In this video, I'm going to show you how to fix quadriceps
pain for good. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
Saint Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
how to get quick and long-lasting quadriceps pain
relief commonly known as the quads or the quad muscle. If
you're unfamiliar with them, they're a large group of
muscles that sit right on the front of your thigh and they
are essential for everyday knee movements including for
walking, running, jumping, and using stairs. When these
muscles get strained and inflamed, it can cause a lot of
issues through the front part of the leg but most pain is
felt right above the kneecap from the tendons getting
inflamed we call that quadriceps tendonitis so to
make any relief easy I'm going to break the video up into
three separate parts while the parts maybe different they are
meant to work together so to get the best results use all
three as a bonus all of the exercises can be done at home
require no equipment and you may find give quick quad pain
relief even within 30 seconds So, let's get started and fix
that quadriceps pain right now. So, let's start by warming up
the muscles and the soft tissues. Warm up exercises are
really important to do because they improve circulation,
increase flexibility, and just make it less likely that you
irritate those muscles later on through exercises. Here's a
really easy one to do. It's called a progressive stepping
lunge. To get into position, we're going to have very good
upright posture. Let's start by tightening the core muscles.
It's kind of like taking your belly button towards your
spine. It just helps support the back a little bit more.
During the exercise too, I like to squeeze my glutes because it
will actually help fire the quadriceps just a little bit
more. To help out, take your hands, press into em kind of
like a prayer position during the exercise. You should really
start to feel those core muscles fire while you do this.
So, just take one leg and step forward. During the exercise,
you want your toes and your feet pointed forward and then
from there, you're just going to lunge into it. So, just take
your body weight and lunge into it as much as you can. You're
going to keep going until you feel a really good activation
of the muscles on the front part of the back leg. That's
going to be our hip flexors, the psoas muscle, and most
importantly, that quadricep but don't go to the point of pain.
We're only trying to warm up things right now. So, hold that
for a second or two. You're going to come back up and then,
you're just going to simply repeat on the other side and
you want to do this one nice and slowly for about 10 to 15
repetitions on both and with each repetition, challenge
yourself to lunge into it just a little bit more. Get those
muscles warmed up. If it feels like you have a little bit more
energy, you can always throw in another set or two. To make
this one more challenging, instead of doing the standing
static version, you can do what is known as a walking lunge. It
doesn't work out too well here in the office but you can do
this one outside or if you do have a large space. Same type
of thing but what you're going to do instead is walk just
kind of like this doing the lunge and you'll probably find
that it hits the muscles just a little bit differently and it's
definitely much more challenging but after I'm done
doing the regular lunge what I'd like to do is what is known
as a side lunge this one is going to hit a lot more muscles
and also target the inner part of the leg outer part of the
legs the glutes and the hamstrings just a little bit
more it's important to focus on everything in the leg just not
the quadriceps so to get into this position what I'm going to
is have a very wide stance again with my feet pointed
straight ahead. Let's tighten the core, get back into our
prayer position just like this but this time around, you're
going to take one big step off to the side like this and then
lunge your body weight off to the side keeping the other leg
straight. When you do this, you're going to feel a ton of
muscles start to fire. I really feel in my glutes, my legs, my
quarter steps right here but I also feel it on the inner part
of the leg going towards the groin. Hold this for a second
or two. You're just going to come back up and then you're
going to repeat it on the other side. Again, 10 to 15
repetitions in both directions and if it feels like you have a
little bit more energy, throw in another set or two. So,
after we have the muscles warmed up, it's time to move on
to the most important part, strengthening. Again, a common
cause of quadricep pain is because they are tight and weak
and I can't think of one better exercise to help strengthen the
quads than the squat. Here's a really easy variation that's
gentle both on the quadriceps and the knees. It's called the
wall squat. Just like the name applies, we're going to go next
to a smooth wall or a door. To get into position, you're going
to have your whole backside flush against that wall. Your
legs are going to be roughly hip width apart. You're going
to put all of your body weight onto your heels during this
exercise. I also like to point my toes out very slightly about
five to 10 degrees. It'll help take a little bit off of the
knees but let's start by tightening our core muscles.
Again, taking our belly button towards our spine to help out
can do the prayer position just like this but I also like to
squeeze my glutes during this exercise because I get a better
activation of those leg muscles movement from here very very
straight forward we're just going to squat downward as much
as we can comfortably that's really important only go to the
point where you feel those quadricep muscles start to
activate but not to the point where it's going to cause more
leg pain or knee pain stop right before that point from
there you're going to hold this one for 5 seconds, you're going
to come back up, take a breather, and then on the next
repetition, you're probably going to notice that you can
squat into it just a little bit more. You should have some more
pain-free range of motion. So, do this one nice and slowly
over and over again for 10 to 15 repetitions. Afterwards,
take a breather and I do recommend trying to do this for
three complete sets. If this becomes a little bit too easy
like you can go all the way down like this where your legs
are parallel with the floor, You can take this one to the
next level by stepping away from that wall so you won't
have the support. The key with this one again though is to
keep your back straight during the exercise. So, we're not
trying to round into it like this. We're really trying to
keep that back straight and then just squatting downward
into it just like this. So, give that one a try. Other
options that you can do to take it even to the next level is
doing what is known as a goblet squat. So, instead of me doing
the prayer position, imagine me having a weight like a
kettlebell or a dumbbell in front of me and then doing it.
The more weight resistance that you use, the more strength you
are going to gain in your legs and your quadriceps. So, give
that one a try if you do have access to a gym or you just
have kettlebells laying around. So, the last thing that we're
going to focus on is stretching. Stretches are
perfect to do after strengthening exercises because
they'll keep the muscles loose and also make it less likely
that you'll get soreness but with stretching, you can pretty
much do them throughout the day anytime that you need quick
muscle tightness and pain relief. Here's a really easy
one that you can pretty much do anytime and anywhere including
at work because we can do this one seated. So, whatever leg
that you're having a lot of quadricep pain. Let's say it's
my right quad right here. I'm going to scoot to the side of
that chair so my leg will be off. My front leg is going to
be kept roughly at 90 degrees. Let's have very good upright
posture and you're going to take this back leg right here
and just push it back so the top of my leg is just sliding
away keep doing this until you feel a really good stretch
forming over the top of that leg what you want to do is once
you feel that is then squeeze the glutes right here so really
focus on squeezing your butt as much as you can you'll really
feel that quadricep tighten up and it just offers a really
good way to get in there and stretch it out I like to hold
this one for at least 20 to 30 seconds but if it feels good
hold it for From there, relax and then repeat this one three
to five times. With each repetition, try to build into
it just a little bit more. If you want to try a different
variation, you can do another chair method standing. So, with
this one, you're just going to grab the backside of a chair or
you can just do this against the countertop or a wall and
you're just going to take the leg that you're focusing on.
Again, let's say it's my right side right here. I'm going to
grab right in front of my ankle and then I'm going bring my leg
backward as much as I can keeping my back straight. The
more that you bring this back, the more that you're going to
feel again, a deep stretch into the front part of the leg. This
one is great for the hip flexors and the psoas muscle
also. 20 to 30 second hold. You're going to release it,
repeat it three to five times. If you really want to take this
one to the next level, you can do what is known as a PNF
stretch where it's going to lengthen and kind of strengthen
at the same time. So, imagine me kicking downward while doing
this stretch at the same time but I'm going to resist against
it with my hand so give that a try the more that you press
into your hand the more that you're really going to feel
that quadricep muscle start to fire with this one I like to
hold it for roughly five seconds release it and then
repeat this 110 to 15 times and even if the other side doesn't
hurt I would recommend doing this on both sides to keep
everything in balance so let's end the video with bonus way to
get some really good quadriceps muscle pain relief. This one is
really easy also. So, for this, we need something round and
soft. A tennis ball works perfectly but if you don't have
one, no big deal. You can also use the meaty portion of your
palm or you can make a fist. So, let's start seated.
Whatever side that you're having issues. Let's say it's
my right quad. I'm going to straighten my knee out so my
knee will eventually just have a slight bend to it. My heel is
going to be placed on the floor, toes upward towards the
ceiling. From here, I'm to press my heel into the floor as
much as possible until I really feel a deep activation of the
muscles on the back of the legs those are the hamstrings the
hamstrings and the quadriceps are antagonist so as this
tightens this will loosen so if you don't really feel too much
of an activation of the hamstrings just change the
angle of your knee like this until you do once you feel that
you're then going to take your ball or again you can just make
a fist and we're going to start right at the top of the knee
we're only going to go over soft tissue with this one not
over anything bony. Let's target the tendons right here
at the top of the knee. I'm going to just apply enough
pressure in there where it's going to be a comfortable self
massage and then I'm just going to do a slight circular motion
in there for about five seconds. From there, I'm just
going to relax and then repeat by going over a different spot.
You want to do this on the outside of the knee on the top
and then also on the inside. If one certain spot just feels
like it's the pinpoint spot of tightness and achiness throw
more repetitions in there until you feel it release or you're
just getting a lot of pain relief. From there, do this
whole method on the top part of the leg. You want to do it on
the outside right here from pretty much the outside of the
knee working towards the side of the leg and then upward
towards the glutes. You can also do this on the inside of
the leg working up towards the groin but again, if any spot
just feels like it needs more tension at that point, spend
some more time over it and I do recommend doing this on both
sides just to keep every imbalance. If the exercises
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