Ben Patrick saved my life. He is known by kneesovertoesguy on social media.
Until Age 30, playing sports was my highest joy in life.
When I lived in Chicago, I would play in alot of flag football leagues. I was a sure tackler, because I would basically secure the ball carrier, stop their forward momentum, and then grab their flag. This did not please the referees, who were constantly trying to reduce my aggressiveness. Well, their was a girl I liked on the team, and I wanted to prove to her that I could take direction and be on my best behavior. So I decided to tone down my agression and try to just grab the ball carriers flag as they ran past me.
During the next game, I found myself defending the goaline as the oppoent bore down on me. I concentrated on the flag on his left hip. Just as I was getting ready to grab his flag, he ran me over. His knee slammed directly into my knee, moving the patella off its normal spot on my knee. For the next many years, my knee never felt the same. I learned that day that the most dangerous thing in sports is to be the aggressed, not the aggressor.
What I did not learn, then, or for many years after, was how to fix my knee. I had surgery in Boulder to re-align my patella, but it did nothing. I had lost my ability to play basketball. Basketball was one of my main loves.
Finally, I stumbled upon Ben Patrick, who told me I had to rebuild the VMO, the tear shaped muscle to the left of my knee cap. To do this, I religously peformed the Patrick step on a slantboard. Within 2 months, I was pain free, and I could flex my knee and see the VMO blossoming.
As time wore on, I added in all the other exercises Ben recomments, like running backwards, split squats, and deep squats. Today, I regularly play basketball with no pain.
Knees over toes is the concept that in athletic endeavors, participants are constantly putting their knee over their toe to change direction or to jump. But most people teach you that when you squat, you should avoid putting your knee over your toe.
Ben's insight was that if you put your knee over your toe playing sports, you should do it when you train as well.