, you can

begin to hold it during more explosive movements.

Now, I should note that it’s nearly impossible to consciously

think about things during ballistic movements. It’s not like it was

back in the patterning stage. We had lots of time then. But in the


ballistic stage, we have little time. So, in some instances, you

shouldn’t expect to have mental control over your movements as

you reach the higher ranks of complex, ballistic movements.

Nevertheless, training to hold these motor patterns can be

gradually introduced with lower intensity explosive movements in

hopes that they unconsciously get adopted into the upper echelon

of complex, ballistic movements.

So then, what exactly are you reading? What is the purpose

of this eBook as compared to the last one?

Well, the first eBook was the patterning. Truth be told,

patterning is perhaps the most difficult part. This eBook is about

the grind (strength) and ballistic (explosive) movements. Meaning,

how do you make sure the patterning holds through whenever

you start doing more complex movements where you really don’t

have time to think about activating certain musculature? It is our

hope that we can rewire the body enough so that it takes care of

that problem by itself. But we have to follow our progression

through pattern – grind – ballistic.

But back to the first book—we patterned the romanian

deadlift, or what most like to call a hinge movement at the hips.

So, at this point, we should be able to begin the grind (or

strengthening) phase of the hinging movement pattern. Once we

make some progress there, we can then begin the ballistic (or

explosive) phase.

But the hinge isn’t the only lower body movement pattern

that we need to consider. There is also the squat—the movement

pattern you’ve probably been obsessing over since last book. The

squat patterning is aided tremendously by the hinge patterning, so


the process shouldn’t take as long as long as the first book tamed

any knee flare ups you had. After patterning, of course, comes the

grind and ballistic phases.

Let’s get started.


Chapter two – the Romanian deadliftThere’s nothing inherently special about the RDL, but it’s

one of the few standing exercises we can do that involves nothing

but hip extension. Traditional deadlifts have knee flexion at the

beginning of the lift that can interfere with learning, and most

other hip extension intensive movements—like back extensions,

hip thrusts, and reverse hyperextensions—aren’t done from a

standing position, which, I feel, transfers over to using the glutes

better during ballistic movements.

If you’re wondering about the squat, it’s in the future

chapters. I chose to discuss the RDL first because it can be

loaded while the patterning for the squat takes place.

Nevertheless, the time has come to load the RDL. But before you

do, there are a few things you have to keep in mind.

How to rdl

VIEW RDL VIDEO EXPLANATION

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoVDDdViO_E


It may seem redundant to relearn the RDL after all of the

patterning we did in the first book. But I want to mention a few

things just so you’re aware of the differences you will encounter

once the bar is in your hands.

First, disregard the tip toe portion of the fundamental tip toe

position. You should be able to come to a strong lockout with the

glutes squeezed without rising onto your tip toes. You still should,

however, think of it as a back-and-forth movement and not an up-

and-down-movement. Keep the image of “pawing” the ground in

your mind.

Second, the bar interferes with the movement so you have to

be careful. Since the barbell is in your hands and it is sliding down

your legs, the arms are fixed. Some people get hung up on this,

but the main thing you need to remember is that the range of

motion stops when you can’t hold the pattern (probably with the

bar just below knee cap level).

Third, the bar stays as close to your body as possible. There

may be a slight tendency for the bar to move away from your

body on the concentric portion if you’re really hammering the

“pawing” motor pattern. This is fine. Just keep it close.

Fourth, all rules still apply. Power the RDL through hip

extension, not back extension. Keep your weight distributed

evenly and your knees aligned over your feet properly. Basically,

all of the stuff in the first book can’t be forgotten.

Traditionally, to do a RDL, the bar is taken out of the rack so

that you don’t have to do a conventional deadlift to get the bar in

the correct position. I understand that not everyone has this

luxury. If you need to deadlift the bar into position, remember to


power the movement from the hips as best as possible. Keep

your spine in a good position and think of the top half as a RDL.

You should be fine.

Once the bar is in position, slide it down your legs by

pushing your hips back, keeping it in contact with your body.

Once you hit your sticking point—where you can no longer keep

good spinal position and your hamstrings have reached their

extensibility—paw the ground and shoot your hips up and

forward. Think about humping the bar and coming to a position in

which your glutes are squeezed.

Dumbbell vs barbellIdeally you will use a barbell to load the RDL. If you would

rather use dumbbells, that’s fine. It may work better in some

instances because it gives you more freedom throughout the

range of motion. But if you plan on doing more complex barbell

exercises, you should stick with a barbell. If you don’t, however,

feel free to use dumbbells.


The following is written for barbell users, but it will look the

same for those using dumbbells. Numbers never change. 35

pounds is always 35 pounds.

Stronger guys (and gals) may run into problems with

dumbbells simply because the dumbbells don’t go high enough. In

this case, well, you’re just going to have to go as high as you can

and then find your own way. But it’s better to just venture over to

the barbell.

Conservative loadingLike I said in the first chapter, people usually have problems

with loading the bar conservatively at first. You may have been

able to RDL 315 pounds prior to embarking on this rehabilitation,

but remember that was with your old motor pattern. Your new

motor pattern is just that—new. It’s a just-born-baby. You can’t

treat it like an adult.

The easiest way to pick your starting weight is to take your

very first RDL strength training day and titrate your way up using

small increments. I like starting people off with five sets of ten

repetitions, all done with the same weight. This technique—doing

all written sets and reps with the same weight—is a technique

called sets across.

So your first training session will look something like this.

Take the bar and do ten repetitions. Yeah, with just the bar. Hold

the motor pattern I taught you. If you do, you’ll feel this all in the

glutes. Your hamstrings might feel a mild stretch, but your glutes

should be getting a massive rush of blood flow. If you’re feeling


this in your lower back and hamstring over your glutes, there’s a

good chance you’re not keeping the pattern.

Add five or ten more pounds to the bar and, after a little rest,

do ten more. If you can still hold the motor pattern, feeling it in

your hips, add five or ten more pounds. Keeping doing this, if you

can, until you hit 135 pounds. Some of you might not be able to,

so don’t worry. I only use 135 as a cutoff point because if you

listened to me, that would be nearly your ninth set.

So if you didn’t hit 135, then you’ve found your starting

weight. Let’s say you lost form at 95 pounds. The next workout,

warm up and load the bar with 75 pounds (you generally want to

start 20 pounds less than the weight you stalled at) and do all of

your sets and all of your reps with that weight.

The workout after that, add five or ten pounds, and complete

all of your sets and reps with that weight. In our example, that’s

80 or 85 pounds. Keep adding 5-10 pounds with each

consecutive workout, until you hit the point where you fail to

complete all of your sets without keeping form.

But if you did hit 135, then during your next workout, warm

up to 135 pounds and follow the same strategy. Ten reps per set,

adding 5-10 pounds each set until you can’t hold form. If you

make it up to 225 pounds for 10 repetitions, hold there and call it

a day.

If you didn’t, and stalled at, let’s say 155 pounds, then follow

the recipe from two paragraphs ago: drop 20 pounds from the bar

and slowly work your way up every workout. Your first “real”

session would be 135 pounds. Add 5-10 pounds for the next one,

and so on until one day you hit a point where you can’t keep form.


If you made it to 225 pounds, you’re just going to use that as

your starting point. Follow the same progression outlined (twice)

above.

So far I gave you three scenarios. Here’s what they look like

in non-paragraph format.

Example One:

Workout One: 45x10, 55x10, 65x10, 75x10, 85x10, 95x10

(fail)

Workout Two: 5 x 10 x 75

Workout Three: 5 x 10 x 85

Workout Four: 5 x 10 x 95. . .

Workout Ten: 5 x 10 x 155 (fail)

Example Two:

Workout One: 45x10 135x10

Workout Two: 135x10, 145x10, 155x10 (fail)


Workout Four: 5 x 10 x 145

Workout Five: 5 x 10 x 155. . .

Workout Eight: 5 x 10 x 185 (fail)


Example Three:

Workout One: 45x10 135x10

Workout Two: 135x10 225x10


Workout Four: 5 x 10 x 235 . . .

Workout Nine: 5 x 10 x 285 (fail)

Eventually, most everyone is going to hit a stalling point. And

I guess now is a good time to tell you that you have two main

“lower body” days slated per week, which means that you’ll be

doing weighted RDL’s twice per week, both days for 5 sets of 10

repetitions.

Once you fail to keep your form with a certain weight, you’re

going to switch one of the days to 5 sets of 5 reps and continue

on the same progression at the same weight you failed at. The

other day, however, is going to drop back down by 10-20% in

weight on the bar, and continue with the 5 sets of 10 repetitions,

but only add 5 pounds per workout.

So now that you’re confused as hell, let me just chart this out

for you so that it comes to life.


EXAMPLE ONE

Week Day One (Monday) Day Two (Friday)

Week 1 45x10, 55x10,

65x10, 75x10,

85x10, 95x10 (fail)

5 x 10 x 75

Week 2 5 x 10 x 85 5 x 10 x 95

Week 3 5 x 10 x 105 5 x 10 x 115

Week 4 5 x 10 x 125 5 x 10 x 135

Week 5 5 x 10 x 145 5 x 10 x 155 (fail)

Week 6 5 x 10 x 125

(deload)

5 x 5 x 155

Week 7 5 x 10 x 130 5 x 5 x 165

Week 8 5 x 10 x 135 5 x 5 x 175

Week 9 5 x 10 x 140 5 x 5 x 185 (previous

week felt heavy)

Week 10 5 x 10 x 145 5 x 5 x 190. . .


EXAMPLE TWO


Week 1 45x10 135x10 135x10, 145x10,

155x10 (fail)

Week 2 5 x 10 x 135 5 x 10 x 135

Week 3 5 x 10 x 105 5 x 10 x 135

Week 4 5 x 10 x 135 5 x 10 x 145

Week 5 5 x 10 x 155 5 x 10 x 165

Week 6 5 x 10 x 175 5 x 10 x 185 (fail)

Week 7 5 x 10 x 135

(deload)

5 x 5 x 185

Week 8 5 x 10 x 140 5 x 5 x 195

Week 9 5 x 10 x 145 5 x 5 x 205

Week 10 5 x 10 x 150 5 x 5 x 215

Week 11 5 x 10 x 150 5 x 5 x 225

Week 12 5 x 10 x 150 5 x 5 x 235. . .


EXAMPLE THREE


Week 1 45x10 135x10 135x10 225x10

Week 2 5 x 10 x 235 5 x 10 x 245

Week 3 5 x 10 x 255 5 x 10 x 265

Week 4 5 x 10 x 275 5 x 10 x 285 (fail)

Week 5 5 x 10 x 225

(deload)

5 x 5 x 285

Week 6 5 x 10 x 230 5 x 5 x 295

Week 7 5 x 10 x 235 5 x 5 x 305. . .

At some point, as demonstrated in Example One, ten pound

jumps every workout—even on 5x5 days—is going to be too

taxing. You’ll be able to feel this coming and you may even doubt

your ability to jump ten pounds. In this case, start increasing by

five pounds every weekly workout on your 5x5 days (you should

already be doing this on your 5x10 days).

Also, once you incorporate 5x5 days, your 5x10 days are

nothing more than a filler of sustaining the movement pattern.

Increasing weight on the bar this day isn’t important. If you take

example three, week six, if you walked into the gym and felt

absolutely spent you could load up the bar with 185 (or even 135)

and hit your five sets of ten reps. The main thing that matters is

continued progression on your 5x5 days—remember that. Do


whatever it takes on Monday to get your reps in and be primed for

Friday.

Once your 5x5 days stall, then you’re out of my

programming boat. You should be strong enough to know what

you’re doing and understand the pattern enough to venture on to

other hinge type exercises (conventional deadlifts and its variants,

hip thrusts, swings, back extensions, reverse hypers, etc.). You

can proudly say that you graduated the “grind” portion of the

hinge movement pattern.

If you want to be conservative you can “reset” your 5x5

workout once and then progress through it again. For example,

let’s say you stall on 5 x 5 x 225. Drop 10% from the bar (the

recommended amount once you’re this advanced) and then

repeat the progression with five pound jumps. So you would

regress to 200 (approximately 10% drop) and do your 5x5

workout. The next session would be done with 205, and the next

with 210, and so on.


CHAPTER THREE – THE SQUATI’m smart enough to know that most of you have wanted this

chapter from way back in the first book. Of all movements—

barbell or no barbell—squatting has to be the most troublesome. I

dare say that if you can figure the squat out then you won’t have

any issues with the ballistic phase of motor reprogramming. Take

it seriously and diligently.

The good news is that you will squat once again. The bad

news is that it’s going to take a while for you to be squatting

seriously again. There’s something odd that happens when we

add a barbell into the mix that just doesn’t sit well with our knees.

For that reason, it’s always about slow progression over time. As

Buddy Morris said, “Louie [Simmons] always tells me the ability to

do a little bit of work for a long period of time is better than ability

to a lot of work in a short period of time.” So let’s allow ourselves

to do that little bit of work, and let’s allow ourselves to do it for the

rest of our life.

If you remember back to patterning the RDL, the main goal

was to get the hips to power the movement. It’s the same idea

with the squat. Truth be told, your glutes will probably grow larger

than you had ever imagined after total repatterning. Some people

might be self conscious about this, but I don’t feel any remorse for

those people. Actually, I don’t think I ever want to meet them.

Embrace your hips. Embrace your strength. Embrace your

beauty.


Since we’re approaching the squat in the same manner as

the RDL, we have to remember those tiny things that were

important to us way back in the first book.

Weight distributed as evenly as possible

o With the squat this means that the weight shouldn’t be

OVERLY on your heels to the point of being able to lift

the front half of your foot off of the ground.

Knee tracks over the second toe

o Don’t shove them too far out, and don’t let them

collapse too far in. The ideal relationship is with the

knee over the second toe, but you should be fine if you

just keep the knee somewhere over the middle of the

foot.

Having femoral control

o Once again, we want to view the squat as a back and

forth motion powered through hip extension not back

extension.

Patterning the squatJust like other movements, patterning takes time and

frequency. Luckily, all of the work we did with the RDL will benefit

learning the squat. Just like what the RDL, we will follow a

sensible plan of exercise, volume, and load progressions.

At the core of learning the squat is the concept of using the

glutes to drive the movement. When most people squat they feel

their lower back or quads—some even feel their hamstrings. But

rarely does someone end a set of squats and boast about the

pump in their glutes. What can’t be lost, however, is that if you


have femoral control then the glutes are going to take the brunt of

the load. Now, that’s not to say other leg muscles aren’t allowed

to be sore or felt during exercises, but the glutes should always

be the frontrunner. You should feel them grind on the eccentric

portion of both RDLs and squats. You should feel them

contracting to get your through the concentric portion of the lifts.

At lockout, you should feel them contracted, serving as a stable

base of support.

It borderlines obsession, I know. But if it were up to me it

wouldn’t just be border line, it would be an obsession. As I

mentioned in the first book, you need to tap into your hip on a

daily basis for remedial tasks—walking up steps, getting out of

your car, and walking in general. And I also distinctly

remembering pointing out that the rehabilitation process never

ends. The moment you lose conscious control over the hip is the

moment you regress. You can’t let it happen. So let’s look at how

to make sure the hip is doing its job during squats.

What if I don’t want to squat?I know that not everyone that picks up this book is going to

have an interest in squatting. Others, after feeling how good their

knees feel, will question whether or not they want to get back

under the bar.

But from a mobility and health standpoint, everyone should

be able to squat with the power of their hips. This isn’t to say that

everyone needs to squat heavy or with a barbell, but I firmly

believe that the ability to do a proper squat and hit a respectable

depth is a sign of an overall healthy lower body.


So whether you’re a diehard powerlifter that’s itching to get

the barbell on your back, or a general fitness enthusiast that’s

content with doing bodyweight squats for reps, most everybody

should—at the very least—learn how to squat deep and learn how

to use their hips at that range of motion.

Squat patterning – Box Squats

SEE BOX SQUAT VIDEO EXPLANATION

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icvaEBzTxDA


As mentioned earlier, we don’t have to go through a barrage

of activation exercises to begin the squat. We already went

though that, which means it’s time to dive right in.

The trickiest part is learning how to incorporate all of those

small details in the more difficult movement pattern. The squat is

a combination of hip extension and knee extension, where the

RDL is more so just hip extension. So, overall, you have more to

remember during the squat. Because of this, people tend to lose

their mind at the bottom of a squat. I don’t mean that in a bad

way, but there is just too much for a beginner to think about.

SEE SQUAT STANCE AND SEMANTICS VIDEO EXPLANATION

The general for a set-up for the squat will have the feet

placed directly under, or just outside of, shoulder width. Any

further and you’re putting too much stress on the hips. (I

understand Powerlifters do this, but they also wear briefs.) The

feet will point out anywhere from 10-30 degrees.

Multiple resources will tell you multiple things, but to initiate

the squat you have to break at both the hips and knees. And

since we have enough things to think about, the first step is to first

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nTBZyZNwgk


squat to a box or chair that puts your legs nearly parallel to the

floor (a bit above or below doesn’t matter).

So break your knees and reach your butt back for the chair.

As soon as you sit on the chair, freeze. Don’t relax anything. Don’t

change your back angle. Just hit, sit, and pause. Your descent

should have been nice and cozy with your knee over your toe and

your weight distributed over your entire foot. The benefit of sitting

on the box is that you can think about these things while not being

under tension.

Once you’re sitting on the box and maintaining your

position, simply squeeze your glutes on and off. Contract for 10

seconds, and relax for 5 seconds. Repeat this for four cycles. This

teaches you how your glutes to work in a squat position. Again,

normally this can’t be done because the other muscles are firing

because of the tension. But with the chair, nothing is interfering

with your ability to single out the glutes.

After the four contraction cycles, you can rise from the box,

but before you do, remember your RDL training. On the RDL, we

used something called the fundamental tip toe position.

Essentially, it was a position on your tip toes with the glutes

squeezed to help your body think of the movement as a horizontal

propulsion.

Well, we can do the same thing on the squat. So when you

rise from the box, shoot your hips forward so that your glutes are

squeezed and you’re on your tip toes. Now, you don’t have to

come on your tip toes, and there’s a chance that doing so will

reposition your feet. So if you do decided to do it, you’re going to

have to reset your feet after every repetition. What I’ve found,


however, is that with the RDL training, most people can come to a

strong glute lockout without rising on their tip toes.

Squat patterning


Ideally, you already have the mobility to hit a free squat to a

respectable depth (with the crease of your hip below your thigh).

There’s a good chance that, during a free squat, we will get

deeper. Because there is no external resistance, your lower back

will round—which is perfectly fine when not under a load—

allowing you to sink a little bit further to the bottom position.

I understand, however, that not everyone will be ready to hit

the bottom depth, in which case a little help will be necessary.

Ironically enough, I’ve found that the deep squat position is one of

the best stretches for relieving knee pain once the initial problem

is fixed, so don’t be afraid to sit at the bottom of the squat for a

little while even if your knees experience a slight discomfort at

first. I’m reminded by a great Dan John passage from his blog:

It’s funny, because years ago a young man told me: “squats

hurt my knees.” I asked him to demonstrate his squat. He

did and I said: “Squats don’t hurt your knees; whatever you

are doing there hurts your knees.”

If you’re having trouble hitting the bottom, you can use this

progression. First, use a door handle to balance yourself. Move

around down at the bottom position. Stretch your ankles. Try to

get more comfortable down there.


Second, use a door frame. The frame allows you more

freedom because your back is in a more realistic position and

when you’re comfortable you can let go of the door frame and

hold the bottom position for a while. Once you get tired, need a

break, or lose balance, the door frames are right there for you to

grab onto.


Third, and last, simply go down into a free squat for as long

as you can.

But before you go on your mobility quest, make sure you

borrow what we just learned from the box squat section. The

basis behind programming the squat is to make sure that you can

use your glutes at the bottom. So when you’re hitting your mobility

work a ‘la the paragraph above, make sure you do the glute

pulses, preferably with the same 10 on 5 off recipe for one total

minute.

Squat patterning – IsoMetric squat

stretch

SEE ISOMERTIC SQUAT STRETCH WITH GLUTE PULSES VIDEO

EXPLANATION

Once you’ve solidified the mobility needed for the squat, it’s

time to start squatting. The most comfortable position for most will

be the same described in the box squat section—feet near

shoulder width, toes pointed out 10-30 degrees. To keep balance

it’s best to extend the arms straight out in front of the body.

Again, because there’s no external load, you’re not going to

be able to keep your back in perfect position, which is OK. Just

keep it as solid as you can as you squat down.

You should feel comfortable in this position, and be able to

hold it for one minute with the pulse strategy described. One thing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whoCV1_Fv44

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whoCV1_Fv44


that surprises me about people that have knee pain when

squatting is how foreign the position really is to them. If the

bottom of the squat is only a position you’re in when you squat

with a barbell on your back, your mentality is backwards. You

need to develop comfort, health, and mobility in this position

before you start loading it. If you can’t hold it for one minute, you

have some work ahead of you.

The toughest part about this, for most people, is that the

front of their shins aren’t strong enough to keep their balance.

After contracting for some time they fail, and people roll back onto

their heels and then their back. This is perhaps one of the best

reasons to hold the full squat position for a long period of time.

The anterior compartment of the shin is grossly undertrained.

Holding the bottom of the squat can help fix that.

Again, all of these small gains from holding a free squat for

one minute show up when you actually decide to load it. Instead

of your body fighting a deep squat, it embraces it. The anterior

compartment of your lower leg is strong enough to aggressively

approach the bottom position without teetering your balance.

Everything just works better and it makes the squat much more

joint friendly.

Squat patterning – Paused bottom

squats with glute pulses


SEE PAUSED FREE SQUATS WITH GLUTE PULSES VIDEO

EXPLANATION

So after you can hold the bottom position for one minute

alternating 10 second glute contractions with 5 seconds of rest,

you can begin doing repetitions. Assume your squat stance, and

squat all the way down. Pause at the bottom and hold a glute

contraction for five seconds. After the five seconds, use the glute

contraction to power your way up to the top of the squat. Again,

squeeze the glutes at lockout too, just like what was done on the

box squats.

Squat patterning – free squats

SEE FREE SQUAT VIDEO EXPLANATION

After some time of doing the paused version, adjust by using

the stretch reflex at the bottom and bouncing up. At this point,

your glutes should have gained enough control to be able to

power the movement without much conscious work. So here’s a

recap:

Box squats with a pause on the box, alternate ten seconds

of glute contractions with five seconds of rest while sitting on

the box.

Free squats stretch, alternating ten seconds of glute

contractions with five seconds of rest (at the bottom), holding

the bottom position for one minute.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwO-8gpsE9c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwO-8gpsE9c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=28dQbt0yGfc


Free squat with pause at the bottom, contracting the glutes

for five seconds and powering them to lockout.

Free squat with no pause, powering glutes to lockout.

Squat patterning – goblet squats

It comes as no surprise that after acquiring all of the

intangibles associated with holding a deep squat position and

learning how to free squat, we can somehow and someway add

resistance.

But to a lot of people’s dismay, it’s not in the form of a

barbell. And before you have the chance to complain, let me tell

you why.


When the barbell is introduced, be it during a back or front

squat, the mobility of the upper body suddenly comes into play.

The demands up the upper back and thoracic spine affect the

ability and positioning of the lower body, sometimes greatly

enough that people can have absolutely zero pain on goblet

squats, but once they back or front squat, their knees flare up

faster than the human flash could run.

For that reason, for the general fitness enthusiast looking to

just be “fit,” goblet squats are good stopping point. For everyone

else, the goblet squat is the transition to the barbell world.

Truthfully, the goblet squat isn’t about handling huge

weights. It’s about adding some resistance to the squat,

maintaining a solid back angle, and hitting a good depth all while

having the glute-centric mindset that I always tell you to have.

Unlike the previous versions, there’s no isometrics here.

Simply grab a kettlebell or dumbbell, hold it in the goblet position,

and get squatting. If you want to incorporate more of the thoracic

spine and lower back into the goblet squat, which will help you

when you move to the barbell, hold the bell further away from

your body.

SEE BOTH GOBLET SQUATS AND BARBELL SQUATS VIDEO

EXPLANATION

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emRZYaObf0s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emRZYaObf0s


Squat patterning – barbell squats

Not too long ago we were talking patterning, grinding, and

ballistics. If you were using your intelligence throughout the

previous squat progressions, you would realize that I started with

a low intensity endurance workload and gradually waned off of

that in favor of adding some load (goblet squats).

At this point, your lower body patterning is complete in that

your hinge and squat movement patterns have been solidified

with hip use. Your glutes should power your squats. Now it’s time

to strengthen—or go through the grind portion of—the squat.

I’ll be up front with you here. I hate this part. It’s where

people are eager and anxious to go their own way and ask the

head scratching questions. “So should I start doing front squats?

No, back squats? How about bulgarian split squats? Hack

squats? I got it—zercher squats, those look cool? Oh, and how

could I forget, should I use a high bar or low bar position? And

which toenail should I clip first?”


Look, I don’t necessarily have the answers to those

questions. A good friend of mine had terrible patellar tendonitis.

He made the executive decision to switch from back squats to

front squats. Guess what? His knees cleared up. On the other

hand, guys like Mark Rippetoe claim that the only time they have

ever been hurt squatting has been during front squats. Let me do

my best to tell you what I think without indirectly plagiarizing.

The theory of knee pain that I abide by is that the muscles of

the hip get taken over by the muscles of the thigh. What we know

about squatting is that, the more vertical a person’s torso is, the

more quadriceps activation there is, and therefore, the more knee

pain people have a potential to excite. These notable vertical

torso exercises are front squats and high bar back squats.

The more horizontal a person’s torso is, the more hamstring

activation there is in the exercise (and likely glutes). There’s also

generally a lessened range of motion about the knees, which

makes these types of exercises appear more “knee friendly.”

So we can compare the two extremes in something like a

front squat, where to torso is vertical, and a powerlifting squat,

where the torso is very horizontal. Since we live in an “either” “or”

society, most people are quick to say that you have to pick. It’s

one or the other. You can’t land in the middle.

But I do. I land in the middle. Smack dab in the middle. My

feelings are as such: by compromising and doing a squat that

involves both adequate contribution from the hips and knees,

you’re lessening the overall stress that a muscle can contribute to

the movement. Let me better explain what I mean.


Take a front squat for example. The vertical torso means the

quads are going to take a lot of the workload because the

hamstrings are shortened. Now, this also means that the hips

(glutes) have to make up for what the hamstrings aren’t

contributing. It would seem, especially with my emphasis on hips,

that this is a positive because the hips do more work.

The downside, however, is that the knee angle in a front

squat is much more acute because the hamstrings aren’t

providing tension. This, in addition to the quadriceps working

harder, makes the knees more prone to having some sort of a

pain during front squats.

Of course, if that were true then it would make sense to do a

powerlifting squat with little quadriceps activation and much more

hip activation. But that’s not the case either because I prefer the

squat to involve a contribution from as many muscles as possible

because it greatly lessens the overall structural hit.

In the front squat example, if hamstring tension is applied

then the amount of stress on the top of the thigh in the

quadriceps—all being handled by the patellar tendon—is

lessened because the hamstrings are doing more work.

The great part about this is that it’s all theoretical. I like

squats that involve the glutes, hamstrings, and quads just about

as equally as possible. This is the kind of squat that Mark

Rippetoe teaches (in the purest essence, because if you follow

my progression you probably won’t perform them exactly the

same). But if you play around with different squats and one works

better for you then go for it. Ultimately, the goal is to thrive without

pain.


A squat is a squat. As long as you strengthen the squat,

you’re better off than not strengthening the squat. So squat, and

don’t worry so much about the details as long as you’re healthy.

Back when I was with a Division I college football team, there was

an all-star wide receiver with a host of knee pain (I couldn’t help

him because my theory wasn’t formulated yet). The coach in

charge of him, the smart man that he was, didn’t care what type of

squat he used as long as it didn’t contribute to his pain. He

eventually settled with dumbbell loaded bulgarian split squats. If it

works, it works. And it worked. Oh, did I mention that this athlete

just caught a touchdown in the NFL the day before I’m writing this

exact sentence?

When you begin to load the squat, form is most essential.

Keep the repetitions low(er) while working on the form. What this

means is, just because you’re doing five reps doesn’t mean you’re

necessarily handling a weight you can only do for five reps. But

regardless of the exact number you pick, stick between 3 – 8 reps

per set with around a maximum of 25 per workout, including warm

ups.

I prefer to use pyramid training for those with knee pain

because the warm up is naturally built into the workout and a

great way to ensure that your knees are nice and warm before

handling heavy weights. If you made it to this point, there’s a good

chance you haven’t squatting with a barbell in quite some time.

So a break in workout may look like this: bar x 8, 65 x 5, 95 x 5,

115 x 5, 135 x 5. Again, the main focus of the first few workouts is

ensure that you’re maintaining the pattern that was grounded in

the earlier stages, which, as you know, is using the glute

throughout the entire squat.


Progression for squats is the exact same one used for the

RDL. Simply strive to add 5-10 pounds to the bar every workout.

Using the example above, the next workout may look like this: bar

x 8, 65 x 5, 95 x 5, 115 x 5, 145 x 5. Even though the warm up set

numbers didn’t change, the last work set changed which is what

really matters. As you get stronger, the warm up numbers will

change. For example, a workout may go like this: bar x 10, 135 x

5, 185 x 5, 225 x 5, 245 x 5, 285 x 5. If you’re doing a classical 5 x

5 scheme like the one I’m using for these examples, you want the

warm ups to do their job without interfering with the last set. I

should mention, however, that those with knee pain shouldn’t be

overly concerned about maximal squatting strength at this point,

and at NO POINT SHOULD YOU DO A NEAR MAXIMUM LIFT

WITHIN THE FIRST MONTH. What I mean by this is either a

failing, or near failing, lift. You shouldn’t grind at all. The reps—

again for the first month—should be smooth and leave you little

fatigue.

If you’re wondering how this can be done while still adding

weight every session, it’s all about starting easy and progressing

slowly. For instance, before I went through rehabilitation, I could

squat in the 400 range. But after, I started out conservatively and

worked up to a final set of 135. From there I added 10 pounds to

the bar every workout. At the end of the first month I was

squatting 205. At the end of the second month I was squatting

275. No reps were forced. No reps had a grind. No reps were

really that “difficult.” They were smooth. They had pop. Most

importantly, they kept the pattern. You just got done fixing your

knees and you want to go wreck them again by squatting too

heavy too soon? Go ahead. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.


contract hip flexorsPerhaps one of the most underrated cues for using the

glutes is to contract the hip flexors on the descent of the squat.

This doesn’t really mean you’re training or contracting them,

really. It’s just a cue that helps accustom some to the “feel” of the

movement. There’s something about conceptualizing the

contraction of the opposite musculature that makes for better use

of the targeted movers. This cue can also be used for all deadlift

variations, especially in the start position for a conventional

deadlift. For the RDL, this cue can be used when sliding the bar

down the legs. Since I mention this technique in the videos, I

suggest you check it out there.

bsq programRehabilitating the back squat isn’t as rigid as rehabilitating

the RDL simply because of all of the work that was done in the

first book. Nevertheless, I still advise spending at least one—if

not two—weeks hammering down each progression 5-7 times

per week. If you have struggled immensely with the squat in the

past, make it two weeks. If your knees are feeling good and

you’re itching to get at it, make it one. The program that follows is

the sample one week plan. But if you’re struggling, simply add

another week to each progression. Remember to stick to your

warm up too.


MONDAY TUESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

PAUSED

ISOMETRIC

BOX SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

ISOMETRIC

BOX SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

ISOMETRIC

BOX SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

ISOMETRIC

BOX SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

ISOMETRIC

BOX SQUATS

2x10

ISO SQUAT

STRETCH

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x 1 minute

ISO SQUAT

STRETCH

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x 1 minute

ISO SQUAT

STRETCH

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x 1 minute

ISO SQUAT

STRETCH

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x 1 minute

ISO SQUAT

STRETCH

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x 1 minute

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

FREE

SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

FREE

SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

FREE

SQUATS

2x10


GOBLET

SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

GOBLET

SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

FREE

SQUATS

2x10

GOBLET

SQUATS

2x10

FREE

SQUATS

2x10

GOBLET

SQUATS

2x10

FREE

SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

GOBLET

SQUATS

3x10

BARBELL

SQUAT

5x5

GOBLET

SQUATS

3x10

BARBELL

SQUAT

5x5

GOBLET

SQUATS

3x10

BARBELL

SQUAT

5x5

GOBLET

SQUATS

3x10

…

BARBELL

SQUAT

5x5

…


Chapter four – Jumps, leaps, and

boundsOnce you can both hinge and squat under external

resistance, your body should be ready to handle more explosive

work. You should have done so much work to this point that your

glutes are starting to work more unconsciously than consciously,

which is a good thing.

The trouble is that during explosive work, your mind really

doesn’t have the time to activate certain muscles. It does

whatever it has gotten used to doing. This is why pitchers and

other explosive athletes can seemingly “lose it” in less than one

week. One small tweak to their throwing mechanics causes the

body to override what it has previously learned in favorite of the

tweak. This alters their mechanics completely, and to fix it, they

go back and throw at a lesser speed, focusing on correct

mechanics. When that is familiar, they gradually increase the

speed of the pitch, making sure they maintain proper mechanics.

So knowing this, we need to work our way into explosive

movements using low(er) intensity movements first, just like we

did way back in the patterning stage. But before we do this, I

should mention that you should have dominance over your hips.

Before even embarking on this section, your glutes should “turn

on” more than they used to when doing explosive movements

simply because it’s what they have been taught to do. You should

know how to activate them by keeping your torso rigid and

contracting them at the right time. If you’ve progressed through


the RDL strengthening and beginning of the goblet squat, this

shouldn’t be a problem.

RDL HOPS

SEE RDL HOPS VIDEO EXPLANATION

I’m going to teach you how to jump. Sound silly, doesn’t it?

But your body has been reduced to such garbage that you really

need to relearn how to jump. Don’t feel bad. I had to too. You’ll be

better off for it. Trust me.

Remember that the most important thing in titrating into

explosive work is maintaining the pattern. So we’re going to

start with the trusted RDL position, as it’s pure hip extension. The

problem most people have when transitioning into explosive work

is failing to use their hips because during a vertical jump the

knees bend. It’s easy to use them on a RDL because they get

eliminated. But come to squats and jumps, it gets crazy.

To prevent this, we will start with RDL hops. They are

simple. Do a bodyweight RDL, snap your hips forward, using this

motion to propel off of the ground. You won’t travel far, and that’s

not the point. The point is to use the RDL motion to get lift.

After you land, do another one. Do about ten in a row so that

you’re glutes are feeling the pump and getting used to this hip

snap to propel you in the air. These are RDL hops.

ANKLE DEPTH JUMPS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGs13OBOnHI


See Ankle Depth Jumps VIDEO EXPLANATION

As you begin to learn how to use your hips for explosive

work, you also have to learn how to coordinate your forefoot with

your hips to create stiffness throughout the lower body. The

beginning exercise for this is something I call ankle depth jumps.

Do a RDL hop, but land aggressively on your forefoot.

Smack your feet into the ground. The purpose of this exercise is

to get the knee to track over the middle of the foot—over the

second toe. If, when you do this, your knees collapse in or out,

you need to make this an important part of your training.

The ability to keep your knee aligned has nothing to do with

the knee. In fact, don’t think about the knee that much. Think

about a stable and balanced foot contact (landing with a 60-40

weight distribution as discussed in the propulsion chapter of the

first book) and stiffening the glutes.

After you stick the landing, you should be on your forefoot

(heel about an inch from the ground) with your torso bent at a 45-

60 degree angle. Your glutes should be activated, so go ahead

and palpate them. But at this point you should be able to tell if

they are “on” or not. The idea is to create immediate stiffness

throughout the lower body upon foot contact.

RDL JUMPS AND LANDINGS

See RDL JUMPS AND LANDING VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EFvwkkdFDY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ol1zejS3TlY


After mastering the RDL hops and ankle depth jumps, the

next progression is to merge both exercises into a higher intensity

form of movement. Essentially, think of doing a maximal effort

RDL hop followed by an ankle depth jump landing. That is what

the RDL jump and landing is.

Maintain the RDL pattern, fire the hips, and elevate from the

ground as high as possible. At the takeoff, as with RDL hops, your

hips should snap forward and come to a position in which your

glutes are squeezed. Stick the landing as described in the above

section. Note the movement of the knee. It should be minimal and

stay aligned over the second toe.

VERTICAL JUMPS AND LANDINGSNow that you have experience jumping with your hips, it’s

time to do some traditional vertical jumps. I wish I had more to tell

you, but this is the part where the previous months of patterning

and grinding should pay off.

If you can conceptualize jumping and landing while using

your hips as you do in a RDL, your vertical jumps should come

naturally. Use your hips.

Land solid. Land stable. Keep the knees over the second toe

in the propulsive foot position. Keep your hips stiff. There’s not

much else to say.


UNILATERAL WORKUsually, people are good to go after the RDL jumps and

landings. They gladly graduate from the entirety of the patter-

grind-ballistic progression and they are free to go about life as if

nothing had ever happened. (As long as they do their part in

keeping up with the maintenance program below.)

If you’re so ambitious, however, you can re-run through the

above progressions unilaterally to solidify things.


CHAPTER FIVE - CONCLUSION (SAMPLE

PROGRAM)Thank you. For everything. If you have any questions, don’t

hesitate:

[email protected]

For the ease of things, I have written out a sample program

below that integrates everything that was taught in this chapter. I

hope it puts things in perspective. The numbers are arbitrary and

you won’t follow them. The progressions and weight hops,

however, will remain about standard. Those will little experience

and strength will be better off using five pound jumps almost

exclusively. So ignore the ten pound jumps and replace them with

five.

If you want to attempt “the fast track” spend only one week

working on each squat pattern.


SAMPLE GRIND – BALLISTIC PROGRESSIONMONDAY TUESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

RDL

45x10,

55x10,

65x10,

75x10,

85x10, 95x10

(fail)

PAUSED

ISOMETRIC

BOX SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

ISOMETRIC

BOX SQUATS

2x10

RDL

5 x 10 x 75

PAUSED

ISOMETRIC

BOX SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

ISOMETRIC

BOX SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

ISOMETRIC

BOX SQUATS

2x10

RDL

5 x 10 x 85

ISO SQUAT

STRETCH

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x 1 minute

ISO SQUAT

STRETCH

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x 1 minute

RDL

5 x 10 x 95

ISO SQUAT

STRETCH

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x 1 minute

ISO SQUAT

STRETCH

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x 1 minute

ISO SQUAT

STRETCH

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x 1 minute


RDL

5 x 10 x 105

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

RDL

5 x 10 x 115

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

RDL

5 x 10 x 125

FREE

SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

RDL

5 x 10 x 135

FREE

SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

FREE

SQUATS

2x10

RDL

5 x 10 x 145

GOBLET

SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

RDL

5 x 10 x 155

(fail)

GOBLET

SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

FREE

SQUATS

2x10


RDL

5 x 10 x 125

(deload)

GOBLET

SQUATS

2x10

RDL HOPS

5x10

FREE

SQUATS

2x10

RDL

5 x 5 x 155

GOBLET

SQUATS

2x10

RDL HOPS

5x10

FREE

SQUATS

2x10

PAUSED

FREE

SQUATS

WITH GLUTE

PULSES

2x10

RDL

5 x 10 x 130

GOBLET

SQUATS

3x10

RDL HOPS

5x10

RDL

5 x 5 x 165

BARBELL

SQUAT

5x5

RDL HOPS

5x10

RDL

5 x 10 x 135

GOBLET

SQUATS

3x10

ANKLE

DEPTH

RDL

5 x 5 x 175

BARBELL

SQUAT

5x5

ANKLE

DEPTH


JUMPS

5x5

JUMPS

5x5

RDL

5 x 10 x 140

GOBLET

SQUATS

3x10

ANKLE

DEPTH

JUMPS

5x5

RDL

5 x 5 x 185

(previous

week felt

heavy)

BARBELL

SQUAT

5x5

ANKLE

DEPTH

JUMPS

5x5

RDL

5 x 10 x

145…

GOBLET

SQUATS

3x10

RDL JUMPS

8x3

…

RDL

5 x 5 x 190...

BARBELL

SQUAT

5x5

RDL JUMPS

8x3

…


At some point, you’ll feel confident doing squat variations, in

which instance you can ditch the goblet squat. But I suggest

picking a “money” weighted squat variation that you can master

and always come back to with great glute control.

And after you graduate from everything, here’s how to not lose

everything you worked so hard for. It boils right back down to the

warm up and cool down procedure created from the get-go.

MAINTAINENCE WORK TO BE DONE UNTIL

DEATH DO US PART

(next page)


WARM UP / COOL DOWN

DAY A DAY B





BOX HIP FLEXOR STRETCH x 2

MINUTES TOTAL (COOL DOWN)

CALF-SOLEUS STRETCH x 2 MINUTES

TOTAL (COOL DOWN)

DAILY




CHAPTER SIX – PAY IT FORWARDI’m a big believer in spreading information as easy as

possible. So, if you’re a believer in An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic

Knee Pain, I’m going to give you a chance to play an important

role in the spread of quality information.

If you know someone, somewhere that could use this eBook,

you can recommend them to buy it at a discounted price of $17. If

your friend appreciates the sweet deal and buys it, I’ll give you

$10. As a disclaimer, both you and your friend need to have

PayPal.

Here’s what you need to do:

1) Send them the following e-mail:

Hey,

I just finished reading An Athlete’s Guide to Chronic Knee Pain,

and I found it extremely informative. There’s the cool section at

the bottom of the book that lets me recommend it to someone

else at a discounted price of $17 (originally $33). I knew you had

some knee troubles and thought this could be of some use. So if

you’re interested, hang in there. The author of the book (Anthony

Mychal – [email protected]) should be contacting you

soon about your decision.

(Note: If you want to stray from this copy, feel free to razzle

and dazzle.)

http://anthonymychal.com/kneepain


2) CC me when you send the e-mail above. My address is

[email protected]

3) That’s it. If the person you recommend goes ahead and buys it,

you get $10 dropped into your PayPal account.

SPREAD THE

KNOWLEDGE BOMBS

<3

mailto:[email protected]

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Athlete_s Guide to Knee Pain