hip pain

Tuesday Tune-up: Non-weightbearing Gluteus Medius Conditioning superset

Really want to get your hips strong for walking, hiking, running and any sports that require you to be on one leg? These exercises are for you! Injured and limited in your running abilities? Do these to be ready to hit the ground running? Want to fatigue less easily and be less likely to get injured while running? This superset of gluteus medium non-weightbearing endurance and motor control exercises will get you well on your way. Bonus it will also work on your back stability, strength, conditioning, control, and endurance! Yes!

Be aware, this is not a beginner exercise, but helpful for those looking to take their health to the next level of endurance and more thorough strength. Reach out to Artisan PT for a remote wellness consultation via video or schedule a wellness or physical therapy visit at our Los Angeles office to see what exercises are best for you, at this moment of time.

We are currently doing Tuesday Tune-ups on our Instagram feed and IGTV. Follow us at @artisanphysical to make sure you don’t miss out. As appropriate, we will do our best to also upload to our Artisan Physical Therapy YouTube channel as well. Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get notifications about new videos on how to live your healthiest life. Don’t miss out.

That’s our goal at Artisan PT: to partner with you to optimize your health for a lifetime.

Thank for reading and watching,

Elle

(owner, doctor of physical therapy, fellow in orthopedic manual PT)


(PS: These hip abduction/abductor exercises are helpful for preventing pain and improving tolerance to running, walking, hiking, skateboarding, soccer, ultimate frisbee, basketball, volleyball, triathlon, mountain biking, yoga, dancing, and anything else you spend time on one leg!)

March Daily Fitness Challenge - Hip & Shoulder Stability

I'm pleased to say that the daily fitness challenge that began in October of last year has continued, with a different theme every month. So far we have attempted daily running, seven minute workout, pull-Ups, 8 minute abs, and now.... drum roll please...

BOSU overhead ball toss.jpg

This challenge this month, as the title of the blog post indicates, is hip and shoulder stability. I'm excited about this month because they are very important and foundational to so many activities and preventing injury as well as rehabilitating injuries. I've had my fair share of injuries over the years and they have left they're mark. Now if I had been better about doing all my rehabilitation exercises for these various injuries, I don't think I'd be in the same place. I'm excited of the possibility that the asymmetries I have from side-to-side could diminish, and even, completely resolve!

 Doing all the exercises that your body needs is a lot of work. Can I get an amen? It takes a lot of time, a lot of motivation, and a lot of knowledge. I have the knowledge and a good bit of motivation, but not always enough time in the day. Anyone else have a hard time finding enough time in the day? These monthly-themed daily exercises that I'm exploring are an avenue for me to rotate throughout the body and pay attention to each area and hopefully be better off than the intermittent and sporadic exercise provided otherwise.

Unstable hips or, in other words, hips that lack the strength, endurance, and coordination to control themselves in space, can lead to problems from the low back all the way down to the big toe. Yes, even the big toe! You think you inherited that bunion from your family? Where you born with it? Is it rather from how you've moved and used your body over time? Let's take a look at your hip stability and then let's talk about it.

Knee injuries ranging from patellofemoral pain, runner's knee, ACL tears, meniscal injuries can all arise from a lack of hip stability. Lack of hip strength and control or endurance can also lead to ankle injuries such a sprained ankles and fractures and down the chain into the foot with overpronation, plantar fasciitis, shin splints, or achilles or posterior tibialis tendonitis or tendinopathy.

Shoulder stability is also really important and isn't straightforward. Think of all the motions that your shoulder can do and that is a sign that keeping it healthy will similarly take a lot of work. The shoulder joint or complex is actually made up of four joints: 

  • Glenohumeral joint
  • Scapulothoracic joint
  • Acromioclavicular joint
  • Sternoclavicular joint

All of these are controlled by muscle. So once again the strength, the endurance, and the coordination of these muscles results in the control surrounding those joints. In terms of stability, the most important muscles are the rotator cuff and scapular muscles. You can think of your shoulder blade, or scapula, as the foundation of your shoulder. If the foundation is crooked or unstable, this has consequences for the areas attached to it.

As I work on shoulder stability this month, I am emphasizing the rotator cuff - all four of the rotator cuff muscles - and the scapula thoracic muscles - think rhomboids, trapezius, serratus anterior - as well as the scapulohumeral muscles. If these muscles are strong, can work for long periods of time, and can turn on and off at the right time, there should not be clicking in my shoulder with movement, nor am I very likely to injure myself. Bear in mind that as I strengthen these muscles, I will also need to stretch them because strengthening increases the tone of the muscles and often the stiffness of the muscles and sometimes shortens the length of the muscles. And tight muscles can lead to injury and dysfunction.

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Because it is unwise to strengthen the exact same area day after day, I will alternate between hip stability and shoulder stability, doing one one day and the next the other day. Want to learn a great routine to do for these areas, reach out and we can schedule either a visit or a remote consultation for you fitness, wellness and health goals.

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Stay tuned for April's daily fitness challenge of headstands and handstands...

Let's Get to the Source - and TOGETHER - Let's Get Moving

-Liz

Iliotibial (IT) Band Tightness/Syndrome - Anatomy, the Why, & the What

Iliotibial band or IT band tightness effects a large segment of the population and can manifest itself in many negative ways. It can get tight in the sedentary (aka non-active) population but is a common problem with runners, bikers, and cross fit participants or those regularly lifting weights.

Liz created a 2-part video series to help you understand the issue and what to do about IT band tightness and IT band syndrome. In this first segment, Liz talks about what the IT band is and why it becomes problematic. Then discusses some general ways to manage or prevent it. The follow-up to this video will go through specific stretching and strengthening exercises that are beneficial for minimizing IT band tightness.

Subscribe to the blog and the Artisan Physical Therapy YouTube channel to benefit from free advice and education from a movement specialist including part 2 of the IT band tightness series to get the exercise recommendations and demonstration.

Together, Let's Get Moving!

Liz