Do You Have Knee Pain During a Lunge?
Knee pain often occurs as a result of imbalances in the foot and/or hips. If the foot over pronates it can cause the knee to buckle inward. Likewise, if there is poor hip stability (mainly in the lateral gluts) you can also have caving in of the knee.
A lot of people who do a lunge are often in search for stronger legs but people often fail to correct their alignment. To ensure that the knee does not cave in you want to focus on a few things.
- The knee should be centered directly over the ankle if possible. Try to also have your hip in good alignment with the knee or close to it (this wont be perfect since the pelvis tends to be wider, especially in women. This is known as the Q-angle).
- Focus on gripping the ground and making sure you have a strong contact with the floor. Having a strong foot on the floor will give you a solid foundation from the ground up. I can’t stress enough how overlooked and important this is!
- If you have weak lateral hip muscles the knee will cave in so make sure you are also firing the gluts. If you need, grab a resistance band and place it around the knee. Attach it to a door or post and that resistance will force you to put your knee in the right spot.
- Go slow at first. Correcting the mechanics can take a while but it will be worth it when you no longer having dysfunctional mechanics or knee pain.
It may seem a bit too easy but when your mechanics are off you will slowly grind away at the meniscus and/or do damage the MCL. Over time this can contribute to knee pain, arthritis, and a host of other problems along the kinetic chain.