Knee Series – Part 2
"Who Kneeds It?" – Hip Bones in Motion
Hips are the knees!
The hips need to be able to internally rotate and externally rotate — that’s non-negotiable.
But here’s the catch: if they aren’t set up in a way that connects into the ribcage and creates the utility of pressure, the knees will suffer.
This part of the series is about learning how to feel where the bones are meant to position — so they fit together like a jigsaw and stay there — allowing the knees to function the way they were actually designed to.
It’s All in the Sequence
The hips have to be sequenced in a way that:
Lets the diaphragm be engaged as part of the system
Uses the diaphragm as an instrument to change the surface area and tone of the pelvic floor
And, contrary to popular belief, the pelvic floor is not:
Kegeling
Lifting your balls
“Hugging your partner”
If you have the control to bring the tops of the hip bones closer together using deep core mechanisms, it changes the pitch of the hip funnel.
That means:
A larger lower pelvic opening surface area
A splayed structure
Variable, adaptable pelvic floor tension that can either react to or direct force
The Ball Joint Truth
The hips house the ball joints, and their utility changes based on their positioning.
Not all positions lead to the same outcome.
Inconvenient? Absolutely.
But here’s the fun part: once you learn to develop the awareness and command of the hips, you get a ridiculous level of command over physics.
It really is the elixir of longevity and power — and yes, they go hand in hand.
It’s the most efficient way to distribute forces through the body.
The Gripping Trap
You can’t go around internally gripping your bowels and expect a positive, long-lasting outcome.
That’s not control — that’s a nervous system hostage situation.
Gripping hijacks:
Your breathing efficiency
Your joint stability (or over-tones them in the wrong way)
Your amygdala — flipping you into constant “fight/flight”
Your bones are designed with the firmware to express a fit that engages all the deeper systems, allowing the knees to bend, torque, and deal with forces effectively.
You just have to stop overriding it with bad habits.
The Lamb Leg Reality Check
Ever roasted a lamb leg and carved it out? Even after hours of cooking, the knee joint and ACL are damn near impossible to snap with all the force you can give — unless you nick it with a knife, go full caveman, and twist it multiple times.
So when you hear of someone snapping an ACL, going “bone-on-bone” from a meniscus rupture, or blaming “natural wear and tear”… question that.
What kind of pressure was on the knees, over constant time, where movements now have interference with each other?
And by interference, I mean the mechanical kind — where moving parts in an engine collide mid-cycle. You don’t want that in an engine, and your body is no different.
The Hip Geometry Equation
A lack of pressure in the body and a poor disposition of hip geometry is the fork in the road:
Get it right, and the knees glide.
Get it wrong, and you don’t just miss the mark — you accelerate the forces into the knee and kaboom — degeneration at its finest.
And let’s be clear:
No amount of VMO isolation, isometric loading, or quad extensions will fix this.
Looking Down the Leg Spine
Of course, there’s the other end of the “leg spine” — it’s called the foot.
That’s where we’re headed next in the series, so you can see the full chain of events and sequences that lead to:
Beyond-knee stability
Potential and power return to the joint
The Role Reversal Problem
If the hips aren’t doing their job, the knee will try to stabilise the hip — role reversal.
And if the feet aren’t working and are super weak (which, in my experience with thousands of people, is now a full-blown epidemic) — the knee will try to stabilise the ankles and feet.
Total role reversal.
Not very sexy, is it?
Stay tuned for the next part of the series - feel free to comment !
Maz.M
Awesome post, looking forward to part 3
Great breakdown , explanations are very clear , thanks