Knees bend forwards and backwards

I have known myself for 26 years. And yet, still finding out new things.

The other day in yoga class, my instructor informed me that I was hyperextending my knee. What?! Totally didn't know that was something I could do. She showed how to prevent it - and wow, talk about a different sensation when I am stretching.

I have often hated hamstring stretches - it is painful, and I don't feel very flexible in that area. No matter how much I practice, it still feels tight. Now, I have discovered, that actually the pain comes from forcing my knees to bend backwards. By tightening my quads before I stretch, thus pulling the kneecaps upwards and preventing the hyperextension, I feel a very different sensation - a good stretch - and, I am perhaps more flexible than I thought.

It goes to show the importance of exercising with a professional. I don't know that I have been doing this my whole life, but the sensation is familiar to me, so it's at least been a while. It is nothing I noticed as odd, I thought my knees were behaving like everyone elses. I thought the sensations I was experiencing were normal.

As an aside, though, I showed my husband me touching my toes with me preventing the hyperextension, and then the difference - me touching my toes with out. Mr. Sensitive's reaction to the later? "Yuck!"