Since the rectus femoris is a two - joint muscle, multi-joint
knee extension exercises may be used with heavier loads to target this muscle, while single - joint
knee extension exercises might be usefully employed with lighter loads to target the single - joint quadriceps muscles preferentially.
Some studies have often reported no external load type specificity of strength gains, although these are primarily limited to those reporting on programs of single - joint
knee extension exercises (Manning et al. 1990; Hunter & Culpepper, 1995; Remaud et al. 2010) or programs of combined single - joint and multi-joint leg extension exercises (Walker et al. 2013).
Not exact matches
The reviewers found few studies evaluating the effectiveness in the ACL rehabilitation process of so - called «open chain»
exercises (those which tend to isolate a single muscle group and a single joint, such as leg curls and leg
extensions, with or without added weight) versus «closed chain»
exercises (those which work multiple joints and multiple muscle groups at once, such as, for example, a squat involves the
knee, hip and ankle joints, and multiple muscles groups, e.g. quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, calves and glutes, with body weight alone or with added weight).
The hamstrings cross two joints — the
knee joint and the hip joint — so they need to be trained with the help of
exercises that target the
knee flexion function and the hip
extension function of the hamstring muscle separately.
The Terminal
Knee Extension (TKE) exercise moves the knee through the end stage of the range of motion, or from a partially bent position as opposed to fully b
Knee Extension (TKE)
exercise moves the
knee through the end stage of the range of motion, or from a partially bent position as opposed to fully b
knee through the end stage of the range of motion, or from a partially bent position as opposed to fully bent.
The Lying Hip
Extension is an excellent resistance band
exercise for increasing the range of motion in the hip flexors, which will reduce
knee pain.
This
exercise trains the hamstrings» two functions simultaneously — hip
extension and
knee flexion — like few other
exercises can.
Tips: To modify this
exercise keep the
knees over the hips omitting the leg
extension or tap the toe down to the floor.
This
exercise can also improve
knee extension and range of motion.
The information given above implies that your hamstring workouts should involve
exercises for both the hip
extension function and the
knee flexor function.
But here's the problem - leg
extensions can be trouble for your
knees, especially if you already have bad
knees or if you use a ballistic movement on the
exercise (or too much range of motion!).
However, increases in muscle fascicle length are also likely dependent on the mechanical load incurred by the prime mover, as
knee flexion (hamstring only)
exercise seems to lead to greater adaptations in the hamstrings than hip
extension (hamstring, gluteus maximus, and adductor magnus)
exercise, even when muscle length at peak contraction is shorter (Bourne et al. 2016).
The
exercises with the use of these ankle weights included seated
knee flexion and
extension and standing
knee flexion and
extension.
For the chair
exercise, repetitions of toe raises, heel raises,
knee lifts,
knee extensions, and others were done while seated on a chair.
Lying Bend -
Knee Leg
Extension — In order to get the most from this
exercise, you will need to do it as slow as possible and control your legs.
As relative load increases during performance of the conventional deadlift
exercise, the ratio of the net hip
extension moment to the net
knee extension moment also increases.
It is unclear how the other categories should be viewed, with
exercises from the hip
extension with partial
knee extension, hip
extension without
knee movement, and hip
extension and
knee flexion categories all appearing in the best
exercises category in some but not all studies.
Intervention — any acute study assessing
knee extension moments in the sagittal plane during the split squat
exercise
They noted that squat jumps produced greater hip
extension moment than back squats with a moderate load (272 vs. 149Nm) and that the ratio between hip
extension moments in these two
exercises was smaller than the ratio between
knee extension moments (1.8 vs. 2.3 times).
While the squat
exercise involves hip
extension, for which the hamstrings are a prime mover, it also involves
knee extension, for which the hamstrings are an antagonist.
In general, it seems that
exercises from the
knee flexion category (i.e. leg curls) almost always feature as one of the best
exercises, while
exercises from the hip
extension and
knee extension category (i.e. squats) never feature as one of the best
exercises.
From a review of the literature, it is immediately apparent that very few studies have included any rehabilitation
exercises in the hip
extension and
knee flexion, and hip
extension without
knee movement categories.
As relative load increases during performance of the back squat
exercise, the ratio of the net hip
extension moment to the net
knee extension moment also increases.
As a group, the hamstrings can therefore be trained by
exercises that involve either hip
extension or
knee flexion.
The squat, for instance, is the most notable and probably the best of all glute
exercises; it involves flexion and
extension at the ankle,
knee, and hip joints as well as recruitment of the gluteal (gluteus maximus), quadriceps, and hamstring muscle groups.
They reported that the clam with added elastic resistance was a very effective gluteus maximus
exercise (followed by the unilateral glute bridge and the quadruped hip
extension with
knee flexed).
Firstly, the
exercise involves combined hip and
knee extension, which is expected to lead to greater EMG amplitude in the quadriceps and less EMG amplitude in the gluteus maximus (Yamashita, 1988; Kwon et al. 2013).
So
exercises that involve less
knee extension (hip thrusts, deadlifts, pull throughs and back
extensions) will tend to produce much greater hip muscle activation than those that involve more
knee extension (squats, lunges, and leg presses), although there are other factors involved of course!
Gluteus maximus EMG amplitude can be enhanced during back
extensions by performing the
exercise in a position of
knee flexion and / or in hip external rotation, and by adding external loads (such as by wearing a weighted vest or holding a dumbbell or weight plate).
Firstly, since most compound resistance training
exercises (e.g. squats) involve combined hip and
knee extension, this indicates that maximum gluteus maximus development may be difficult with traditional
exercises.
The majority of these comparisons demonstrate that
exercises with minimal
knee extension movement and with the peak muscle force exerted with a fully - extended hip are superior (quadruped hip
extension, prone hip
extension with flexed
knee, and front plank with hip
extension).