VMO Strengthening Exercises For All Abilities - VMO Anatomy, Function And Rehabilitation Exercises!
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- Опубліковано 3 сер 2024
- In todays video we look at the Vastus Medialis Oblique otherwise known as the VMO. We look at the anatomy, function and location of the VMO as well as looking at some of the best exercises for the VMO!
Where Is The Vastus Medialis Muscle?
The vastus medialis muscle is the inner most of the four quadriceps muscles found on the front of the thigh. The main bulk of vastus medialis is found just above the knee cap on the inner (medial) side of the knee. If you clench your thigh muscles, vastus medialis forms a bulge on the inner thigh, often referred to as the tear drop muscle. This part of the muscle is known as vastus medialis oblique, aka VMO or vastus medialis obliquus, as the muscle fibres here pass obliquely into the kneecap.
What does the Vastus Medialis do?
The vastus medialis muscle as a whole works with the other quadriceps muscles to straighten the knee and thus extend the leg. The vastus medialis is particularly important in the final stages of knee extension where it helps with the locking mechanism of the knee joint.
The vastus medialis oblique (VMO) portion on the muscle has an extra function of helping to control how the kneecap moves and provides stability.
The shape of the knee means that naturally the kneecap would glide slightly over to the outer side of the knee when bending the leg. This would place excessive friction through the cartilage lining the back of the kneecap as well as increasing the risk of patella dislocation.
However, the positioning and direction of the VMO muscle fibres help to counteract this by drawing the kneecap inwards, or medially. This ensures that as the knee bends and straightens, the kneecap glides smoothly up and down the groove on the thigh bone so there is no friction on the back of the kneecap.
Travis you mentioned a study when talking about heel elevated squats, do you have the link?
journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fu...
Travis I would really like to give those Pistol Squats a go, how can I find out how to do them?
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Excellent video! Thank you so much for the great info!!
Thanks for this! Recovering from knee surgery so this is super helpful!
Hi Travis, I am John Goh from the Republic of Singapore. I am 85 years old going to 86 come 02 January 2023 and a great grandfather of 2 adorable kids. I was an all round sportsman all my life and fitness was my life and still is, though I suffered a right leg footdrop following a surgery on my Lumbar spine after a near fatal motorcar accident. Before the Covid-19 Pandemic Lockdown in2020, I was still doing 4-5 days with strengthen training in the gym. With the lockdown all sports facilities were closed, and I have to do my exercises at home. I saw your video on VMO strengthening exercises and I love it, though there are others on the UA-cam. That said, I would like to find out whether there is any exercise to rejuvenate and strengthen the footdrop within your expertise. Age is only a number so I still keep on fighting to be as fit as a fiddle. Thank you in advance.
Hi John,
Thank you for such a comprehensive comment! I am really glad you enjoyed this video and well done for getting through what sounds like a rough few years! I have not yet done a video on Footdrop however if it is something you wanted help with I do offer an online service on my website. People can enquire about plans/programmes at the bottom of my page on the contact me form :)
Wishing you all the best John, keep smashing life!
Kindest regards,
Travis
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Hello, I as well have foot drop right leg. I had two surgeries years ago and still workout to strengthen body especially lower back. I’m 45 yrs old. I’m currently in treatment right now. Sad part is I had bought a seated calve machine before my symptoms started to increase. That would be cool if exercises exist to help with drop foot issues. I guess I’m not the only one looking to strengthen our drop foot.
Great compilation! Thanks! 👍
Good stuff Travis,keep it up it’s what we want!
Excellent workout thank you!!!
Such a great video wow! Very helpful
Wow. This video is exactly what I was looking for. You gave great instructions. I am looking forward to watching more of your videos. New subscriber! ❤
Thank you for the video
awesome video, i really like the way you communicate through the video, very kind and warm 🤗
Thank you brother,
I will try them all for my post 3 patella tendon reconstructions 👌🏾
Super explanation of each exercise😇😘
Fantastic!
Just subscribed bro...high quality content❤️
First class presentation
Wow! those are awesome! I've got a knee tracking issue and PT wants me to strengthen the VMO - thanks for explaining how it can't be isolated and doing your exercises is a big help!
Same issue here! 👋 and I'm 33 y.o. btw. It's frustrating but still working on it. When will it be completely fixed tho 😆
It's been 3 mos now and the PT has helped a great deal.
Think I've found a new favourite sports rehab youtuber... noticed no new videos in a while, I hope you're still doing 'em!
Hi Jordan,
Thanks for the kind words! Yep a whole sports and exercise series is due next year and around 50-60 videos :)
Kind regards,
Travis
amazing
Great information! Thank you for putting this together! Well done!
Good exercise
Tkanki you! I hope your exercises help me be back on running!
Best regards from Poland!
Cała przyjemność po mojej stronie!
Hello Travis ..enjoyed your video ..
Is there any role for using the leg extension machine ..and if the answer is yes , is there any specific recommendations on how to use it to focus on the VMO ?
Thanks
Thankyou
I think the knees over toes guy uses a slant board for some or those exercises and he recommends knees over toes for the split squats, which appears to give a greater range of motion.
Hi Jackie,
I didn't put any knee over toe exercises in this as I would do that in a separate video. I use knee over toe exercises regularly in 1-1 training however when I am doing a video like this to the general public, you have to go through allowing the knee to tolerate less loading before going onto knee over toe exercises. Someone who has never loaded the knee in that way before may end up causing other problems due to overloading too much too soon or not have the sufficient range of motion after surgeries or pathologies that then require VMO targeted training.
Hello Travis,
Thank you for uploading such a wonderful video. I have a knee pain problem and my doctor advised me to do knee strengthening exercises. I keep searching for videos related to this watched many videos. Finally I found yours among all other videos yours is an awesome with a good information. God bless you Man.
My question is how often we should do this exercise per week ?
Hi Sandeep,
I really appreciate your comment and thank you for the kind words. At maximum I would do these exercises 4x per week with a rest in between each day. For example, Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday. etc
Wishing you all the best!
Travis
Good info... also, old church? Love it!
Haha, very unique isn't it!
It was a derelict old church now converted into a leisure centre for the local community.
Travis
I have my agl reconstruction done theee month ago
Thanks for the video! I have a patellar tracking issue since having a surgery in 2004, I'm trying to strengthen my VMO because my knee tends to move to the outside in the last 30 degrees of a leg extension instead of remaining stable and centered.
Hi Rishi,
Wishing you all the best in your rehab, I will have to do a video on patellar tracking at some stage!
Kindest regards,
Travis
Don't let the name fool you, the Sissy squat is no joke.
Thanks for the info! Is there a risk of dislocation while doing these exercises? Thanks.
Hi Densetsushounen,
If you are working up progressively, there should not be any risk of dislocation. I can thankfully say in 12 years of my career doing knee rehabs nobody has ever dislocated their knee on any of the exercises included. Often there's not ever a "bad" exercise, just an exercise done badly.
Kindest regards,
Travis
Can you do the wall squat without the yoga ball behind your back?
Hi Susan,
Absolutely :)
Kind regards,
Travis
How many times a day is good for this? Getting off the floor is still hard, I can't do knee (butt) kicks or turn to the side too much. I'm open to suggestions from others and the OP.
Hey Unknown,
The exercises work up in progression so only do what you can tolerate and gradually work up. These exercises in the beginner phase can be done more regularly, the harder variations I would do at max every other day.
Kindest regards,
Travis
The descent of foot or other is more difficult, then focus on the ascent more. 😅
this should be done how long after ACL reconstruction surgery? i am 19 weeks post acl surgery and i recently gained full flexion but i cant hyperextend my knee and these exercises can be helpful to activate the VMO and hyperextend the knee. Though, these days the knee is very stiff, tight and extremely sore.
Hi SA,
The knee can stay sore for a while which is very normal after knee surgery. I would look after reaching full range of motion at the knee joint to just incorporate these into regular workouts so you keep progressing the exercises. You can do them for as long as you like really, dependent on goals, objectives and how far you want to go with regards what you require the knee to do (i.e a sprinters rehab is longer than a desk workers)
Kind regards,
Travis
@@UKFH thanks.
Will these exercises eventually get rid of VMO pain? Mines been painful since my patella dislocation nearly a year ago, when I’ve been walking long distances or fast
Hi Hally,
They should definitely help!
Kind regards,
Travis
1:14 when I try to straighten my leg in such a way as I sit, my left knee feels 'blocked', like a wedge in front of the knee, I also feel pain. What could this symptom be? Could it be chondromalacia?
Hi, physiotherapy student here. Does this pain feel sharp behind the knee/hamstring? If so, I believe this might be symptoms of sciatica (very common in most people). Although it would be unwise to call it sciatica, you can treat it as if it was this. Learn about "Sciatic Nerve Flossing" and see if that helps
When I use my stationary bike regularly and I get stronger, my patella begins to sublux (laterally) intermittently when I’m walking, or just being active. It immediately pops itself back into place, but it’s painful. I’m thinking my vastus lateralis is getting stronger and pulling the patella abnormally. Thoughts? I’m in my mid sixties, so I have some arthritis.
Hi Becky,
It's very hard to say without seeing you but what I can say is developing the vastus medialis over time can pull the patella medially and hopefully this will make your subluxations less and less!
Kindest regards,
Travis
My Ankle has that not sure a Demigod issue or demon aperture not exact down.😊
If you do the Strength mExercises Rightness then you’ll make real strides.😮
That analogy you gave about the femoral nerve connecting to all 4 quadriceps being like a switch turning on all 4 lights in a room…would you say that the exercises you provide here will make the VMO bulb shine brighter than all the other bulbs? So if you were to focus on these exercises should you in theory and practice end up with a disproportionately larger VMO than if you had just done your ‘average’ quad strengthening exercises?
Hi Freddie,
Great question! In answer to your first question yes, however there are lots of factors which make that a complex question. Genetics, knee tracking, exercise execution, gait, hip strength all have roles to play when it comes to quadricep development!
In answer to your second question, it is possible but unlikely that these exercises would develop the VMO so much that then lateral quadricep work was needed. These exercises would have to be done to an extreme for that to happen.
Kindest regards,
Travis
Do you have any idea why my vmo doesn't pop out like it used to and I can't lock my knee like I used to could it be atrophy
Hey Christian,
Hard question as I can't see you to assess you however if a client was looking for a defined quadricep grouping, apart from lowering body fat to make the muscles show up more defined I would hit heavy compounds such as hack squats under tension. Not included in this video however as you would need access to a gym.
Kind regards,
Travis
what advances someone from beginner to intermediate and to advanced level ? is it when the exercises become easier or something else?
Hi Sandeep,
3 Factors really;
The clients ability to perform exercises, for example do they regularly exercise or not and can the exercises in this video be done with the correct form.
Is the client post surgery or injury in which case they are unable to do the advanced exercises straight away.
Finally, the severity of knee issues.
Kind regards,
Travis
3:52
So… you can’t isolate the VMO? Just do whole-quad exercises?
Why do some people have deficient VMO’s in comparison to the rest of their quads then? Are you saying that condition doesn’t exist? Just their whole quad is weak?
I’m so confused man.
Hi Lachlan,
VMO weakness definitely does exist that's for sure.
Often the two biggest causes of VMO weakness and knee pain are linked to restricted mobility with the hips and the ankle shifting the knee inwards.
Kindest regards,
Travis
Why do cyclists, who do NOT do gym work, have such pronounced VMOs?
Hi Savagepro,
When cycling the quadricep muscles push the pedals down, then the hamstring muscles help sweep the pedals up. Cyclists repeat this motion thousands of times over and over to both these muscle groups become developed.
Hope that helps!
Kindest regards,
Travis
@@1unsung971 Depends on how someone cycles unsung, when I work with high level athletes we can manipulate the set up of a bike to target muscles more or less. For example, we can modify the setup of a bike to work more Quads and less Hamstrings, you will often find triathletes set up their bike to take as much pressure of the calf as possible to keep the muscle fresh for running after cycling in an event. Physiotutors who you recommend people view (who are fantastic by the way) has the hack squat variation of a leg press as their recommended exercise for meniscus rehabilitation so the suggestion that these exercises 'trash the knee' is absurd. Ineffective loading (doing too much too soon for soft tissues to handle without appropriate linear progression does trash a healthy knee)
No you WANT your knee to track over your toes… it will give you a better stretch, work your knee tendons more and add synovial fluid to your meniscus.
Hi Lymedog,
In this video I am going through VMO exercises for all populations, whether that be elderly, post rehab, those who have never exercised, knee pathologies. It has been kept basic for a reason. Knee over toe exercises definitely have their place however not within a more generic video like this. I would do a different video entirely for that population group. The knee needs to be loaded very carefully for knee over toe exercises and for most individuals that takes time.
Kind regards,
Travis
I agree about the therapy, I just know that the “knee over toe” system is totally scalable. For elderly, post injury, post op and just a beginner. I’ve used the knee over toe method, I power lifted, played multiple sport and had knee and toe injuries. I’m unique, because my large toe both were broken and I had severe Lyme disease which caused extreme arthritis in both breaks. This resulted in me getting them both fused.”my toes don’t bend”. I also was diagnosed with a semi torn meniscus which resulted in severe knee pain, I couldn’t get down to the floor without help. I started the knee over toe rehab, even with the unbending toes and I’m back to playing sports, weightlifting etc. I ever went to rehab for the meniscus or any knee surgery. I’m over 55 and I’m back doing almost everything I was doing, less American football, that I was in my 20’s. Yes, I had to modify my lunging because of my toes, but the point is it worked. The early scaling included walking backwards on a treadmill, to which I still do, just at a greater pace and incline. When I first started lifting especially power lifting, knees over toes was a no-no, now it’s a necessity… I credit my ability to move better and virtually eliminate my knee issues to the “knee over toe” exercise format.