| Aloha and Welcome to Week 8 of Fitness-Tip Friday! |
| Tip of the Week:(Awesome) Anatomy-Based Quad-Building Technique!Anatomy: The quadriceps muscles (“quads”) are comprised of four muscles: rectus femoris, vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, and vastus intermedius. Of those, rectus femoris is unique because it crosses BOTH the knee joint AND the hip joint. So while the other three only extend the knee… the rectus femoris extends the knee and flexes the hip.Application: When performing knee extensions, LEAN BACK at the beginning of each rep (when the knee is bent), and then LEAN FORWARD while you extend your knee by using your rectus femoris to flex your hip. Only then will you hit the full range of motion of the rectus femoris – from full extension to maximum contraction! Region-specific hypertrophy studies have even shown that the hip flexion aspect will work the proximal (upper) region of the rectus femoris more, and the knee flexion aspect will work the distal (lower) region more – proving the effectiveness of this technique! (See research article #1) Note: Leaning forward too much may place the rectus femoris in active insufficiency… which can be used separately as a technique to transfer more of the load to the vastus muscles. Relevant research articles: 1) Region specificity of rectus femoris muscle for force vectors in vivo 2) Muscle Activity During Knee-Extension Strengthening Exercise Performed with Elastic Tubing and Isotonic Resistance |
 |
| Quote of the Week: “There will never be a right time. Stop waiting and start doing.“ -Mel Robbins |
Dr. Gains 
Leave a comment