Terminal Knee Extension – A Haiku Written by Michele Vieux
I didn’t have it And neither do lots of ya’ll Your knees don’t go straight
I see when you move Terminal knee extension Is never achieved
Terminal sounds bad But it’s not when in the knee Actually it’s good
Your quads are loaded Causing that patella pain If you don’t have it
Constantly bent legs Quads always under tension Knees always twisted
Oh popliteus Small muscle behind the knee No wonder you hurt
Working overtime To stabilize the jacked knee Without extension
So what can be done to remedy this problem terminal-less-ness
Straighten your dang leg You might have to force it there But it’s possible
Grab a post and band If you have a super friend That’s even better
And then get to work On some knee mobility To open the joint
Go and go don’t stop Until hyperextension That’s right, go past straight
Your heel should raise up Off the floor when you lock out So get on this shiz
End all the tension Deload the quad and untwist Voila, no more pain
* Author’s note/translation: I’ve been watching you move again and I noticed that many of you don’t have terminal knee extension, which means your knee doesn’t straighten all the way and is (or will be) causing you pain. It might look like it does extend because it is pretty straight, but actually, it should hyperextend slightly if you have full range of motion (ROM).
You can test your ROM by sitting on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you. Squeeze your quads as hard as you can and press the backs of your knees into the floor. If your heels don’t raise up off the floor by at least a half inch, you don’t have terminal extension and are setting yourself up for dysfunction, injury, and pain.
Our friend K-Star has published three great articles about terminal knee extension and how to get it. I encourage you to test YOUR knee ROM and check out those articles by starting here!