Just what you KNEED! Terminal Knee Extension with Short Arc Quads

This of course is a classic quad strengthening exercise.I am not sure why…but I rarely do this exercise with my clients.I probably should. I think I strongly prefer closed chain exercises.I have several clients who have difficulty with terminal knee extension.This exercise can be performed for repetitions with and without ankle weights.At the clinic we have soft velcro ankle weights in ¼ lb to 3 lb increments.Something like, “I bet you can’t lift this weight to my hand” usually works. If he is successful with one weight, I put more weight on, until it looks like I have found the perfect weight.

In the picture, my model had to extend his knee to lift his foot to touch the car he wanted.After doing 10 repetitions, he got to put the cars down a ramp. This kid would do anything for a car.You have to love that kind of client.I may also have the child extend his knee and hold it for 10 seconds.Or I may do the eccentric version where I claim I can push his foot back down to the floor and I get 10 seconds to try.Again beating me in a competition is always a winning game for both of us.