I’m obsessed with how people and soccer players move 👣.
If you look at the top players in the world there is a durability to them. It’s hard to improve if you’re always injured. I wouldn’t know nothing about that 👀.
Yeah a lot of it comes down to favorable genetics or playing barefoot as a kid, but we must take control of what we can and it’s never too late for an upgrade.
In the case of knock knees ('X' legs, medially shifted knees, genu valgus), the lateral structures of the leg will be locked short, and the medial structures will be locked long.
Pain can occur on the inside or on the outside of the knees. Releasing the lateral aspects (TFL-Vastus Lateralis- Biceps Femoris-Peroneals) will provide relief, as can the medial side (Adductors-Pectineus-Obturator Internus-Vastus Medialus) since they will be under strain. In addition to strengthening the external rotators and developing better movement patterns, we need to strengthen the medial side as each side is like a bowstring - when one side is shortened the other lengthens.
Thus, in the video below I present to you the Medial RDL and a variation of Cable External Rotations
Medial RDL
1. Create a strong arch in your foot and press the base of your big toe into the ground. 2. Keep both legs straight and lean straight over to the side 3. Pull yourself back up
Cable External Rotations
1. Attach a band or cable to ankle 2. Allow femur (thigh) to internally rotate) 3. Contract the medial hamstrings and hip external rotators to externally rotate the leg
Also in the video are some agility drills you can try. I like to say great athletes ‘bounce in and out of positions’. In part, this depends on setting up shin angles and rapidly handling (absorbing) and producing force into the ground to propel our bodies through space.
Strength relative to body weight is a big factor, but there are ways to bridge the gap between the weight room and the pitch, loading and even overloading the body in more specific ways.
BTW nothing magical about the use of the Bosu ball other than creating a bit of a hiccup in a predictable activity.
Here we have 3 exercises than can be progressed with higher boxes and longer distances and regressed with shorter boxes or even just a line on the ground, and adding a double hop if needed
1️⃣Lateral bounding with the need to adjust going backwards.
2️⃣Quick feet mixed into the bounding with a small perturbation provided by the Bosu ball
3️⃣ Combining the two with a coordinative challenge of switching legs mid-air
