More Knees News You Can Use: Awkward Pose & Knee Stability.

Quick Recap

In our last post, we told you about new medical guidelines for looking after arthritic knees. “The best thing to do is keep moving” is how a Sydney Morning Herald article summed it up.

We showed you the fabulous Troy in the full expression of Fixed Firm Pose, despite a diagnosis in 2017 that his knees would deteriorate.

Now, we're going to look at how one special posture in the Bikram Yoga series helps keep your knees in mad good shape, and gets you ready to do Fixed Firm Pose as well as Troy. 🤞

We all love Awkward Pose 💖

When we are in Awkward Pose, we tend to think things like “my legs are burning” and “I want my mummy”. 😫

But next time you’re in the posture, why not think “this is so damn good for my knees”? 🤩

Movement and stability

When it comes to your knees, Awkward Pose is the perfect marriage between movement and stability. Let's check it out.

First part

This is the first time in class you bend (flex) your knees. It's the first step towards taking your knees through their full range of motion.

To hold the posture, we have to use the quadriceps (thigh) muscles. Strong quadriceps keep the knee straight and support the knee from the front during movement.

You'll notice that the more you get your weight in your heels, the more of the quadriceps you have to use.

That's the point.

Second part

And you thought the first part was fun.

Now that you're on your toes, your knees have to flex a little bit more than in part 1. The quadriceps are still working like mad of course, but now the calves are in the game too.

While strong quads stabilise the knee from the front, strong calves* stabilise the knee from the back.

Damn, us yogis are stable.

Third Part

The first two parts woke up your knees. The tendons and ligaments remembered how to move. The blood's flowing.

It's maximum flexion, full range of motion time. 🥳

Or as we like to put it, "all the way down, all the way down".

Say hello to your quads again, as they support you on your way down to your heels. But now your adductor (inner thigh muscles) have to join in to keep your knees together.

We've got a bunch of adductor muscles. The longest one, called the gracilis muscle, runs from the groin all the way down to just below the knee, stabilising the knee from the inside. 

Awkward Pose third part versus Fixed Firm Pose

For your knees, it's a matter of similarities and differences.

Both postures take your knees through their full range of motion. But in Awkward third part you go to full range of motion momentarily then quickly stretch up to create a "half inch gap between the hips and heels".**

In other words, the quads are engaged, contracted, resisting the pull of gravity and taking some pressure off your knees.

But in Fixed Firm Pose you completely relax your thigh muscles and let gravity take your knees to 100% range of motion without any resistance in the form of quadriceps strength.

Remember, by the time you get to Fixed Firm you're fully warmed up, so your knees are ready.

From the perspective of your knees, you can think of Awkward Pose, and particularly the third part, as the perfect preparation for Fixed Firm Pose.

* Your calves are actually more than one muscle. The calf muscle we're talking about here, the one that crosses the knee, is called gastrocnemius. Reach down and grab your leg at the back, below your knee. You're grabbing gastrocnemius.

** Confession time. We play a little trick on you here. The Bikram Yoga Dialogue says:

"Continuosly stretch your spine towards the ceiling, half inch gap between the hips and heels"

We want you to focus on the natural human traction of the spine, to the point where it feels like the spine is pulling the hips up off the heels. But it's really quadriceps strength that creates that gap. Just don't tell anyone. 🤫

Concluding words of advice

When you do Awkward Pose, try to follow the Dialogue precisely. In other words, sit down "until your hips touch the chair" (first and second parts), and "all the way down, all the way down" (third part). If your knees won't let come all the way down just yet, simply do the best you can with a 100% straight spine.

Follow the Dialogue precisely even if you don't think you have the strength to hold the posture, because your knees are counting on you.