After the age of 25, many parts of the body begin to issue "maintenance warnings" – either it hurts here or it hurts there.
One of the most annoying is the knee joint:
It is uncomfortable to stand for a long time, walk uncomfortably, squat uncomfortably, climb stairs uncomfortably, and even feel that your knees are swollen after sitting for a long time.
The film was also filmed, the massage was also pressed, and the daily walking and fitness were all careful, but the knees were still in full condition, which made people scratch their ears and cheeks in annoyance.
What's going on here?
The knee joint is always uncomfortable,
It's because of a small muscle
If you have a similar problem, suffering from this "inexplicable" knee discomfort, then this little muscle, please don't forget its name.
This small, deeply hidden, and even unheard of muscle makes a "big contribution" to the discomfort around the knee joint -
It's the popliteus muscle.
Image source: Anatomy learning software
↑ When we open the anatomy learning software, we can't even see the popliteus muscle directly, because it is hidden too deeply.
Image source: Anatomy learning software
↑ When we hide the outer muscles, it reveals the true face of Lushan!
You might say, "What? What can such a small muscle do?!"
But don't underestimate it, this hidden small popliteus muscle may be responsible for a lot of inexplicable pain: yes, it's the pain that you worked so hard to go to the hospital and worked hard to make a film, and the result is not a big problem, such as-
- Feeling uncomfortable in the knee socket and outside after exercise, but this discomfort is difficult to describe, and occasionally spreads to the calf or even the heel;
- Knee socket pain when doing exercises that involve squatting and standing up, and sometimes a lot of pressure on the front of the knee;
- The knee snaps when bent to straight, or from extension to flexion, and feels like something is pinched in the joint (provided that meniscus damage has been ruled out);
- Sometimes the knee feels stiff, and it is difficult to fully straighten or bend;
- The knee snaps at a certain angle;
- Pain and discomfort are especially triggered when the knees are slightly inward and the toes are facing outward;
- Tension and soreness in the knee socket and upper calf after sitting for a long time will be relieved after activity
Popliteal muscles, worthy of you, muscles are big!
This inconspicuous little muscle,
Important and crispy
The reason why the popliteal muscle is so important and can cause a series of problems cannot but be mentioned in terms of its biomechanical function.
It is the "key to open the door" of the knee joint.
It's a bit like when we're putting together furniture, and we know that the parts are tightened when we hear a "click", which is what the popliteal muscles do in the knee joint.
For example, when the knee is bent to fully straightened, the lower leg bone will be externally rotated 10 degrees at a distance of 20~30 degrees at the straight end, and then locked.
Image source: Taken by yourself
Conversely, when our knee is fully extended until it is flexed, the lower leg bone needs to be internally rotated to "unlock" before the knee is flexed.
Such a mechanism ensures silky movement of the knee joint.
Image source: Taken by yourself
At the same time, the popliteus muscle is also very important for the meniscus and can be said to be the "gatekeeper" of the meniscus.
Each time you bend your knee, the popliteus muscles are also responsible for pulling the lateral meniscus back to prevent it from being "pinched" when you bend your knee.
If the popliteal muscles do not regulate the meniscus, the consequence is: it hurts!!
Image source: Literature
Therefore, the pain and discomfort we feel when we bend our knees, stand up straight, or extend our legs and bend our legs, are all cry from the meniscus that is choked by the ordained (popliteal) movement (muscles) in the throat.
But to be fair, you can't really blame the popliteus muscles, after all, it's so small and delicate, but it has a lot of work to do: every time we walk upright, exercise, and even bend and shake our legs, it has to participate.
While connecting with so many bones and soft tissues, it is necessary to perform the motor function accurately, and there is no merit and hard work.
If you often perform sports with emergency stops, sudden braking, jumping, etc., it will put an unbearable weight on the weak popliteal muscles.
Many people will say: I don't exercise at all, I sit almost every day, why do I have problems with my popliteal muscles?
At this time, the popliteal muscles are about to speak on their own:
"Hello, today you have spent a total of 5.332 hours on your popliteal muscles sitting on your knees, do you see if you swipe your card or cash?"
The popliteal muscles will become tense and weak if they are passively contracted for so long, and worse, if they don't move every day, the other big muscles of the lower limbs will be the same as drinking too much, and they will not cooperate well to achieve dynamic stability, and even compensate for each other, and the consequence is that it is easy to hurt our popliteal muscles.
Popliteal muscles weep and emotions are fragmented......
Hey, sitting still or exercising excessively is a catastrophe for the popliteal muscles!
How do you make your popliteal muscles comfortable?
The popliteal muscle, as the thinnest and weakest muscle in the muscle groups near the knee joint, but plays an important role, whether it is excessive exercise or excessive immobility, will make it lose its vitality and bring various abrasive symptoms to our entire knee joint.
How to deal with (maintain) this grinding essence?
➊ Let's 松解一下腘肌
I have marked the approximate location of the popliteus muscle in the figure, please don't worry about finding it inaccurately, because for us who sit for a long time, a large area of muscle near it is very tight and sore!
With the knee slightly flexed, Let's use 4~5 percent of force to slowly and progressively release the popliteal muscles.
Great strength really doesn't mean good results, so there's no need to deliberately pursue "great miracles".
Image source: Taken by yourself
➋ Let's 拉伸一下腘肌
Sit, straighten your knees (but don't overextend them) and touch your heels to the ground, holding your thighs in place with your hands so that they don't participate in the movement. The lower leg rotates slowly inward and outward.
Our ancestors taught us that things must be reversed. The same is true for muscle stretching, never go for extreme stretching.
Because of the small size of the popliteal muscles, the feeling of stretching is not as obvious as other large muscle groups, so you can try to close your eyes and feel it with your heart.
Image source: Taken by yourself
➌ Let's 把腘肌激活
As in the previous exercise, hold the thigh in place so that it tries not to participate in the activity, let the knee socket exert force, and drive the calf to rotate in the air and then relax back into place.
For a small muscle like the popliteal muscle, it is a bit inhumane to do weight training when you come up.
For those of us who are sedentary, it is important to learn to activate it correctly and to have the brain remember this feeling so that the next time it can incorporate the right force into the exercise that governs our daily lives.
You can also close your eyes and let the sense of force be concentrated in the knee socket, and you will definitely have a different sense of force if you try a few more times.
In the GIF, I exaggerated the foot movements in order to make the movements more obvious, and everyone can relax the ankles while practicing.
Image source: Taken by yourself
Once you're proficient, you can try advanced moves. On the premise of fixing the thigh, the whole ball of the foot touches the ground, and the popliteal muscle exerts force to drive the calf to rotate inward and then relax back into place. Because to fight against the friction of the ground, the popliteal muscles will exert more force:
In the GIF, I exaggerated the foot movements in order to make the movements more obvious, and everyone can relax the ankles while practicing.
Image source: Taken by yourself
Protection in daily life is also very important, here are four tips for caring for the popliteal muscles:
1) Be careful not to sit ❌ for a long time: in daily life, we try to get up and walk around in 30~40 minutes, and increase the circulation and metabolism of the lower limbs by tiptoeing in place (sitting or standing can be);
2) Don't overextend ❌ your knees: Ask your relatives and friends to supervise you, and don't completely straighten or overextend your knees when standing naturally (that is, you may have heard of the stomach pushing forward and knee hyperextension posture), such a standing posture will bring excessive burden to the popliteal muscles.
3) Be sure to pay attention to keeping warm ✅: Although the spring flowers have bloomed, everyone should still do a good job of keeping the lower limbs warm, after all, the popliteal fossa runs through the important nerves and blood vessels of the lower limbs, and they also need to be cared for.
4) Assist lower limb exercise ✅: As we mentioned above, many times the popliteal muscle and other muscles of the lower limb are compensating or even inhibiting each other, so you can also put scientific, reasonable and regular lower limb exercise on the agenda!
Finally, I wish you all: protect your popliteal muscles, and smile your knees.
(It's not funny, I know.)
This article is a collaboration with experts
This article is reviewed by experts
bibliography
"Functional Anatomy and Therapeutic Exercise in Clinical Musculoskeletal Diseases" Author: Shintaro Kudo
"Functional Anatomical Palpation Techniques: Lower Limb and Trunk" Author: Lin Dianxiong
https://neurokinetictherapy.com/2012/04/22/the~popliteus~the~tiny~muscle~of~knee~pain/
Planning and production
策划：塔盖 | 监制：Feidi
Cover image source: Zhan Ku Hailuo
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