How to walk downstairs without hurting knees

[@-AryansinhChauhan]

I watched both videos up and down but I get better idea when you saw me it real stairs four or five steps up and down ,. Thanks from India

[@CJWMTownsend]

Hey, I discovered your channel a couple days ago and the few movement exercises I've tried have been very helpful helping me to understand my body better since most of my joints have a tendency to pop out of place. My husband was diagnosed with Osgood schlatters and even tho he's been getting treatment this last year with massage and chiro he still gets a lot of pain and sometimes limited movement. I could only find a couple of your videos about the knees but none for knowing how to learn safe movement so the muscles can relax and do a proper job. Could you either refer me to a video or please, please, please consider the subject for an upcoming video💕

[@I_v0]

Thanks, I finally overcame my fear because of you, A Few years ago, I fell while walking downstairs, And it put fear inside my body, But now i finally am able to walk downstairs normally.

[@TaroIwamoto]

That is so wonderful and exciting!

[@TheMathemagician6]

Hello! I appreciate this idea and transferring the weight to the hip makes a lot of sense. I started doing things like that while hiking. This particular movement with the planted foot and twisted knee concerns me: I'm going to play around with rotating the foot, too. Thanks!

[@TaroIwamoto]

Hiking is a perfect activity to apply this principle to! For this movement, I realize that my demo was not as good as I intended to do. Turning pelvis too far will cause the knee and ankle to rotate as you figure out. My intention is to turn pelvis (rotate pelvis relative to femur) only as far as your hip allows, thus no knee or ankle rotation/twisting. Just to work on this motor control skill of recognizing how far your hip joints allow motion and keeping knee and ankle stable will help your knee and ankle tremendously! Good practice with good intention will make a big difference. Let me know if you have any questions!

[@lov2playtn]

Very functional!

[@dansomadan]

Nice job! Very clear and simple. I will be using your approach with my clients.

[@TaroIwamoto]

Thank you. It might feel a bit awkward at first, but as you practice more, it'll feel less awkward. at least for me.

[@Vegline]

Thank you very helpful

[@TaroIwamoto]

Glad you found this

[@toneysisk1585]

Excellent! Thanks much. It works.

[@TaroIwamoto]

wonderful!

[@NancyLebovitz]

Thanks. I think it helps.

[@TaroIwamoto]

glad to hear that!

[@gerardt3284]

I've been walking downstairs sideways for years. Takes a bit longer, but at least I don't get stabbing knee pain

[@lidijapetrovic1928]

I have hip and knee arthritis in one leg this is difficult but I will try

[@TaroIwamoto]

Please let me know how it goes. if it doesnt go well, can you tell me what didnt go well so I can give you another tip if possible?

[@AY-lv6we]

This actually put quite a bit of force on the meniscus cartilage of the right knee as you are twisting and flexing the knee but it will reduce pain from patella cartilage friction.I will try this later..

[@TaroIwamoto]

I would reduce the amount of rotation of pelvis so you won't end up twisting your knee. The objective is to use hip rotation to reduce sheer force to knee, so when this strategy is done optimally, there shouldn't be any rotation at knee

[@veronicawest1586]

It works

[@TaroIwamoto]

great!

[@0509jh]

thank you for uploading few month ago, i injured my knee ㅜ.ㅜ it is so painful so i have to do this way 😄😆

[@TaroIwamoto]

Thanks for leaving the comment! Are you saying this strategy helps or you hurt your knee using this strategy?

[@psdaengr911]

Isn't a basic principle of Feldenkrais to make movements in balance, reversible and minimum effort, so that walking down stairs should be the reverse of walking up? Wouldn't traversing stairs one step at a time with the body turned 90 degrees to the direction of movement be simpler than rotating in opposite directions for each step?

[@TaroIwamoto]

going sideway would be easier, yes. when it comes to reversibility of movement, if we were to apply the principle in stairs, we would be going downstairs backwords. I have seen some people do that.

[@ayum7268]

動画ありがとうございます。一般的なフェルデンクライスは 毎日しても良いのですか?軽い動きだから長時間出来てしまいますよね、、、。どれくらい続けると 体が変わると感じますか?毎回毎回 小さな驚きの連続です!スミマセン 沢山質問してしまいました。

[@TaroIwamoto]

コメント、質問有難うございます!　動画見てもらってコメントをもらえるのは嬉しいですね。 フェルデンクライスは毎日しても大丈夫ですよ。頻繁にすることでより脳に情報を与えるので良いと思います。もちろん情報量が多すぎると感じたら休憩をとりいれて下さいね。どれくらい続けると体の変化を感じれるかは個人差があるので何とも言えませんが人によっては1レッスンで変わる人もいれば数カ月ぐらいしてから変化を感じだす人もいますね。 ちなみに、フェルデンクライスはどういったところから始めたのですか？

[@ayum7268]

@@TaroIwamoto 返信ありがとうございます!インスタもフォローさせて頂きました。フェルデンクライスを知ったのはソマティックエクササイズに興味を持ったのがきっかけです。ヨガの練習からの足の痛みが フェルデンクライスのお陰で無くなって来ました。

[@TaroIwamoto]

こちらもインスタフォローバックさせてもらいました。カリフォルニアだとフェルデンクライスプラクティショナーはけっこう多いですよね。フェルデンクライスはAwareness Through Movementというように動きを通して自分の気づきを高める目的なのでそれによってヨガであっても日常の生活にでも何にでも行かせれるのが良いところだと思います。カラダとココロの染みついた癖を気づくきっかけを与えてくれると思うのでそこから色々と制限から開放されていくと思います。

[@BBRubyT]

Then what do you do from that position? And do you turn the other way for the other foot, or is it best to go down the staricase at the same angle all the way down?

[@ThuLe-eh1xe]

Hi Taro, When I walk downstairs the way you teach, I have problem keeping both my feet straight in front of me. They are oblique. Is it OK? Thanks.

[@TaroIwamoto]

no, that means you are turning pelvis too much. your knees should remain facing forward. I would reduce turning of pelvic.

[@ThuLe-eh1xe]

@@TaroIwamoto I see. It becomes easier. Will this way distort my body, my bones, my muscles since it does not keep my body straight especially when I go up and down the stairs all day long? Will this exercise strengthens my knees in the future ? My knees hurt after doing this exercise. Should I omit this exercise?. Thank you.

[@TaroIwamoto]

@@ThuLe-eh1xe I would say discontinue this. this is a movement strategy for stair management using hip rotation to reduce sheer stress to knee, and not an exercise to strengthen knees. When this strategy is used correctly, knee pain should be less. The fact that you experience increased knee pain tells me that you probably did over rotation and ended up torquing your knee.

[@lesleymiles4946]

I'm not sure how to apply this to multiple steps...I have 4 and couldn't quite work it out

[@TaroIwamoto]

i admit that this is rather awkward strategy and takes practice to get used to this. practice this slowly until it becomes easy

[@lesleymiles4946]

@@TaroIwamoto Thank you!

[@lynettereid1345]

Hi Taro! Do you recommend this just as a temporary solution to knee pain going downstairs or as a permanent strategy? I have knee pain hiking or running downhill and I’m not sure how applicable this is to my problem.

[@TaroIwamoto]

This is just one movement strategy for going downstairs. The key point I am making in this video is to transfer work to larger and stronger part, hip joint and muscles from knee by using more hip movement. You can apply this concept to hiking. Running downhill unfortunately requires a lot of eccentric quad work, thus repetitive running downhill predispose you to developing tenditinis.

[@TaroIwamoto]

One more to add to your question. Training lateral hip stabilizers (gluteus medius) is very important for runners as they add lateral knee stability which will reduce lateral shear stress to knees during running.

[@psdaengr911]

If it is a chronic issue, you should consult a podiatrist to check whether your feet have normal range of motion and are properly supported in your shoes. If not, that could be putting additional stress of your knees as you try to compensate.

[@ImpulsoCreativo9322]

what is the reasoning behind turning the pelvis instead of just doing a hip hinge straight forward?

[@TaroIwamoto]

Thanks for your question. The reasoning behind this strategy is to absorb more stress and control descending using more hip motion (combination of hip flex and hip internal rotation); plus to reduce anterior sheer force to knee. This strategy is an awkward one and needs more practicing than the strategy used in going up, but another possibility that might be helpful at times.

[@ImpulsoCreativo9322]

@@TaroIwamoto but very small amount of internal rotation Im assuming?? And again would it be the same for walking downhill or no?

[@TaroIwamoto]

@@ImpulsoCreativo9322 yes very small amount of internal rotation. yes same for walking downhill, but awkward. I also use another strategy for walking downhill that is to use spine and ribs like a spring/shock absorber.

[@kathywhite625]

Might you have a video for walking down hill as the stairs aren’t an exact replication??

[@TaroIwamoto]

Thanks for your suggestion/request. That's a good topic. I will definitely add it to my list.

[@charichard1226]

@@TaroIwamoto good day. Is this video available already? For walking downhill? Thanks for the videos btw, I didn't know this technique for walking down the stairs.

[@TaroIwamoto]

@@charichard1226 not yet, but thanks for checking.

[@kiwikim5163]

I got deep aching in the hips from trying to do this. Never felt that before.

[@TaroIwamoto]

my guess is that you rotated around hips a bit too far, and your hips are probably not used to this motion (internal rotation). So, I would reduce hip rotation by half and see how you feel.

[@kiwikim5163]

@@TaroIwamoto okay. Yeah I was trying very hard to shift back into the hips. Only did it one day and was ok the next. Will try slight shifting.