Pain or sensation in the medial knee of the front leg can be from the gracilis and semitendinosus, which are especially lengthened in this position and can transfer strain to the joint capsule.

It is important to keep the back of the front leg active (hamstrings) to avoid knee hyperextension, which is easy to do with the weight of the body over the leg. Sensations from within the knee (or any joint) are important signals to stop what you’re doing and adjust your action or position.

Pain in the lateral knee of the back leg can be from tightness in the muscles at the top of the iliotibial band (tensor facia lata, gluteus medius, gluteus maximus); they need to both lengthen and engage. If the gluteus medius and maximum are tight and the legs can’t; adduct relative to the pelvis, the spine will flex laterally. Tightness at the top of the iliotibial band can also contribute to tightness in the back of the ankle.

Does the spine rotate? The more articulate the sacroiliac joint, pelvic halves, and hip joints are, the more purely the spine can stay neutral. For example, if the front leg has a tight pectineus, the pelvis may rotate to the floor, and the spine will have to counterrotate more to 90pen the chest. Restrictions in any of the other lower-body structures that need to articulate will produce similar compensatory changes farther up in the system.