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Pain in knee when working on front splits
Hey everyone
I just wanted to put a question out there and see if anyone has expereinced anything similar or if anyone has any advice on what the problem could be….
When working on my front splits especially on my left side, so my left leg is out in front I am experiencing pain in my knee, namely the inside of my left knee, I usually cant hold it for too long due to the pain and it is not a good strertch pain , its a something wrong pain. I am thinking it could be my alignment/poor form when doing this.
I am aware of trying to keep my hips square, I will ask my studio teacher next time I am there , just wanted to ask all my veeners out there on your thoughts.
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4 Replies
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Pain in the knee when stretching could be a few of things. It's worth talking to a dr if it doesn't stop. If it's along the inside of the knee it's probably tightness in the Semimembranosus muscle.
First make sure you're starting off with a proper warm up, being super warm before stretching is good. Try doing some more gentle stretches first before moving on to splits training. Be sure you're not hyper extending the knee (locking the knee). Try foam rolling before stretching. Your calf muscles could be really tight or it could be your hamstrings. Check to see if your rotating the knee in or out, keeping it facing up may help. Doing a split without the hips squared shouldn't cause pain, it's ok to do splits with open hips, it just give you a different stretch.
If you have the lessons try this foam roller exercise before you work on your splits, https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/4dd3c2db-ce9c-4e41-ad8c-27730ac37250
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Hi there! I just want to chime in and echo the importance of a warmup before stretching. I have struggled with my splits too. I have very flexible hips, but my hamstrings are holding me back. It's probably the same muscle Veena described. I experience the same pain on the inside of the knee unless I am very warmed up.
I take vinyasa yoga classes in addition to pole. A 90 minute vinyasa class is essentially like an hour of strength based warmup, with 30 mins of deep stretching at the end. I can stretch so much further at the end of a yoga class than I can at the start. I'm not saying you need to spend an hour on warming up, but definitely do your flexibility training at the end of a workout when you are warm and relaxed. Stretching while cold hurts and doesn't really lead to much improvement.
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I've had that pain. I started doing like 30 minutes of dancing before flex training to make sure I'm very warmed up because I hate jogging. Throughout the dance warm up I pause to foam roll and pay some focus to those areas that hurt me sometimes, which for me are the back inside portion of the knee and my hips. Also during the dance warm up I do lighter stretches and hold them fro less time like 15/20 sec. Then onto work. It's been working because I completely forgot about the pain I felt in my knee until I came across this post.
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Thanks guys for all your advice. Yes I am always fully warmed up before I attempt splits stretching. We usually do it at the studio after our warm up and at the end of the stretch session.
I do run qute a bit and thinking possibly certain muscles ie calf muscles are really tight due to that which is not helping with certain stretches. I know my hip flexors are really tight and I am working on them to loosen them up.
I do have the issue of hyper extended due to double joints and this happens just when I stand up my knees hyper extend . I have started foam rolling as well, my partner at home uses it every day and is always on me to keep at it with the foam roller .
I will just keep going with my stretching and foam rolling and just being really sure I am super warmed up befre any deep stretching.
thank you again for all your advice
🙂
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