Is Knee Hyperextension Bad? 4 Triangle Pose Hacks for Hyperextended Knees

We’re often advised to avoid knee hyperextension in yoga. We hear cues like “micro bend your knee so it doesn’t hyperextend,” and we’re warned that hyperextension can lead to injury over time. Can it? Is knee hyperextension bad or dangerous?

What is Knee Hyperextension?

Let’s start with a quick definition: A hyperextended knee can bend backward beyond 180 degrees. Yoga teachers talk about hyperextension frequently, which must mean that they see lots of people doing it, right? If many human knees hyperextend, we must ask: Is knee hyperextension normal?

The answer is yes! Knee hyperextension of 5 to 10 degrees beyond anatomical zero (i.e., beyond “straight”) is perfectly normal. No wonder we see such a prevalence of hyperextended knees in a yoga class! This is simply something some human knees can (very safely) do. So why do we hear so much catastrophizing of this common trait?

Knee Hyperextension Myths

Here are a couple of the top fear-mongering myths about knee hyperextension that you’re likely to hear in a yoga (or other movement) class:

• Hyperextension Will Wear Away the Cartilage in Your Knee 

If this were true, those of us who have naturally hyperextended knees would do major damage simply waiting in line at the grocery store. I’m envisioning a whole industry built around preventative measures and corrective solutions. Think PSA announcements, paid courses to “retrain your knees,” fancy “antilock” devices …

• Hyperextension Will Overstretch the Ligaments at the Back of Your Knee

Ligament damage can indeed happen in the event of a knee hyperextension injury. This is a traumatic incident that occurs—usually during high velocity, high impact sports—when the knee is forced beyond its natural range of extension. Holding a yoga pose is neither high velocity nor high impact and doesn’t produce sufficient force to buckle the knee past its natural range. 

What about time spent in the pose, you ask? Once you exit the pose and move around a little, your tissues recover and return to their resting length. This phenomenon is called creep: tissues strain when subjected to stress over time. After the stressor is removed, and with a little time, they then return to their resting length. Have you ever fallen asleep in a chair with your chin on your chest? When you wake up, your neck feels icky, right? But then you move it around a bit, and you’re fine—no permanent damage done. The same is true of knee hyperextension, even in a long hold in a yin class. 

Knee Hyperextension in Yoga: Are There Reasons to Avoid It?

Triangle Pose (Trikonasana) is sometimes described as the “hyperextender’s delight.” The weight of your torso leans over a straight front leg, increasing the load on your knee and making it challenging to back out of hyperextension. But is knee hyperextension in Triangle Pose a problem?

The short answer is no. If it’s not causing pain, hyperextending in this common asana won’t damage your knee. There are a couple of side effects to be aware of, though.

Does the back of your ankle feel crunched in Trikonasana? That’s often related to knee hyperextension. As the knee presses toward the floor, it creates more ankle plantar flexion (your foot points more). That can result in a sensation of compression—often, the back of the ankle appears wrinkly and white. Backing off knee hyperextension resolves the discomfort downstairs in the ankle.

Or maybe your knee feels wobbly when you don’t allow it to hyperextend in Triangle Pose. The ability to hyperextend can make it challenging to control your knee here. If your knee feels wobbly—it bends and straightens a bit and can’t seem to land in one spot—your brain is simply having difficulty coordinating the muscles that organize the joint. Training your brain to talk to your leg muscles is a worthwhile endeavor!

While knee hyperextension isn’t inherently dangerous, these are a couple of reasons you might want to learn how not to do it in Trikonasana. All right, then: how do you avoid knee hyperextension in this yoga pose?

4 Triangle Pose Hacks for Hyperextended Knees

1. Put Your Hand on a Yoga Block

   

   This is a common prop arrangement for Trikonasana. Often, it’s used to raise the floor if the hamstrings don’t allow the hand to descend down to the mat. But it’s useful for knee hyperextension, too. The block permits your arm to support your torso’s weight better, so less load is pouring over your front leg. 

   It also means that your hamstrings aren’t as stretched. Your hamstrings cross your knee. When they contract, they bend your knee. You contract your hamstrings to limit hyperextension. The further a muscle is stretched, the harder it is to contract it. So, reducing hamstring stretch can help you access your hamstrings and better control your hyperextension.

2. Wedge a Yoga Block Under Your Calf

   

   Angle a block, turned to its tallest facet, between the mat and your calf to prevent hyperextension. This is a go-to strategy if knee hyperextension in Triangle Pose causes pain. It can also help you define a “straight” knee. Hyperextension poses a proprioceptive challenge. That is, it may make it harder to feel where your knee is in space and to know what “straight” feels like. The drawback of this variation is that the block does the work for you. You don’t learn how to organize your knee muscularly.

3. Step Your Foot Onto a Yoga Block

   

   Try Trikonasana with a block under your front foot. (You’ll also need to add a block or a tower of two blocks under your hand.) This version shifts more weight into your back leg, reducing the load on the front one. As a result, you may find it easier to minimize hyperextension and intentionally position your knee.

4. Use a Bolster as a Gas Pedal

   

   Lay a bolster across the top of your mat. (The bolster will be perpendicular to the mat so that you can roll it up and down the length of the mat.) Place your front foot on top of the bolster, then step on the gas! Press the ball of your foot into the bolster; your heel will lift.

   You’re using gastrocnemius, one of your calf muscles, to point your foot. Gastroc also bends your knee, or un-hyperextends it. When you use gastroc to press the ball of your foot into the bolster, it also contracts across your knee, bringing you out of hyperextension in a stable, wobble-free manner.

A Hyperextended Knee in Yoga isn’t Bad—But There Are Reasons to Avoid It

So, is knee hyperextension bad? Nah. It’s just something some human knees can do. That said, there are some reasons you might want to learn to back off hyperextension in poses like Triangle. One top motivation is simply cultivating an awareness of what your knee is doing and fine-tuning your ability to organize it. After all, isn’t the yoga practice meant to hone awareness and facilitate intentional action?