WODdoc Episode 66 Project365: Mobilizing The Suprapatellar Pouch For Better Knee Flexion

September 6, 2014 11:48 pm

The bottom position… nope get your heads out of the gutter… we’re talking back squat, front squat, OHS, snatch (again, heads out of the gutter), and clean, all need mobility at 3 locations (hips, knees, and ankles).

I think we can all agree that to reach full depth, full knee flexion is a large player. It’s funny how many people come up to me and ask one of two questions. 1) How come my knees hurt after I squat? 2) Why do I loose my lifts at the bottom? Lets answer the first… if I can’t get my calf to my hamstring or my knee to my butt, why on earth do I think it would feel good to force that position during dynamic load…..? Now the second question… if we have reduced knee flexion, thats going to make our ass sit higher. The normal compensation for this is to excessively flex at the hip which changes our torso angle (no no), shifts our weight forward (no no), places more stress on the shoulders (no no) and we dump the weight in front.

The supra patellar pouch is an area above the knee cap. It houses a bursa (little cushiony sack) and the patellar tendon runs over top of it. With repetitive strain the whole area can get gunked up, fibrotic, and lose it’s elasticity. Check out today’s mobilization to free it up and regain some of that knee flexion back.

Know Your Anatomy: