Coaches Knee strengthening exercise

[gymisforeveryone]

Hi!

I have several gymnasts who have had knee injuries during the year. I found one video from youtube which shows a knee strengthening exercise. I tried this by myself and after 5 reps I felt weird pressure feeling (but not pain) in my right knee which has been hurting on and off sometimes when I coach long hours.

The coach in the video seems to know what he is talking about and he says the gymnasts in the video has suffered from a knee injury. But still I would like to hear from you that this exercise is safe even if it causes pretty weird feelings in the knee? Would you use it with your athletes? Or do you have some other ideas?

The video:

Sissy Squats for Knee Strength - George Hery - YouTube

 

[BlairBob]

George recommend Sissy squats, eh? You rarely see Sissy squats used anymore but I've played with them. Btw, I love George, very cool guy that I haven't seen in awhile at Congress or meets.

Basically he's working on knee extension right there. Sissy squats also require a fair amount of knee flexibility/mobility.

So basically you could work Leg press, Box step-ups, Lunges, Front/Back Squats, Single Leg Squats ( with the free leg forward so it doesn't hit the ground or hanging if you are on a box/beam ) as well to focus on knee extension and the Vastus Medialis

 

[gymisforeveryone]

So you wouldn't recommend them?

We already do all the other stuff you mentioned. I hope it's enough.

 

[BlairBob]

Try and see if they will help, especially if you are doing all the other stuff. I think pretty highly of George.

 

[ACoach78]

I would not do them. I would concentrate on strengthening the glutes and hamstrings and making sure that the athletes have adequate hip and ankle mobility and core stability.

The glutes are not only powerful hip extensors, but they are also important hip external rotators. The significance of this is that the glutes help to control the femoral rotation that occurs in a landing when the hips are bending. The hamstrings and the core are important as it pertains to maintaining a more stable pelvis. The pelvis is important because females (and especially gymnasts) tend to fall into a pattern of more forward (anterior) pelvic tilt. This will cause more internal rotation at the femur, tibia, and pronation at the foot. In addition, an anteriorly tilted pelvis will put the glutes in a less-than-optimal position to function and decrease their ability to generate force and control forces across the hip. Hence, they will be compromised.

All of these things can lead to situations that may increase the risk of an acute knee injury or just chronic knee pain. Now, this is just scratching the surface as there are even more "layers" of things related to what I've written above, but that's for a discussion on another day. The bottom line is to get your athletes mobile at their hips (not lumbar spine) & ankles, get better pelvic control, better core stability, and focus on strengthening the glutes/hamstrings. You won't prevent knee injuries/knee pain, but you'll definitely be taking the right steps towards reducing its incidence.

These sissy squats make no sense at all. Unless you're a bodybuilder aiming for a little extra quad development, these are not going to help you protect your knees. I'll go on the record and say that I'm sure this guy is a great trampoline coach, but he needs to better educate himself before presenting this erroneous information.

Good luck!

 

[Nico]

Hi gymisforeveryone,

do you know the cause of all these knee injuries?
It is possible that an exercise, methode of training, technique, ... is causing all these injuries.
I think it is interesting to look for this cause to prevent futur knee injuries if you have that much of them.