Many of my clients come to me complaining of knee pain. While there are many causes of knee pain, whether acute or chronic, one constant remains: there is a strong correlation between knee pain and weakness in the hip musculature.
According to Dr. Stuart McGill, noted spinal biomechanics expert, 26% of people with knee pain have low hip abduction strength, and 36% show decreased hip external rotation strength.
Weak hip abductors, extensors, and external rotators results in excessive hip adduction, internal rotation, and knee valgus ( knock-knees) during physical activities. That is a recipe for disaster at the knee.
Unilateral knee pain is often caused by weak gluteus medius and maximus on the ipsilateral( same) side as the pain.
While there are many exercises that can address these weaknesses, here are a few that quickly target the problem areas in a dynamic way:
Lateral Band Walks: place a mini band above the knee ( to reduce shear forces) and move laterally while maintaing tension in the band. Be sure to lift, and not drag, the feet. Perform 2X25 steps each direction.
Bulgarian Split Squat: perform on a high bench. Do a dead-stop, bottom-up version to remove momentum. Keep the chest high and toes behind or slightly in front of working leg. Perform 10-15 with bodyweight, 3 sets. Progress by adding DB held waist high, then weight at shoulders, then overhead( either unilateral or bilateral.)
1-Leg Barbell Deadlift: start light and use the non-working foot for balance, but no weight-bearing. Perform under control and reset after each rep. 3X8-10 each leg.
A more advanced move is a 1-leg squat, which I'll address in a future post. For now, master these moves and kiss your knee pain goodbye.
I'm on tonight, my hips don't lie
And I'm starting to feel you boy
Come on let's go, real slow
Baby, like this is perfecto
Hips Don't Lie (Shakira)
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