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This week’s muscle is the Quadriceps

The quadriceps muscle is actually a group of 4 muscles as the name “quad” suggests. Three of the muscles originate at the top of the leg bone by the hip and joint into a common tendon connecting to our knee caps. The fourth is the largest of the four and a longer muscle that attaches to the pelvic bone and inserts distally into the knee cap. When tight these muscles can contribute to hip and knee pain. Weakness in this muscle is also a large contributor to knee pain in adults and adolescent athletes to help keep this muscle flexible you can stretch through the front of the leg with a number of different stretches. Two of my favorite are shown below.Mayr1

Hold 30 – 60 seconds.

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Hold 30-60 seconds.

If you’d like to learn more ways to help eliminate hip and knee pain make an appointment with our physical therapist today. Happy Monday! Enjoy your week.