KNEE STRENGTH AND STABILITY

Knee injuries are massively obnoxious.  They can knock you on your butt, literally and figuratively, and they can nag you for ages.  I've put together a couple of exercises designed to help increase the strength and stability of the muscles surrounding the knee.  The idea is that by strengthening the muscles and stability surrounding the knee, you should be able to help prevent some of the extra wear and tear working out can put on the knee.  If you have a history of injuries, or you have general aches and pains, these exercises can help.  Obviously, this won't help if you get tackled to the ground by a linebacker, and if you have knee issues that have been holding you back from picking up that parkour hobby, these tips aren't gonna turn that dream into a reality for you, sorry. But you should be able to help prevent some chronic injuries, and give your knees more endurance. 

Keep in mind, these exercises are meant as preventative measures and are not rehabilitation for an injury that already exists.

I had to

When you are trying to increase the strength and stability of the knee, the major muscles in play are the quadriceps and hamstrings, because those muscles have tendons that cross the knee joint (one of the calf muscles also crosses the knee joint, but they're a lot smaller and don't play a very big role).  The vastus medialis oblique (VMO) is one of the quadriceps muscles and it plays a very large role in stabilizing the knee it is also relatively small compared to the other muscles in the leg and can be harder to strengthen and keep strong.

1. Step Downs: For this exercise, the most important key is to start small.  I recommend starting with a step about two to three inches tall (I like the riser for step class at the gym, but it can be anything).  Stand on top of the step with one foot planted firmly.  You need to keep that foot planted the whole time, don't move it for anything, and try to keep your heel down. Pretend it's glued to the step.  Using only the "glued" leg, lower yourself until you touch your opposite heel to the ground.  Be careful that your "glued" knee doesn't move to the left or right as you lower yourself, just straight up and down.  After you touch your heel to the ground, return to the standing position and repeat.  This exercise is deceptively difficult, so take your time.  You may not even be aware of how much this is working your legs mechanically, often you don't feel it in your muscles, so I don't recommend doing them everyday.  When you feel comfortable, and are able to control the step down for 3 sets of 15, it is time to move up to a taller step.

Sa-weet outfit

2. Step Ups: This is another single leg exercise (and also the movie that taught me my awesome dance moves).  I recommend starting with a step about 6 inches tall.  Place only one foot firmly on the middle of the step in front of you.  Before you step up, try to transfer all of your weight onto the foot on the step, then push up with that foot so you are standing with one leg on the step.  Return to the starting position and do it again.  Again, your knee shouldn't move to the left or right.

3. Backwards Walking: AKA Moonwalking. Okay, it's not exactly moonwalking, but... kinda. EKG studies (meaning they put little pads on the muscles or stuck probes in the muscles) have shown that walking backwards can help to activate the VMO.  Seems weird, but the VMO is most activated in the last few degrees of knee extension (straightening your leg), so I guess it makes sense.  When you walk backwards, you want to sort of "roll" your feet from toe to heel, so that before you place the second foot down, all of your weight is on your heel and your leg is completely straight. Studies are inconclusive as to whether or not listening to Michael Jackson affects results, but it can't hurt. People always told me, be careful what you do. Annie knows. Are you okay, Annie? 

4. Single Leg Extensions and Curls on Machines: This one is pretty simple because the machine will stabilize your body.  Machines at the gym are useful for isolating muscles groups because they hold your body steady.  Find the leg curl and leg extension machine, but instead of using both legs at once, use only one.  This will allow you to isolate the major muscles around the knee (the quads on the extensions, and the hamstrings on the curl) and will force you to strengthen each side individually.  That way, if you have weakness or instability on one side, you can overcome it.  Lots of overuse injuries are caused by imbalances so let's fix that.  

How excited does this girl look to exercise?

So freaking excited

TIP: if you have any current knee injuries like a meniscal tear or ACL sprain, I would not do these, since the way machines move could potentially put extra stress on healing tissue (plus, I mean, you really should be in therapy anyway. Go see a doctor).

5. Toe-in Lunges:  In a recent post, I listed a ton of exercises that you can do at home. One of those exercises was lunges.  I stand by what I said - they are awesome in general, but you can also change up the lunges specifically to emphasize the VMO by turning your toe inward.  Make sure you don't let your knee cave in when you turn your toes in, though.  After you do a couple, you should feel the muscles on your inner burning more than a normal lunge.

TIP: I really shouldn't have to say this, but I will.  If regular lunges hurt your knees, don't do these ones either

6. Hamstring Curls on a Stability Ball: These are a little difficult to do the first couple of times, but they are worth learning to do well. These should primarily work the hamstrings, but they have the added bonus of working the core, glutes, and calves.  Lay on your back and place your calves on the stability ball.  Next, push down into the ball and raise your hips so that your body is in a straight line. Your weight should be resting on your shoulders, and on your calves, which are on the ball.  Then use your heels to dig into the ball and roll it towards your butt. Roll it back out again, until your legs are back to straight and you're in the position you were before. It's more difficult than it sounds, because the ball is round (Captain Obvious over here) so you'll really have to work on your stability or you'll just roll sideways and fall off the ball.

7. Lower Body Balance Exercises: I know what you're thinking: this is super vague. And you're right. It is.  That's because the category of lower body balance exercises is HUGE.  It includes everything from just standing with your eyes closed, to single leg jumping exercises, to balance beam cartwheels.  The progression of balance exercises also depends on where you start.  Balance exercises will help improve stability (duh), but this category is too big to describe here and it deserves its very own post (hint, hint: look forward to future posts).  

If you would like further explanation of anything I mentioned in this post, just ask in the comments section.


**NOTE: Before beginning any exercise program you should consult your doctor.  If you experience pain at any time while exercising, you should stop immediately and seek medical attention.**

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

So the most recent book I've read is the second Harry Potter novel, The Chamber of Secrets.  I've always thought of the second book as the worst of all the Harry Potter books, and I think a lot of people agree with me. Now, first of all, considering that even as the worst book in the series, I still love it - well, it says something for the series as a whole.  Re-reading it, though, made me really reconsider how I felt about it, and I've come to the conclusion that The Chamber of Secrets is actually very underrated.  

Warning! CONTAINS SPOILERS!  Go read the series right now, I must spread the love of Harry Potter to everyone!

In case you want a specific synopsis here it is:

One thing that I think is overlooked, that makes me really love the second book, is that it takes a look into discrimination.  In today's culture, there are so many people that have to deal with racism and sexism, or just general discrimination on a regular basis.  I love Rowling for addressing that issue in her novels.  She uses the wizard world to take a stand against discrimination and teach children about acceptance.  Of course, saying "mudblood" won't offend the reader the same way saying the "N" word would, but when you think about the reaction from the other characters to the use of the word (someone screams out loud, the Weasley twins try to fight Malfoy, and Ron tries to curse him), it's clear that mudblood is just as derogatory in that world as racist and sexist slurs are in our world.  This isn't the first time in the series that we see a divide caused by those who discriminate against muggle born wizards (we see it when we first meet Malfoy in book one), but this is the first time we see the discrimination in the wizarding world to such an extreme.  I mean, when you look at the book as a whole, it is about a guy, Salazar Slytherin, who developed a hatred against part of the wizarding world (muggle borns) and took his hatred to such an extreme level that he quit his job and hatched a snake monster inside a school with the intent to KILL young children just because of who their parents were.  I wish I could say it's crazy to think that discrimination has ever led to the death of children, but this is actually a real life problem. So, shout out to you, Rowling, for addressing the issue and helping to teach young children who read your books that discrimination is not okay.

The Chamber of Secrets is also important plot-wise, because it sets up a lot of things that happen later in the story line.  It sets up Hermione's fight for equality and end of discrimination toward house elves, an issue that plays into every future book to larger and larger degrees.  It also presents to us a background for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.  Plus, it gives us the first horcrux we will see in the story, although we don't know the full significance at the time.  Tom Riddle's journal and the memory stored in it provided a very important clue to Dumbledore, leading him in later volumes to finally solve the mystery of how to take down the dark lord. BOOM! Second novel is starting to seem worth the read, isn't it?  

But once again, I have to point out how just... dumb wizards can be.  I mean, how did no one figure out the Chamber of Secrets?  There is a sink just chillin' in the school that has never worked as long as anyone can remember - why did no one try to fix it?  I mean, Filch can't do magic, but how long has Hogwarts been around and no one has tried to fix this sink.  Harry and Ron found the little snake symbol in like 3 minutes. Let's be honest - they're not the sharpest tools in the shed, and yet here they are, detectives of the century. I find it hard to believe that no one else found the snake symbol earlier while trying to fix the sink.  But, let's say for the sake of argument, they didn't find the snake and just were like, BLAH, I'm a wizard, and this sink that doesn't work is full of weird wizard nonsense, and it just started doing magic on it's own (or something like that).  Did no one else put together that the girl who died was in a bathroom?  No one in the 50 years since the Chamber opened thought to ask her about it?  Nope?  Didn't seem like a good idea to try to get some proof before you expelled a student by talking to the ghost?  Okay, that's cool, wizards.  But now the chamber is reopened and no one can figure out what type of monster is inside it?  Come on, it's the monster associate with Slytherin.  You know, the house that has a snake as a symbol? And the original Slytherin was the most famous Parselmouth ever.  How did no one think that the monster might just be a giant snake?  Hermione is smart and everything but she can't be the only smart wizard ever.

Here are the characters from the second book that I think don't get enough credit for the awesome things they do:

The dwarf that sits on Harry and sings him a valentine: So funny.  Can we talk about how ballsy Ginny is for sending Harry a singing Valentine?  I never would've been able to do that. But that dwarf, he was pretty determined to get Harry this Valentine, and I appreciate him for his dedication to his job.

The pixies in Professor Lockhart's class: They make me laugh. Yup, that's pretty much the only reason.

Madame Pomfrey: She is awesome.  She re-grows all the bones in one of Harry's arms. Then she helps Hermione get her furry face changed back, without getting her expelled for making a polyjuice potion.  Then she helps fix everyone who is Petrified. I don't know when this woman sleeps.

she is not about to take any of your shit

Fred and George Weasley: This time the shout out to the twins is for their reaction when the school thinks Harry is the Heir of Slytherin.  They show everyone where their support is by... making jokes about the situation (pretty much how they get through everything).

Fawkes the Phoenix: Literally saves the whole fucking day.  Harry would have died from the poison without him, and then if Harry died, Ginny would have died cause of the whole sucking her soul thing.  Not to mention Fawkes carries the 4 of them back out of the Chamber of Secrets.  They didn't really plan an exit strategy, did they?

so majestic 

Nearly Headless Nick: He gets Harry out of Filch's office without detention, he introduces the reader to some ghost culture with the Death Day party, and he also saves Justin's life by taking the bulk of the basilisk's stare.  All in all, Nearly Headless Nick, you are an unsung hero in the second novel.

Mr. Weasley: This shout out is specifically for his reaction to the twins flying the car.  It is awesome.