Knee Ability for Young Athletes

4 min readSep 12, 2024

My chronic knee pain started at age 12.

At 18 I had major surgery.

Many athletes have pain and injuries in that window.

My knees turned my favorite sport into daily anguish. I desperately wanted to quit playing, yet desperately wanted to be better at my sport.

Here’s the formula I would use to address the problem.

You can do this as an individual or with a team.

Step 1: 200yd Backward Jog

This position allows quality adaptation for the knee — no equipment needed.

Step 2: 20 Wall Tibialis Raises

Developing bodies respond particularly well to this one, and again: no equipment needed!

We’re going to develop the ability of the knee, so I believe strongly in developing the ability BELOW the knee as well. That’s what steps 2 and 3 are for.

Step 3: 20 Single-Leg Wall Calf Raises

Flip around on the wall and strengthen from the foot through the calf muscles.

Take breaks as needed, but know that the goal is 20 consecutive reps.

Steps 2 and 3 allow you to increase your strength relative to your body’s weight. Stronger 2 and 3 make everything upward easier to handle.

If 2 athletes were identical… EXCEPT one was weaker on 2 and 3, this weaker athlete would be more susceptible to lower body injuries.

Someone recently told me that I am “common sense meets innovation” — and I think that’s one of the best compliments I’ve ever received.

I don’t believe we can prevent all injuries.

I KNOW we can reduce our suffering by improving our ABILITY to withstand force, using no data beyond common sense and scalable exercises.

Step 4: 20 ATG Split Squats

Take breaks as needed.

The goal is 20 consecutive reps with full range of motion, standing on flat ground.

You can make the exercise easier by elevating the front foot.

The front heel may lift off the ground.

But the back knee does not rest on the ground.

Step 5: 2 Sets of 5 Nordic Drops

All you need is something immovable (or a partner) and a pad.

Go easy on the first set.

On the second set, exert closer to your maximum effort.

The more ability you have here, the more ability you have to resist your knee being pried apart.

My first knees over toes mentor, Charles Poliquin, called this ability the “2nd ACL” because it helps protect your ACL.

The ACL tear is now at epidemic levels among young female athletes.

I would be sure to have my entire team FAR BETTER THAN AVERAGE on this exercise, as well as the rest in this program.

The straighter your body, the more actual load.

So a variety of ability levels can work on this smoothly.

Bend your hips more = easier

Straighter hips = tougher

Step 6: 3 Sets of 5 LOW & SLOW Squats

Sports with the most knee surgeries, like basketball and soccer, are played HIGH and FAST.

The knees do NOT bend down low, as they do naturally during childhood.

So it’s not that soccer and basketball are “bad” — it’s that they’re EXTREME if you play them regularly and don’t ALSO improve your ability in LOW positions.

Elevate your heels, which allows you to get lower.

We make a $30 slantboard, but you can easily make your own or find something to elevate your heels.

Count to 5 SECONDS on each lowering.

Pause for 2 seconds at the bottom.

Then explode up, but in a controlled manner.

You can do this without weight, and I suggest progressively loading as you grow: