“Lock your knee.” This is very difficult to understand.  Been told for years to never do this.  Please help me understand.
Posted by Matt on 01/21 at 10:56 AM

Hello Matt

Thanks for the question. I am going to assume that you are asking about the ramifications of locking the knee and not the anatomy of the knee!

Firstly, I think you have something there. There are lots of commands in the Hot Yoga room about locking the knee. I know that many people I have spoken to have also not really understood. When I started teaching I noticed that many were pushing their knee backwards, their knee joint locking the leg straight. Furthermore, with another too frequent command to “shift the weight” to one leg meant that students were leaning into one leg using the bones and joints to support them without necessarily using their muscles.

Effective knee locking can only benefit you if you engage and work your muscles. I prefer to tell my students to “pull up your kneecap with your quadriceps muscles”.

Locking the knee can be a controversial action to some. Your ability to have any sort of shock absorption in the leg is going to be greatly compromised (or non-existent) if the leg is locked. If you are walking, running and jumping you need your muscles, and joints and other structures to absorb some of the shock. If you are standing doing a yoga pose building balance, or building leg strength for only one example, then having a firm leg is going to do more for you. You will encourage strength, stability, stamina in those muscles, and you will effectively remove a linkage in your leg (by locking the joint) and make balance more likely. It seems that if you want to build optimal strength in your leg (and open up your knee joint area) then at some stage you are going to need to lock your knee.

There are many conditions where a locked knee is a symptom of an underlying more serious problem. This would be where the leg can neither straighten or bend (to some degree). So possibly some may be confusing the requirement to lock the knee in Hot Yoga poses with these problems.

Please let me know if that answers your question
Namaste
Gabrielle

Posted by hennafire

wow, all this time when i heard lock the knee i was doing just that, and caused me some problems, now raise the kneecap makes more sense and is a good way to put it, thanks Gabrielle for the clarification, now it all makes sense to me,
thanks again, hennafire

I am so pleased that it has helped you. Simplicity and precision rule!

Namaste

Posted by ela

“rise the knee-cap” - still not clear for me.

  Ela

Posted by hennafire

Hi Ela, if you are standing up, straighten the knees, tighten muscle just above knees and it raises the knee caps, at least for me it does. repeat it enough and you can feel the knee caps moving up, but be careful you don’t tighten so much you lock you knees and bend them backwards! once you get the hang of it it is easier to do it then to explain it, i hope this helps and that it wont’ be more confusing. can also try it lying down, might be easier to isolate the knee caps and do it.  good luck, hope it works for you!  relaax when you try it or it will be harder to do.

hennafire

Posted by Robert

Hi Ela - as Gabrielle says, “pull up your kneecap with your quadriceps muscles” ...

What this means is that if you are standing up and you strongly clench your thigh muscles so both legs are rock solid, you *should* see some muscle definition appear at the front of your upper leg (the quadricep) and at the same time your kneecaps should be pulled upwards by the contracting quadriceps.

The distance they rise may vary according to the power of your quadriceps.

In Bikram method yoga, this is most obvious in poses where both legs are “locked” (Pranayama and Ardha Chandrasana for example) and the balancing poses where one leg is “locked”, although there are many other poses where pulling up the kneecap using the quadriceps is important if the leg is straight.

I chose to answer this as I used to have very poor quadricep strength due to a broken thighbone many years ago - the physiotherapist who eventually assisted me in my pre-Bikram yoga days was appalled that when I engaged my quadriceps, nothing happened (ie the kneecap didn’t move)!

After only a few weeks of yoga (going pretty much everyday), I quickly rebuilt my leg strength.

So it make take a little time to have something noticeable occur with the kneecap - doesn’t stop you trying though.

Hope that helps!

Robert

Posted by Robert

Thanks hennafire - we must have been typing at the same time - nice explanation!

Love the lying down tip - good idea.

Robert

Posted by hennafire

Robert, thanks, i could not think of the muscle name quadriceps!  thats it. way to go.

later, hennafire

Posted by ela

Thank you to ALL of you!
You are a big help...finally I got it, or at least I think so.
I will try this lying down.

Ela

Posted by hennafire

Hi Ela, i knew you would get it, lying down is easier to learn it i think, i feel it more that way, whatever works!!  way to go!!!!

have fun, hennafire

hi
when i do tree pose, by holding my foot from underneath, my hips being so tight,i can only bring my foot so high hence my shoulders and hips are not in one line...what should i do.  i try hard to lift the heel towards my hips..but it just won t go there.  what should i do?

Hi Yogini

You know, you can only do what you can do!

It can be a real challenge in working out your priorities when the hips are really tight in this one. When you hold your foot from underneath make sure your heel does not cross the thigh bone. Keep it as close to the midline as possible. This in itself will help your shoulders and hips be more aligned. Then as you hold your foot, let the leg submit to gravity and consciously let go of the muscles in the hip and pelvis and inner thigh. The tighter you hips the more difficult it will be to hold your body upright and symmetrical. Work on locking out the leg and making sure your tailbone is tucked under. The openings your body experiences in other poses will eventually pay dividends and make tree pose easier, little by little.

Enjoy and embrace the process
Namaste
Gabrielle

hi gabrielle,
i was just wondering if you had any more information on exactly what happens when you “lock the knee” into place. I have heard some teachers say that unless you lock the knee, your bones are grinding on each other, which will eventually lead to serious injury. is this true? when you lock the knee are you actually lifting the knee cap up so that it is supported by muscle? if so, what muscles are used? what actually does happen if you do not lock the knee?

thanks!
susan

Hi Susan

When you lock the knee, you are primarily using your quadriceps muscles to create SPACE in the knee joint. You are strengthening all the mechanisms around the knee to support it. If you have lax muscles then yes, the space will close or be limited and the possibility of grinding is greater. If you don’t lock the knee with your muscles then you lose the built-in suspension (or shock absorbing) system for the knee.

There is a great resource that describes many aspects of this answer. Go to: Locking the knee

Basically you don’t want to rely on just your skeletal system to hold your body in space. Locking your knee is not just about straightening out the joint. It is to bring about space and strength, ward off the effects of gravity, help heal or protect from injury and have healthy joints!

Namaste
Gabrielle

thanks gabrielle,
you always know how to explain everything so well. your response helps a lot.

thanks for all that you do,
susan