Have you noticed knee pain during or after your run?
Typically, my patients experience pain either on the outside of the knee (ITB syndrome), below the knee (patella femoral syndrome) or the inside of the knee (pes anserine tendonitis).
Usually, pain starts to occur as a runner adds onto their mileage or has started again after a long lapse in running.
Knee pain is typically multifactorial. There is usually not just one thing that is causing the pain, typically there are more. The knee tends to overcompensate for inefficiencies either in the hip or foot/ankle.
Today, we are going to be discussing the hip and why it is so important when it comes to healthy knees.
When we run, we need are hips to stay level. Meaning, we do not what to see our hip move up as we plant our foot on the ground. If this hip hike occurs, it will place more stress on the knee as well as cause the surrounding muscles to have to work harder to keep you running. This hip hike is usually due to decreased hip strength, specifically the side hip muscles.
Below are four of my favorite exercises to perform on a weekly basis. These exercises will help strengthen your side/back hip muscles, helping you to run more efficiently and taking some of the stress off your knee.
If you have been experiencing knee pain or other painful ailments and are interested in a free 15 minute consultation with our physical therapist, please email Shayne directly at mototgenixcpt@gmail.com
Place a band around your feet. With your knees slightly bent and toes pointed forward, step sideways to approximately 25 feet and return to the starting position facing the same direction.**IMPORTANT** Keep tension in the band the entire time by taking a big step with leading foot, then, a smaller step with the trailing foot. Remember to shift your weight back on the heels of your feet but do not let your toes come off of the ground.
Perform 10-15 repetitions on each side for 2-3 sets. Start in a mini-squat position with band around knees. Extend and externally rotate right hip, stabilizing on the left leg. Keep pelvis level and rotation coming from hip. You should feel this in both glutes.
Perform 10-15 repetitions on each side for 2-3 sets. Start in side plank. There should be a straight line from your head to your feet. Slowly drop hips down to the floor, barely tap hip to ground and then contract obliques to lift hips back up to start position.
Perform 10-15 repitions on each side for 2-3 sets. Start in standing, tighten your core and lift one foot off the ground. Slowly hinge forward at the hip keeping your pelvis squared forward and bend until you reach the end fo your hamstring length. You can slightly bend your bottom knee to decrease the hamstring tension. Lift from the glute to bring your trunk back up to the starting position.
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If you have been experiencing knee pain or other painful ailments and are interested in a free 15 minute consultation with our physical therapist, please email Shayne directly at mototgenixcpt@gmail.com
