Back knee pain when doing front splits

[kimble]

I'm experiencing some back knee pain when I do the front splits. My front leg is ok, and my hips are squared forward, but my back leg is flush against the floor with the knee facing outwards.

Is there any way to stop the pain? Both my knees are now kinda achey even after I've stopped.

[daodejing]

Get lots of rest, rub some dit da jiao into it, and don't overtrain. Also, don't stretch cold, warm up a bit before hand.

[kimble]

Thanks mate Pardon my ignorance, but what is dit da jiao? I've just been rubbing Benjay in.

[shaolinstylee]

Also, you might want to try to lie your leg front down, to avoid the twisting. Be careful with your knees, I can attest to it isn't fun blowing them out (both of mine, at different times). There are a number of ligaments and tendons around the knee, you don't want to hurt them. Also make sure to strengthen up your quads (actually everything around the knee).

[doc]

but my back leg is flush against the floor with the knee facing outwards.

Did you try doing the splits keeping the knee facing the floor, instead of facing outwards? By keeping it facing the floor, you really are not twisting the joint; you're just flexing the hip joint, and keeping the femur and tibia in line. By stretching with the back leg twisted at the hip so that the knee joint if facing laterally (and the foot too), you're putting a rotational stress on the knee joint, which is causing your pain.

Try doing the splits with the top of the back foot facing downward, and the front foot resting on the heel. You shouldn't get pain that way.

And read my Knee Injuries post in this same forum.