Whether you’re dealing with foot, knee, hip or pelvic floor issues one important structural factor is femur position. Try this self-assessment to see if you have internally rotated femurs: stand in your normal stance looking straight ahead and have someone take a photo of the back of your knees. The hamstring tendons should form little pits at the back of your knees that track straight back.
Or, do the back of your knees look more like this. Sorry my camera takes grainy photos, so I drew lines to represent where the hamstring tendons are.
Internally rotated femurs
What I did to correct my femur position:
Start here:
- I made sure I didn’t use my quads to externally rotate my femurs. The action comes from deep lateral rotators. But first I had to work to release my stuck up knee caps.
- I do Pelvic Lists to strengthen my lateral rotators.
- Wearing Correct Toes™ give my feet a wider base, so my feet don’t collapse in taking my femurs with them. Read my review and order HERE>> Buy Correct Toes HERE>>>
- Alignment Snacks: Adductor Madness, A Balanced Approach to Hip Strength, Balance… with Lateral Hips, and Walk This Way, Stand This Way. Alignment Snacks are short recorded classes that you can download and watch anytime you wish. At $5 a class, they’re a bargain. Click on the banner below.
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I just love your posts. They are so clear and easy to understand and you always have great pictures to illustrate, which I love. Thank you!!!
Thanks Barbra!
My daughters knees (11 years old) are exactly like this and she has completely flat arches, even when sitting down.
We’ve followed many of the foot book recommendations for almost a year, but arches still flat.
are there other exercises you recomend for flat feet? I looked on-line at inching feet, penny and pen exercise etc.. where you are trying to specifically activate the arch. Any of those you know of that may work? are they OK to use?
I am new to Restorative Exercise but trying to learn proper posture. I have been practicing Katy Bowman’s stretches in Move Your DNA for a couple of months now and am just beginning to be able to rotate my femurs from the hips without activating my quads. My question is, when you are standing (like at a standing work station), do you need to be firing these lateral hip rotators the whole time? Can you overdo it? I want to be sure I’m doing it right.
No, I wouldn’t consciously fire the lateral rotators continually. I would keep working on the correctives and then one day you will find neutral naturally. The foot position and mobility are important for femur position as well. So don’t leave out the foot correctives.
Thanks so much for your post and your response! You have a fantastic blog.
Thank you for this! I’ve had flat feet and, it turns out, internally rotated femurs my whole life (age 45 now). I need to get better at doing the pelvic lists and un-stucking my knee caps (the latter is hard to do!), I know, but also what do you consider the “foot correctives” that you mentioned above? Wearing minimal shoes for a year now has made a tremendous difference in my feet’s flexibility and strength (and way less pain!). What else do you suggest?
Hi Lisa,
For foot correctives, I suggest Correct Toes™ to keep the feet from dragging the femurs inward and downward. You can read my review here: https://alignmentmonkey.nurturance.net/2012/correct-toes-toe-spacers/
In addition the Fix Your Feet DVD or the Whole Body Barefoot book should have you covered. 🙂
Please kindly assist, my knees are rotated inwards and im not able to even wear jeans without feeling insecure
Barbara, my knees internally rotate but I have super high arches. The right more than the left. What’s up with that?
Hi Michelle, Are you looking at your kneecaps or your hamstring tendons? The kneecaps aren’t good objective markers in determining what’s going on with the femurs because the knee caps can “float” from side to side. That said, it is possible to have high arches and internally rotated femurs. The collapsed arch is just one variation. There are other players here, like the tibia’s influence on the feet.
I injured my right knee about 7 months ago which left it rotated inward so I walk like I’m knock kneed. I’m trying to get it aligned through exercise and avoid surgery. I enjoyed watching your video and would like any other information to help with the alignment. I’m going to a personal trainer who is helping me build strength in the leg.
A good place to start is the feet. Tight immobile feet can affect the knees.
Is it possible to fix my femur if u were 20yrs and above
I discovered your website today and I’m enjoying it. I enjoy your approach to a variety of issues and find them particularly constructive. I know that women in particular tend to have problems with the femur locked into an interior rotated position. I also know that men often have the exact opposite problem – their femur is locked into a slight external rotation that makes internal rotation difficult and pronates their gate. Do you have any thoughts on what exactly causes this particular gender difference ?