Knee feels like it's hyper-extending

[dawnray]

I recently started walking on the treadmill. Feels great when I'm on it, don't have any pain or discomfort. My right knee started to bother me, feeling like it would want to bend the wrong way. I feel like I have to keep it bent (unlocked) to make it feel ok. It's not seriously painful, but not OK. I also haven't been able to bend it fully very well (squat down) without it feeling stiff and resistant to that motion. It seems to want to stop and stick. I wondered if my hamstrings are weak and quads are overly tight. I have muscular legs, but a PT once told me that my hamstrings are tight (which is different from strong I suppose). Any thoughts?

[Heidi]

Hi
Have you had any injury to the knee before? Have you been inactive for a long period and are now starting to exercise?

It does sound like a muscle imbalance could be possible. This is a combination of having some muscles tight and some that are weak.

My advice initially would be to stretch the hamstrings, quads and calf muscles several times a day and start to strengthen the knee as a whole. So instead of doing some exercise specific to the hamstrings and some for the quads, do exercises which work both muscle groups. The most obvious is squats. The easiest way of starting to squat is to use a swiss ball (or fit ball). You can view this exercise here:
http://www.sportsinjuryclinic.net/strengthening/swiss_ball/swiss_ball_squat.php

Give this a go for 4-6 weeks, including the stretching and see if you get any improvement. (Start at 2 sets of 15 and gradually build up to 20 reps).

Good luck!