a lot of times knee pain is coming from a mal tracking of the patella (patella femoral) when going through the movement. Aside from your glutes possibly beging weak, the main thing you might want to check is your vastus mediallis oblique (VMO) as it is a powerful knee extensors that also works to adduct and stabalize the knee. When the knee laterally tracks you would want to strength the VMO to work on pulling it back so that it tracks more normally.

Just out of curiosity, how do you focus on this head? I know that squatting deeper activates this head to a greater degree, but what other movements are good for it?

Just out of curiosity, how do you focus on this head? I know that squatting deeper activates this head to a greater degree, but what other movements are good for it?

The strange thing is my knees hurt too until I warmed them up.


I started uping my fish oil intake and it went away.

leg presses with a yoga block or a light med. ball inbetween you legs, squeezing it. Glute bridges with the same between the legs or wall sits for time with the block between the legs. these will all work your adductors. Single leg leg presses can help because you can focus on your patella tracking better. Deep squats, etc.....just trying to get extra adduction though should help out in that department.

Gotcha. I have most of my clients do lateral lunges and/or various unilateral movements like Bulgarian squats, split squats, lunges, etc. The lateral lunges are killers on the adductors. I also include a unilateral movement in every lower body session of my own to help keep my knee joint integrity up to par.

the lateral lunges hit more of the abductors since you are pushing against the floor and back into place. However, their is a lot of knee stabalization that goes into them as well as they are great deceleration work for the ACL.

bulgarian squats, split squats....they are all great. they really work knee stability as well as give a good stretch the the non-working leg (the back leg).

pretty much just working on going through knee extension while hitting the adductors should do the trick to help a lateral tracking patella (as well as strethicng the shit out of the ITB band).......The glute bridges with the block squeezed between the legs works more of the glutes and hammies (hip extension) while hitting the adductors isometrically (via the ball between the legs).

I try to focus on dragging my trailing leg and use the front leg for all the movement when doing lateral lunges. I'm pretty sure that's adduction...

I also like lunge/stepup hybrids onto a bench as a dynamic flexibility move that seems to get the adductors involved. Skater lunges are great too, which I usually include as a dynamic flexibility move too.

the lateral lunges hit more of the abductors since you are pushing against the floor and back into place. However, their is a lot of knee stabalization that goes into them as well as they are great deceleration work for the ACL.

bulgarian squats, split squats....they are all great. they really work knee stability as well as give a good stretch the the non-working leg (the back leg).

pretty much just working on going through knee extension while hitting the adductors should do the trick to help a lateral tracking patella (as well as strethicng the shit out of the ITB band).......The glute bridges with the block squeezed between the legs works more of the glutes and hammies (hip extension) while hitting the adductors isometrically (via the ball between the legs).

if you really want to work the adductors on the lateral lunge here is how I do it with some people. Take a small towel and put it under the foot of the non-working leg. You need to do this on a wood floor, like in an aeobics studio. From there, lunge out with the workin leg, once you begin pressing yourself up with that leg, instead of bringing the non-working leg over to meet the working leg, you are now going to pull and drag it against the towel. it really gets you to adduct.