On Your Knees

Yoga can either strengthen your knees or blow them out. It all depends on your alignment.

By Julie Gudmestad

These simple exercises also help to strengthen the quadriceps muscles on the front of the thigh. Quadriceps strength is very important in supporting the knee joint, including the kneecap, which is actually embedded in the quadriceps tendon. A strong quadriceps helps to stabilize the femur and shin bone in proper alignment, and the inner quad is especially important in stabilizing a fully extended, straight knee.

Many yoga students have difficulty engaging or contracting the quadriceps in straight-leg standing poses, especially Trikonasana. To learn how to contract the quadriceps in a straight-knee position, try sitting on the floor with both legs stretched out in front of you. Find your kneecap with your fingers; then slide one finger down the kneecap to the bottom edge, toward the shin bone. As you slide the finger just over the edge of the kneecap, you will be on the quadriceps tendon, which attaches the muscle to the top of the shin bone.

With just a mild attempt to straighten the knee or lift the foot off the floor, you can feel the tendon become firm under your finger. Continuing to contract the quad, try to move the kneecap around with your fingers: The contracting quad will prevent the kneecap from moving. If you then consciously relax the quad, you can move the kneecap around. Now come back to standing and move into Trikonasana to the right. Press out through the right foot and draw up with your quadriceps. Put your right fingers on the kneecap and try to move it. If it stays still, your quadriceps are contracting as they should, helping to stabilize the knee.

Take the Padmasana Challenge

Seated poses may also put strain on the knee. In Virasana (Hero Pose), if your toes angle out to the sides instead of pointing straight back, you're twisting and straining your knees. The foot and lower leg are rotating out while the femur is, relatively speaking, rotating in. While Virasana does require the femur to rotate in slightly and while the knee can safely allow some twist in a bent, nonweightbearing position, Virasana with the feet turning out is an excessive twist which will damage the knee ligaments.

To set up good Virasana alignment, start on your hands and knees. Make sure the shin bones point straight back and are parallel to each other and the little toe is just as close to the floor as the big toe. Sometimes it helps to dig the tops of the toes into the floor. Then sit back between the heels. If the sitting bones won't touch the floor, or if you feel any discomfort in your knees or ankles, sit on a support (a book, a folded blanket, or a block).

Cross-legged sitting poses such as Padmasana (Lotus Pose) can also be problematic for the knees. To sit well in Padmasana, the femurs must be able to deeply externally rotate within the hip sockets. When this rotation is limited, the knees will stick up in the air. If you then attempt to place the foot on top of the opposite thigh, the outer knee ligaments will be stretched and the inner knee surfaces compressed, causing pain, and if the pose is forced, injury.

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