Many people experience knee pain on a daily basis. Their pain can vary, rather its, constant, pain only with walking, going up stairs, down stairs, raising from a chair, etc. Each one of these different activities causing our pain could be from a different source. A common finding on examination reveals shortness of the quadriceps muscle. The quadriceps is the muscle in front of the thigh (pictured to the right) and runs below the knee and inserts into the top of the lower leg. When the quadriceps contracts the leg straightens. Determining the length of the quadriceps is easy. Laying on the stomach and bending the knee to bring the heel toward your glutes determines shortness were appropriate length of the quadriceps. If the heel does not touch you may have shortness of the quadriceps. This is one example that can set you up for knee pain. The shorter the muscle, the more inefficient and consequently the more easily overworked.