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Extend leg bent with flexed hip

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last modification: 30.5.2003
Name: Extend leg bent in hip flexion

• Classification
• Contraindication
• Effects
• Preparation
• Follow-up
• derived asanas
• similar asanas
• Diagnostics
• Instructions
• details
• Variants

Instructions

1. Stand in tadasana. Bend in the right hip joint and knee joint to pull the thigh as far as possible towards the chest.
2. Grab the outside foot with your right hand and pull it towards you as far as possible.
3. Then slowly extend the knee joint and observe the change in the angle of the hip joint and ankle.

details

1. During this exploration, two events can be observed that are based on the same effect. Bending the knee joint allows most people to pull the thigh quite close to the upper body or even press it onto the upper body. To the extent that the knee joint is extended, the tension of the hamstrings successively pulls the hip joint out of wide flexion without being able to prevent this. The biarticular muscles of the back of the thigh therefore generally set a much greater flexion restrictionin the hip joint than the monoarticular hip extensors such as the gluteus maximus, but this is strictly dependent on the angle in the other joint they cover, the knee joint. The maximum flexion in the hip joint therefore proves to be a function of the flexion in the knee joint. The same effect can be observed in the ankle joint. When the knee joint is flexed, the maximum achievable angle of dorsiflexion in the ankle joint is greater than when the knee joint is extended, as in this case the biarticular gastrocnemius limits the movement earlier than the monoarticular soleus does. In this case, the maximum achievable dorsiflexion of the ankle joint is a function of the angle in the knee joint.