Have you ever wondered why your knee might hurt when you do Olympic style workouts even though you’re strong on squats and leg curls without any pain, swelling or discomfort? Our Joints are the end point of all the muscles in the body and all movements happen in the joint. Another interesting fact is that all muscles can only retract. For example, if you bend your knee and use the hamstring muscles (an agonist), you need quads (opposite or an antagonist muscles) to straighten your leg. Therefore the strength between the two has to be balanced. Balanced does not mean equal in strength, but equal in the ratio that equalizes, balances, and neutralize the pressure between the two to alleviate pressure in the joint, or in this case, the knee.
Unfortunately, things are not so simple. From the feet up, every joint is stacked on top of the other like a building block of a very complicated machine. And every muscle supports the joint above it from toe to head. There are about 250 groups of muscles in the body and there are many muscle groups (agonist/ antagonist) in one simple movement. In the above example, the knee has to be balanced with lateral muscles to neutralize the pressure from many angles. When one thinks about it like that, we can appreciate the job of all professionals who take such good care of us. Our joints are designed to function over a hundred years with no problem, as long as we use them properly. That is neutralizing, stabilizing, or as I like to call it, balancing the joint. That is BalanceNFitness.
Benny Benjamin started martial arts at the age of 12, holds a 2nd degree black belt in Hapkido, and has been training for over 22 years. He also has some training in Muay Tai, Shotokan, Aikido and Tae Kwondo, and was trained by a master in the art of eastern training, which gave him a bit of different perspective on health and well being. Benny has been a certified trainer since 1992 and has been training clients since. He acquired a diploma from Yogaworks in 2012 and practice regularly. In addition to having his own business, Benny also works with two doctors in the Los Angeles area, training and rehabilitating injuries to health. www.balancenfitness.com
