The problem is the knee joint is more susceptible to injury when it is in this valgus position. In fact, many knee injuries are highly associated with a knee valgus position including the infamous runner's knee (that knee dull pain behind or around the knee cap, aggravated by activities such as squatting or running).

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So what causes our knees to knock when we squat and run?

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Well there can be a whole range of factors, but for the sake of keeping this physio tip concise enough, let's focus on the most common one. Losing neutral alignment is often caused by lack of activation in the muscles responsible for maintaining this alignment; and these are mainly located around your hip joint, more specifically the glutes. Their role is to turn your hip outwards and by doing so keep your knee in the right alignement.

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A simple tip often used to maintain good alignment at the knee is to make sure your knees are pointing over your toes (when looking down). What this does essentially is prompt you to engage your glutes. If you see your knees going towards the midline, your glutes are likely not engaging enough. This can also happens at the end of a session when glutes are getting too tired and start "letting go".

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A simple exercise to start working on to activate glutes properly and maintain a good alignment at the knee is miniband squats. The resistance band around your knees will pull your knees inwards, so you'll have to resist by engaging your glutes more to keep them tracking over your toes. You'll feel the burn in your glutes after just a few reps! That's the sort of glutes activation you need. Practice it over a few days and see if you can use that contraction in Ruth's next class!

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Any pain during your exercise is worth investigating. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns, our physios are here to answer them!