Joe Talks About "Knees Over Toes Guy"

Episode Summary

Main Topics Discussed

• Hip Flexor Strengthening: Joe discusses the importance of the hip flexors, a muscle group he believes is neglected by most people despite being crucial for running and martial arts.
• The "Knees Over Toes Guy" (Ben Patrick): An exploration of Ben Patrick’s viral training methodology that focuses on bulletproofing the knees and joints.
• Specialized Training Equipment: Joe describes using Monkey Feet (devices to attach dumbbells to shoes), slant boards, and tib bars to isolate specific muscles.
• Challenging Fitness Dogma: A conversation on why the traditional advice of "never let your knees pass your toes" may be limiting and how building strength in that range can prevent injury.
• Martial Arts Application: How these specific exercises improve the power of knees and roundhouse kicks in Muay Thai and MMA.

Key Insights & Memorable Moments

Joe highlights the Monkey Feet device as a game-changer for hip flexor development, noting that while he has kicked since childhood, he rarely found a direct way to weight-train those muscles until using this tool. He emphasizes that for fighters, the "hip" is where the power for knees and kicks originates.

A major insight involves the concept of "dense strength." Instead of just building muscle bulk, Patrick’s program focuses on strengthening the tendons and stabilizing muscles around the knee. Joe describes watching videos of Patrick performing extreme feats of flexibility and strength, such as deep split squats and Nordic curls, despite the trainer having a history of multiple leg surgeries.

Joe also mentions professional kickboxer Miriam Nakamoto, who is using these specific protocols to recover from a significant knee injury, illustrating the program's utility for high-level athletic rehabilitation.

Notable Quotes or Revelations

• On breaking traditional rules: "Traditionally... they say 'don’t ever have your knee over your toes because it puts a lot of pressure on your knee.' His idea is: no, build up to where you can have your knee over your toes easily."
• On the "Monkey Feet" device: "It’s a thing you strap onto your shoe and you can attach a dumbbell to it... you can actually lift weights with your hip flexors as you're lifting your knee up."
• On joint resilience: "He calls it dense strength and he’s just strengthening all your tendons and all the muscles that stabilize the knee and put the knee in a good position."
• On neglected muscle groups: "There's all these different ways you can strengthen these muscle groups that you don't... there's no direct way to strengthen them individually that you think of."

Overall Themes

The primary theme is Injury Prevention and Longevity. By focusing on overlooked muscle groups—like the tibialis and hip flexors—and training joints in "vulnerable" positions, athletes can create a more resilient body.

Another central theme is Functional Athleticism. Joe stresses that standard exercises like squats often leave certain muscles "coming along for the ride" rather than being directly strengthened, whereas these specialized movements translate more effectively to explosive movements like sprinting or striking.