Knee and Patello-femoral Rehab

Stage Pre-requisites
1) Continue to be pain-free or have minimal pain and/or symptoms that are not constant in your knee or patella region; 2) Complete the volume of reps, sets and exercises in weeks 1 and 2 for at least 2 weeks; 3) Have good Gluteal and VMO activation in both legs; 4) Able to competently perform all week 1 and 2 exercises with above average technique and form

WEEKS 3-4
WEEKLY INSTRUCTIONS You should now have reasonable activation of your VMO and gluteals, as well as an increase in your mobility through your hips and legs to allow you to progress into weeks 3 and 4 of the program. Mostly exercises increase in level and difficulty, and new exercises introduced that start you squatting on one leg. Set A exercises still focus on hip / gluteal strength activation and firing, with Set B including the more compound movements like squatting and then the all important single leg knee exercises. Most exercises on one leg start at a 'regression' level - where the knee is NOT allowed to travel too far forward. This is because with most people starting off in their strengthening regime - there is not enough VMO muscle bulk or gluteal strength to maintain correct hip and pelvic alignment, which means the knee is not able handle to shear load during flexion. Watch the videos to get more education on the 'regression' exercises, and make sure you stay out of the pain zone when moving your knee into flexion. It's more important during the next 2 weeks to focus on gluteal / hip strength, with quads and VMO strength secondary. As you move into weeks 5-6 onwards the focus will be more on the quads and knee.
SPECIAL NOTES Be careful with the knee flexion on one leg as you start on these weeks' exercises, especially if you have an existing patella tendinopathy, recovered from a patella tendon tear or have a history of patella mal-tracking and patello-femoral cartilage damage. Bend more at the hip (hip hinging) than bending at the knee for this stage. If you are unsure, please consult your Physiotherapist.