When you’re standing usually, do your knees slightly bend external? If so, you may have bowed legs, the proper name for which is genu varum. The condition can either come from youth or establish gradually. To correct it, you’ll do exercises that strengthen muscles to pull your knees back into place and then stretch muscles that are pulling them out.
Genu Varum
Bow legs got their name from the shape of your leg when you have the condition. Your legs in fact look like the bend of a bow. The top, your hips, and the bottom, your ankles, are in a normal position. Your knees bend outwards like they’re trying to get away from each other.
Genu varum isn’t only triggered by the knees being pulled out to the side. There is also a small rotation of your leg bones. They rotate out to the side, which extract knees to the exterior.
How to Fix It
To repair bow knees you have to bring your knees in closer to each other, which is called adduction. You likewise have to rotate your knees back in, which is called internal rotation.
Some people have hips that are developed to push their legs out to the side, that makes fixing this issue even harder. If that’s the case, you might feel some tightness in your hips during these exercises. In that case, don’t push the exercises too hard and avoid anything that’s painful to either your hips or knees.
The muscles you want to work are your adductors, which pull your knees in to each other, and your internal rotator muscles. The muscles you wish to extend are your glutes, which pull your knees out to the side and rotate your leg externally.
Foam Roller Toe Touch
Holding a foam roller in between your legs as you touch your toes will trigger your adductors and help pull your knees in.
How to: Put a foam roller or rolled-up towel between your knees. Stand with your feet a few inches from each other. Squeeze the foam roller in between your legs, keep your knees directly, and bend forward to touch your toes. Go as low as you can, then return up and raise your arms overhead. Repeat 10 times.
Toes-In Squat
Use this exercises to use the muscles on the within your thigh more than the muscles on the outdoors to squat. This helps enhance the muscles that pull your knees back in towards the center.
How to: Start standing with your feet 3 inches apart. Turn your toes in towards each other till your big toes touch. Then, squat down as low as you can and reach your arms direct to preserve balance. Squat as low as you easily can, but do not worry if you don’t go as low as you normally would. It’s normal for your variety of motion to be limited in this exercise.
Side-Lying Hip Internal Rotation
Use this workout to target the muscles that rotate your leg in and point your knees forward. They’re a hard muscle to separate, but this exercise looks after that.
How to: Lie on your side with your legs on top of each other and knees bent at 90-degrees. Your body should be in a straight line from your go to your knees with your feet behind you. Keep your knees together and raise your leading foot off of your bottom foot, turning your leading leg in.
Raise it as high as you can while keeping both knees bent, then lower it back down gradually. Repeat 10 times on each leg. You can add a miniature resistance band for some additional resistance.
Figure Four Stretch
This glute stretch will assist your effective hip muscles relax to let your knees come in a little, helping your bow leggedness.
How to: Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the ground. Pick up your right leg and put the outside of your right ankle across your left knee.
Reach through the gap in between your left and right knee with your right arm to grab the front of your left shin. Reach your left hand under your right foot and grab the front of your left shin with that hand as well.
Lean back and hug your left knee in towards your chest, stretching the right glute. Hold for 30 seconds and then change sides.
