[This is a guest blog by Eddie Arvelo. Eddie has a Bachelors of Science in Exercise Science from UNC Charlotte and is also a certified personal trainer. He is currently full time Athletic Development intern at Athletic Lab.] For the last couple of years, I have been very fascinated with knee valgus movement. Knee valgus is when someone's bone or joint is pointed inward of the body. I would constantly watch athletes in person and on television who had some type of knee injury; including ACL, MCL or meniscus tears. I would ask myself "I wonder if that person has a huge amount of knee valgus"This movement should be a fire alarm to any fitness professional or coach to identify it as a problematic movement and start attempting to fix it. There are different methods used to approach correcting valgus knee movements. Some research states knee valgus is caused by reduced gluteal activation, while other research indicates use of bands will not help in preventing knee valgus movements that lead to injury. Essentially, there is no universal way to correct knee valgus movements. However, the number one objective for any strength coach or trainer is to prevent injury. Incorporating specific mobility exercises into their program may be ideal in achieving that goal. In 2012, a research study by Dr. Padua, Dr. Bell and Michael Clark wanted to find the exact muscle amplitude associated with valgus knee movement during a double leg squat. Additionally, they also wanted to observe if a heel lift would change it; either preventing or intensifying the movement. They took two groups of people: one group that exhibited valgus knee and the other that did not. They tested the amplitude of the [...]