The pectineus muscle is a small, upper hip/groin area muscle. It originates in the pectineal line of the pubis and inserts on the lesser trochanter of the femur (thigh bone), where it acts to adduct the thigh. Innervated by obturator nerve and receiving blood supply mainly through obturator artery, its main supply may include innervation by both nerve and arterial supply.
Hip Flexion
The hip is an interlocked ball-and-socket joint made up of muscles, ligaments and tendons connected by ligaments. One such muscle group is called hip flexors; these allow you to bend your knees toward your body or waist when sitting, walking or running – they’re involved in most activities but too much time spent sitting at work or at home can shorten and tighten them over time – HSS physical therapist Kimberly Baptiste-Mbadiwe offers her top tips for increasing mobility and flexibility within these muscles. HSS physical therapist Kimberly Baptiste-Mbadiwe shares her top tips for improving hip flexor mobility and flexibility with us all!
The primary muscle group responsible for hip flexion is the iliopsoas muscle group, composed of the psoas major and iliacus muscles; these two components share borders and insertion points and may even lack one altogether (Platzer 2004, Visible Body). Rectus femoris and tensor fasciae latae muscles also perform this action among others as movement supports.
Hip flexor stretching exercises that can be used to improve hip flexion include the seated butterfly stretch and hip flexor isometric contraction. In a seated butterfly stretch, one leg should be extended behind you with its heel tucked inward; gently pressing both knees toward the ground while maintaining good posture will stretch the hip flexors and groin. You could also try lying on your back with legs bent then driving one knee up towards your chest while maintaining good posture before pausing at the peak and returning it to its starting position before repeating on other sides – it might just help!
Research for these techniques may be limited, but one recent study demonstrated that hip-flexor stretching exercises of various durations resulted in similar improvements to performance parameters like isokinetic peak torque and balance and proprioception tests among athletes. A 30-90 second dynamic hip flexor stretch should suffice to significantly increase mobility; longer stretching exercises may cause performance to decline in certain ways.
Hip Extension
Strong hip extensor muscles can help alleviate back and knee pain while simultaneously improving athletic performance. Hip extension is particularly essential when engaging in power-intensive activities such as sprinting and jumping. Hip extension may be difficult for some individuals with hip pain or stiffness; therefore it is vital that proper exercises and stretches be included into daily routine. If experiencing any difficulty with either flexion or extension it’s wise to consult a healthcare provider as they will evaluate and treat accordingly.
At first, during hip flexion, the gluteus maximus acts as an antagonist to bring forward leg; during extension however, hip extensors take over as primary movers; these muscles have more force-producing capacity in this position, so are better suited for power-intensive movements compared to hip flexors which only assist. Psoas and iliacus muscles may assist as needed but do not generate as much force when in this position.
As the body moves through a hip flexion-extension movement pattern, hip torque steadily increases until reaching an apex when hips are fully extended. This increase corresponds with sprinting’s acceleration phase as its peak torque occurs when hips extend (see Figure 3).
Hip flexion and extension exercises typically employ monoarticular movements involving only one joint; most strength and conditioning exercises use multiarticular movements involving multiple joints, often lengthening or shortening both together simultaneously. This can have significant ramifications on how muscles recruit themselves for force production, potentially altering movement patterns considerably.
When performing multiple-joint exercises, it can be helpful to use the terms agonist and antagonist when describing muscle actions. While this terminology works effectively when discussing single-joint movements, multi-joint ones require adjacent joints to move at the same time in order for one muscle to be active – for instance the biarticular hamstrings do not experience significant lengthening or shortening when performing the squat; they simply serve as hip flexors when the hips flex and extensors when the hips extend – which makes their use inaccurate when used alone as an exercise result in multiple joint exercises.
Hip Internal Rotation
The Hip Internal Rotation (IR) muscle group includes the Tensor Fasciae Latae, Upper Gluteus Muscles and Aductor Legum Longus and Brevis tendons; they perform the opposite movement to External Hip Rotation (EAR), an essential movement necessary for walking and running. Hip IR strength is critical in maintaining hip stability as well as protecting knee and lower back injuries.
Hip IR can be measured using the CAR test, or controlled articular rotation test, which involves standing on one foot while squeezing both legs together and rotating inward without pain. If your hip can’t achieve its full range of motion without experiencing pain, chances are the deep rotator muscles may be weak and tight.
Alternatively to a hip CAR test, the clam shell exercise is another effective way to assess hip IR strength. Patients sit on a chair with their legs dangling off the edge, challenging themselves to push their foot against resistance. This muscle test can be especially useful in pinpointing weaknesses as it forces IR muscles to work harder than ER to produce hip flexion torque.
An excessive ear will prevent the femoral head from remaining central within its acetabulum when moving, which increases stress on other hip structures like ITB and the sacroiliac joint. Furthermore, lack of hip IR will cause pronation of the tibia during movement which puts unnecessary strain on knee ligaments and can place unnecessary stress on them.
Lack of hip IR typically results from tight muscles in the gluteus medius and minimus and tensor fasciae latae, which have strong contraction potential yet only produce limited force generation due to their small moment arm length and cross sectional area.
Hip IR is key in sports that involve quick direction changes or cutting movements, where planted legs must absorb impact while driving the body forward with their other leg. HIR also plays an essential role in sprinting as it allows athletes to quickly get over their stance leg to maximize stride length. Squatting utilizes HIR by helping stance leg remain vertical at terminal squat position while optimizing force transfer from the kinetic chain.
Hip External Rotation
Deep external rotators (DER) muscles are located on the outside of hips, and serve to regulate movement, balance, and injury prevention. If these muscles become tight or injured it can lead to discomfort in hip joints such as overuse injuries such as overuse straining trauma; overtraining; muscle atrophy from lack of use etc; these weaknesses must be maintained through stretching and strengthening exercises in addition to consulting a healthcare provider such as physical therapist or doctor for guidance with rehabilitation plans.
The piriformis muscle can effectively restrict hip internal rotation by compressing the joint at various angles of flexion. An anatomical study revealed that three external rotator muscles – superior gemellus, obturator internus and inferior gemellus – act synergistically during movements with trunk and pelvic rotation to stabilize hip stability; suggesting that the piriformis may not restrict internal rotation as much at hip flexion angles greater than 60 degrees of flexion.
To assess external rotation ROM of the hip, a simple test can be administered. To perform it, lie on your back (face up), extend one leg while flexing your other to 90 degrees at the knee; your therapist then rotates your hip 180deg in either direction while watching for when right thigh comes off of ground.
Additionally, you can quickly assess lateral rotation and abduction by using a simple test. To administer it, place a protractor near the edge of your left foot, extend your right leg toward the sky, move your foot away from your body in a straight line towards a protractor near its edge, making a circle with outside of right hip, then measure this circle using ruler to assess degree of abduction or external rotation of right hip.
To improve hip internal rotation, there are various exercises you can try, such as stretching, foam rolling and mobility drills. Utilizing these strategies will strengthen your hip muscles while expanding range of motion while decreasing pain and discomfort.
