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Hello everyone, First off: I realize that all I can get from Internet advice is an educated guess on the issue, but that is my only option as I have pretty much no access to medical professionals of any kind. —— A few weeks ago I started practicing the half lotus (after a year of working with Kit's material including the lotus video and many others) since things were coming along especially in the hips. From the start there was light pain in the knee cap area during the pose. I figured it wasn't a big concern since it was not on the meniscus side, so I started trying it for a few minutes at time. One morning, soon after I held it for about 15 minutes on each side, and after coming out I noticed that my knees had become quite sore. The pain subsided quickly after getting up, but it would come back whenever I tried to bend the knees a lot, including in the usual burmese pose I always used to do with no issues. It has gotten slightly better, but it's been about 3 weeks. The pain is now limited to the left leg only, which has always been my tightest, especially since I've always sat right-first in Burmese pose. Any strong bending at the knees where hip abduction is involved seems to be a problem (Cobbler's Pose, Janu Sirsasana Burmese Pose), and deep squats too. Apart from this there is no pain. Pigeon Pose is fine. Interestingly, I can do the lying quad stretch (or hero pose) where the knee is bent almost maximally without discomfort. Here of course there is no external rotation nor abduction at the hip. Also, my cossack squat on the left leg has always been more unstable, and less deep than on the right, sometimes with a little bit of pain too. Right now I wouldn't even try a cossack. So I was just wondering if all this rings any bells to anyone here. My guess so far had been tightness in the quads, but the seemingly crucial role of the hip confuses me. Should I continue to stretch the quads (or something else) or rather refrain from it? Other things that might aid both recovery and prevention? Any insights appreciated.

Every forum dedicated to the pursuit of human health and performance is rife with stories of musculoskeletal injury. This one is no different. Tendinopathies seem to be particular prevalent, which would come as no surprise to anyone with more than a passing interest in the field. The consensus of opinion here, with which I wholeheartedly agree, is that active rehabilitation methods are most efficacious; and indeed necessary for optimal recovery of form and function. The following is an article that gives an overview of some recent research into the use of Vitamin-C enriched gelatin in conjunction with targeted loading, to accelerate the rehabilitation process: http://www.mysportscience.com/single-post/2017/03/15/Using-gelatin-to-improve-performance-prevent-injury-and-accelerate-return-to-play A link to the research paper on which it is based, is provided at the end of the article. The timing and specificity of the targeted loading vary, depending on the injury (or focus where performance enhancement is the goal) and the sport for which the person is training. But I've been using the following to assist with the rehab of a mild Achilles tendinopathy (medial gastroc insertion): "To increase collagen synthesis, we had the subjects jump rope for 6 minutes, one hour after taking the supplements" My sport is trail running, so jump rope is a particularly useful tool. Obviously if you are experiencing elbow tendinitis, you will have to find an alternative rehab exercise. This can be repeated as often as you are able, but with at least 6hrs rest in between efforts. I'm sticking with once per day, because... life.

Hello everyone I've suffered a hamstring injury about 1 year ago doing a front split. After that, it was about 9 months of pain and restricted movement.. About three/four months ago, the injury started to get better as I started to strengthen the muscle group (mostly with hamstring curls and hip thrusts). It got better to a point where I would not feel acute pain sitting for long periods (what used to happen on the first 9 months) or doing any kind of leg extension.. But even though it got better, in some movements i still feel like there is a lock on my hamstring, a feeling of tightness that stops me from doing some exercises.. On the pictures, as you can see, I perform two different hamstring stretches: The single leg pike and the head to toe. On the single leg pike, I can barely touch the floor, as in the head to toe, I can progress much better (with some pain still).. It's worth to mention that I don't feel pain anymore doing the splits, but I do feel a little bit of a lock stopping me from touching the floor on it. Appreciate any help.

Nice meeting you all, this is Czon from Hong Kong and this will be my first post! I have this pain at the back of my leg close to my hip for about 5 months now, the sensation is like something tearing apart inside, I can pinpoint the position of the sensation. Now I cannot get to front split, pike and pancake due to the pain. Pain also appears when i bend over and lift my leg up (less when the leg is bent) I have been trying with different stretches, and needle work, but so far without much success, and the condition fluctuates. I dug into some older posts and I will add to my routine: "sit on the floor, and get that lacrosse ball in the right spot, and then do the one-leg bent-leg hamstring stretch (hold the working leg's foot; pull body onto thigh, slowly straighten leg; other leg folded out to the side). As soon as you even begin to stress that area (at the front of the ischial tuberosities, I am guessing) the ball will target exactly the fascia that's needed. As soon as you feel that, stop, and simply stay there. You can add small movements too, if you want (will distract you from the pain AND work the fascia)." , and report back on my progress. This bothers me quite a bit and my judgement on what to do, how much i should do maybe clouded by my eagerness to get better soon. If there is any comment, suggestions or recommendations please feel free to let me know!

An interesting article for people working with gymnasts, and related activities like contortion: https://hybridperspective.wordpress.com/2013/10/03/bridge-mobility-why-your-gymnasts-may-be-struggling-possible-injury-prevention-for-the-lower-back/

Many of you will have seen (and maybe marvelled at) videos of Kino from Kino Yoga. Here's an interesting article, for those interested in overworking themselves, commercialisation, narcissism, and a few other things. https://yogainternational.com/article/view/kinos-hip-reflections-on-extreme-practice-and-injury-in-asana (hope you can see it; you may have to set up a - free - account). Jim.

Hi All, I have a serious problem with Chondramalacia under my left knee cap diagnosed 2 years ago by MRI. I cannot walk up or down stairs, squat, cycle, swim, or even get in and out of the car without noticable pain lasting several minutes. If I persist, the pain worsens. Therefore, I have a much more sedentary lifestyle than I would like. I cannot wrestle or play with my son normally, or do any of the sports I used to do. Historically, the problem might have started with a knee injury suffered when a big guy fell on top of me while practicing a takedown drill in 2008. My left leg was bent and to the side, there was a loud POP, and I could not extend (or maybe it was bend, I can't remember) for about a month. Eventually, knee seemed to return to normal. By late 2010, I noticed about 5 days of pain after skipping rope for maybe 15 minutes. There were quad tears on rectus femoris October-December 2011, dx of left hip OA february 2011, and a "hot" kneecap by summer 2011. Doing PT for the left hip in October-November 2011 showed up more pain in the left knee, using a warm up bicycle or bridging, for example. Pain was intermittent for the next year or two. Fortunately, by about March 2013, the left knee chondramalacia became 100% pain free doing regular activities! Calve raises; leg curls; double leg squats with ball behind the back helped. But following Kit's advice with anti-pronation calf raises PLUS Single Leg Squats really sealed the deal. But most unfortunately, I followed my sports doctors advice to have 3 Synvisc injections over April-May, in order to get me on an exercise bike. Problem was that I still could not really swim or bike or do cardio exercise at that time. My sports doc, the famous Dr. Galea, did NOT tell me until the injections had started that I would have to lay off ALL lower body strength exercises for a full 6 weeks after the 3rd Synvisc injection! I never was able to regain the previous results of the SLS's and anti-pronation exercises. About one month after the injections, by June 2013, I could not even go up and down stairs without a lot of pain, and presumably further damage, under the knee cap. Today, 14 months after the Synvisc, I still have to go down stairs typically on my buttox or take an elevators. If I MUST squat, I go up and down on my right leg, which of course presents new problems. I just wish someone could give me some advice, maybe help me design an exercise program for this. Of course I've seen therapists, spending a couple thousand dollars, but nothing has helped. I am certainly not about to mix therapies or follow more than one set of recommendations but I AM open to the Stretch Therapy approach exclusively, if it can help at this stage. Positively, using a pointy roller does sometimes loosen up all the tissues above the left knee and provide significant relief. At times, no doubt tightness among these tissues causes some of the problem with the left knee pain. I do a slew of exercises for my lower body that do not cause harm and seem to help a bit. Glute max, Glue med, Electro Stim on VMO, I do. If it were possible to get a direct assessment in Toronto from Kit, I would do it. Absent that, can anyone provide some sage advice? G