Have you ever noticed the bulge on Messi knee? Recently, the entire world witnessed Lionel Messi winning his 8th Ballon d’Or award, further solidifying the challenge for anyone to ever match that feat. He received immense commendation for this achievement.
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The bulge on Messi knee
But just a while back, something happened that drew up an entirely different type of reaction. A few months ago, Lionel Messi posted a picture of himself on his Instagram page. And that picture stirred up loads of worry among his fans.
In that picture, he wore a pair of shorts that revealed his knees. But it wasn’t the pair of shorts that was the problem, it was his knees. His knees didn’t look very fine in that picture, because they had a huge bulge on them. This caused loads of concern for his fans, and many of them even believed it was the result of a bad injury. Some rival fans even took the opportunity to make jokes about it.
But if you were part of those who feared it was because of an injury, then you couldn’t have been more wrong. Because it was actually the opposite. The bulges on his knees are a sign of his knees being in top physical condition, and here’s why.
You see, what formed the lumps you see on Messi’s knees are just a group of muscles that help in moving his knees. And well, they’re only that big because all through his career, Messi has managed to train them consistently. So, the fact that they’re that big just pretty much means that the muscles are in top condition.
Remember how we said they control the knees? Well, guess what?
They’re just not regular muscles of the knees, they’re actually one of the most important groups of knee muscles, called the quadriceps muscles. Or as many would call it, “The quads”.
You see, just like the name implies, the quads are a group of 4 muscles, and they are located in front of your thigh. Primarily, they help to straighten your knee, but that’s not the only thing they do. Because in addition to that, they also bend your hips and help you stabilize your kneecap.
Now, in your everyday life, all these actions of this muscle group are important in helping you maintain your balance while you walk. And not just that. They also help complete actions you do with your legs, like running, kicking, and jumping. So essentially, if you were to be a very good footballer, you would probably want to pay loads of attention to your quads.
So it’s no real surprise that Messi has put a lot of effort into ensuring his quads are in top condition.
Of course, he’s a super-talented player, but no doubt staying in shape also helps him remain at the top. And just like his quads have helped him become the player with the most Ballon d’Or awards, they might also be helping him score many free kicks.
Yep, that’s right. Because it turns out that the quads also help Messi execute his free-kick technique just the way he wants it. Well, or at least that’s according to the sports therapist Dr Rajpal Brar. In a podcast, Brar explained the mechanism behind Messi’s freekicks. According to him, Messi has to move and bend his hips and ankles in a difficult way while striking a free kick.
In fact, it’s a very difficult technique because it’s essentially the same movement that happens when a person sprains their ankle.
And while the average person’s body wouldn’t be able to take that maneuver so easily, Messi is able to do it repeatedly. That’s mostly because of how well he has trained his quads. So you wouldn’t be so wrong to say that Messi’s quads are part of the reasons why he’s one of the best free-kick takers in history.
And just like the quads are important in sports that need active use of the legs, another muscle is so important in sports that require active movement of the arms. And that one is called the brachioradialis. While the quads mostly stabilize and straighten your knee, your brachioradialis helps to bend your arm at the elbow. It also helps to stabilize the elbow joint during that movement. This helps you carry out movements that involve repeatedly bending and straightening your elbow.
So rather than pay loads of attention to their quads, people who engage in sports like tennis, rowing, and rock climbing tend to put loads of effort into training their brachioradialis muscles. Iif you look closely, you might just see signs of this training around their arms, just like the ones around Messi’s knees.
And if you have seen similar well-trained muscles in real life on someone you know, do let us know in the comments. Also, feel free to tell us what you think about Messi’s bulges. Are they cute or not?
