It would be wrong to suggest there is consensus among scientists on the design flaws of the human knee, but you can’t help thinking that if you could re-engineer that joint, you wouldn’t start with the current design.
Backs, necks and shoulders all cause their share of problems, but knees just seem to be permanently problematic. It is a rarity to find a seriously active or sporty person whose knees have never given them grief.
We are all too well aware of this, and our multi-disciplinary team of writers – physios, osteopaths, physicians, conditioning coaches – have between them probably written more about knees than any other single subject.
We do have something of an advantage: editorial consultant Fares Haddadis is one of the world’s leading knee specialists. Thanks to the dedication and professional curiosity of his team, we have some privileged insights into how surgical techniques are developing in some astonishing ways.
Indeed, the fact that surgical knee repair has been transformed in the past 10 to 15 years is a cause for great cheer among all sportspeople.
While the horror of a single career-ending incident does still happen among elite athletes, for the vast majority of us, these days, knee injuries may bring pain, disruption and frustration, but not disaster.
This latest addition to the Peak Performance library will give you a thorough education in the mysteries of the knee, glimpses of what will soon be possible in repair techniques, and of course lots of tools to assist you in tackling niggling knee pain and injuries.
It was never our intention to cover every known sporting knee injury – but you will find all of the major ones here.
And if your knees tend to grumble but you’re not sure why, Cate Streete’s specially written guide on page 85 is a simply invaluable starting point for sorting them out.
