What is the brand stretching?

What is this weird stretching sensation I feel on my Quad & Knee?

• I have no idea what this is. It happens primarily when I sit cross-legged for more than 10 minutes at a time. (easy cross-legged position; no fancy lotus poses or anything) Only happens on my right leg no matter which leg I have in front of the other. This is not a new development and it has been happening ever since I started sitting cross-legged a couple of years ago. Primarily the discomfort is felt above the knee in my Quad, but I feel a very slight peripheral stretch going vertically down the knee as well. The sensation feels like a pulling or stretching in the muscle which is just weird because I'm just sitting and relaxing. The longer I sit the stronger the pulling sensation in that quad. I usually just ignore it for up to 20 minutes or so, but then the pulling sensation becomes so strong that I end up extending my leg out straight to relieve the tension. I just don't understand the tension- What it is or where it's coming from. I don't see how I could possibly be stretching any muscle on my right leg that I'm not equally stretching on my left when both legs are basically in the same position. And just because it feels like a pulling/stretching I suppose doesn't mean it can't be something else, but I don't know. This stops completely when I straighten out the leg and also I have no pain in my leg otherwise or at any other time. Any ideas as to what this could be?

• Answer:

  Is it that http://www.knee-pain-explained.com/iliotibial-band-stretches.html? That is but one of the things that only likes to strike my left side (my right leg is impervious to wear 'n tear, apparently, probably since it's making my poor left leg do all the work). It's easy to add a few stretches to work on it, if so. Google "IT band stretches", it's super common for runners so there's loads of stuff on there. IT band tightness causes all kinds of goofy stuff, but since you mention crossed legs, that's why it springs to mind. I couldn't find a good video/image/description of this, but my personal favorite is with a stability ball - sit on the ball, cross your legs with the one you want to stretch on top, roll forward until you're perched on the ball at an appropriate amount for your balance level (i.e., roll forward until you have to work just a little bit to stay on the ball, not so much that you're about to fall off), and then gently push your knee towards the ground (push from the knee using your leg muscles, don't put your hand on it and press). You should feel a nice stretch along the side of your upper thigh around the knee and towards your hip. A variation on this is without the stability ball; just stand, cross your leg-to-be-stretched over your other knee, and do a slight one-legged squat, kind of like http://womensrunninguk.co.uk/training/strength-seated-glute-stretch/. This is also a https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0e8FPL787E. Be sure to be gentle, and do the stretch on both sides, so you keep the two legs close in ability and don't create/aggravate whatever's causing only your one leg to be affected.