Coach Logan breaks down an article written by Ben Patrick (ATG Founder) on the “3 Keys to Knee Longevity”
By Logan Kelly, July 8, 2023
Hello All,
My primary specialty is knee ability training and reversing knee pain. I am an ATG Certified L1 coach (1 of 2 in Ohio). ATG stands for Athletic Truth Group and was founded by Ben Patrick (KneesOverToesGuy on social media) with a focus on helping people get out of knee pain. To expose everyone to more of ATG/KOT, I will be summarizing articles written by Ben and other ATG coaches. This week we will be talking about the “3 Keys to Knee Longevity”
Starting off, these 3 exercises are meant to help you maintain high knee quality so you can play with your kids and grandkids. The three exercises mentioned above are:
- 15 minutes of backward walking
- 25 tibialis raises
- 5 sets of 5 each leg ATG split squats
By doing 3 sets, 3 days per week, you are able to start building healthier knees and reversing years of knee pain. The first part of this formula is backward walking, quite literally reversing out of knee pain. We do this because it is the easiest and safest way to practice getting out knees over our toes.
“You see, EVERY time you take a step backward, your knee goes over your toes.”
Something that most doctors warn against. This is because of Duke University’s study in 1978, which found that the most pressure is placed on the knees when they go past the toes. This scared everyone into avoiding knees over toes, and why you might hear gym teachers or even some trainers say, “No knees over toes.” However, by doing so, we remove our most important protection for our knees.
If you’re someone who likes statistics…
“The result is 790,000 knee replacements were done last year in the United States, the most on earth and 19 TIMES AS MANY as the Chinese, whose elderly walk backward, a solution they have used for thousands of years and passed down from generation to generation.
The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons predicts our 790,000 knee replacements per year to rise to 3.5 million per year by 2030.”
Instead of protecting the knee, many people have been instructed to take drugs that reduce pain, but those same drugs have been found to wear down cartilage which leads to connective tissue damage and joint inflammation/disease such as osteoarthritis.
A final note on backward walking, the better you can develop this ability, the more you reduce the risk of falling, which typically results in 2.8 million injuries treated in an emergency department. Next, we move onto the tibialis, which is the body’s primary decelerator. We use it with every step, yet many people only train the muscles above and below it. Training the tibialis directly reduces pressure on the feet and knees. With just backward walking and tibialis raises, you can get significantly ahead of the statistical curve. Finally, we move onto our last step, the ATG Split Squat. By getting a “full bend,” we are able to improve the growth and thickness of tendons surrounding the knees, hips, and ankles. This helps to bulletproof the knee and leads to other adaptations, such as improving the traditional double-leg squat.
Master these 3 abilities, and you will be one step closer to increasing your knee longevity. Thank you for taking the time to read this summary, and if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out or ask me when you see me!
– Coach Logan
