Muscle imbalance - weak abductors - HELP

I am hoping someone can help describe the best way to overcome this issue:

I started with ITBS causing pain in my right hip and learned that my weak (won’t turn on) abductor was causing my hip to pop out when I ran… My TFL (Tensor Facia Latae) was also getting really inflamed and causing pain.

In the course of trying to fix this I have discovered:
weak abductors (right side only)
tight hip flexors (rector femoris, psoas) - both sides
tight QL and erectors - both sides
weak VMO - both sides
upset piriformis - both sides

My hips are so tight that my butt sticks out when I run (like in the scene from “Prefontaine”). Basically I have less control than I would like over where my hips go…

how do I fix this? I would appreciate recommended exercises…therapies…strategies… I’ve tried the JFR strategy and it just reinforces my bad patterns…

ST gods, please help!!

Wow. Sounds like you need address these issues with both soft-tissue work and re-education/strengthening.

On the soft-tissue side, you could do this yourself, but having someone work on you may be more effective (and more $$$). I would find a good ART practitioner or chiropractor (many of them use ART-esque techniques) or massage therapist. Have them loosen up everything that’s tight. It might take a while, but it has to be done.

If you want to do the soft tissue work on your own, I highly recommend a book by Clair Davies…I forget the title right now…something about Self-Massage for Trigger Point Massage. It will help guide you through self-therapy. One issue to note, you cannot fix your QLs and psoas/rectus femoris independently, they must be “fixed” together. Every time you work on one (via massage or stretching), you must work on the other to effectively correct your anterior pelvic tilt.

On the neuromuscular re-education side, I would start with two exercises, box step-ups and belt squats.

Box Step-Ups. Get a box or stack a few “step” bases (used for aerobic step classes) to a height slightly lower than your knee, or about 12-18". Wearing shorts, grab a marker and draw an X on you kneecap. Standing in front of a mirror, without using any additional weight (aside from body weight), slowly step up on the box. The goal is to slowly and very controlledly raise and lower yourself by stepping up on the box with your knee (as visualized by the X on your kneecap) remaining aligned with your foot. If you cannot control your knee from moving around (it should not move at all), lower the height of the box. I’ve had to do these with a mere 6" step up. Trust me, you will progress quickly. Once you can do these unloaded, you can start to hold dumbells to add resistance. Note: the greater the distance between you and the box (i.e., the more directly your foot is under your knee before you start stepping up), the more you will use your glutes (including your gluteus medius, which is probably part of your issues). The shorter that distance (i.e., you farther your knee is jutting out beyond your foot before you start stepping up), the more you will use your quads, which you probably don’t want to be doing here, as it will not help correct your issues.

Belt Squats. Grab a belt…like the belt you would use on your jeans. Wrap it around your thighs just above your knees. Adjust the belt diameter so that your knees are about the width of your hips and that as your press your knees outwards (into the belt), the position of your knees doesn’t change. Now, with your hands on crossed on opposite shoulders, squat as low as you can, while pressing your knees outwards into the belt. Slowly press yourself back up. This should be done slowly and controlledly. Never lift or move with momentum, but rather with control. Start doing this exercise very conservatively. Your glutes will probably be pretty sore after the first couple times you do this.

Just my two cents. PM me if you have question.

Good luck.

From your desciption of a pelvis stuck in sit mode, I’m guessing you spend much of the day sat at a screen?

I think the second post is all great advice.

You may have differing opinions about this, but my mother was having severe back problems this year and acupuncture really helped her out. Combined with massage and chiropractic, this might help you out as well.

Good luck!

Once you get the current tightness loosened up, items like The Stick, foam rollers and a yoga strap are great tools for maintenance. I use the 3 in combination for about 15min/day and have had good results.

A nice power yoga class is another option. It will help with both the muscle imbalance and tightness.

ya I sit all day, although currently I’ve been doing quite a bit of work laying on my stomach to avoid sitting. I managed to talk my boss into the “work from home” thing, and its pretty fantastic. Saves me about an hour a day of commuting which translates into a hour a day more of training, pretty awesome in my book.

The thing I’ve found with yoga (didn’t realize this until recently) is that I’ve been “cheating” by having my pelvis in the wrong orientation during most of the exercises… too bad yoga teachers are $$ because they are really good exercises. I’ve picked a few that I can make sure I’m not cheating and just do those.

I have been having similar problems on my left side for the last two months and my doctor told me to see a Physical therapist. The therapist told me that all these problems are a result of compensating from an old injury on the other leg. The pain at first was very acute but after about 10 visits, I am starting to feel much better. Last night for the first time I was able to swim without any pain at all :slight_smile: They massage the tender areas and teach me stretching techniques. My advice would be to go to your doctor and you should be in good hands; they are the professionals, right?
I hope you get better soon,
DPC