While runners tend to prioritize major muscle groups like quads and hamstrings, the hip abductors also deserve some attention. They play an essential role in walking or standing on one leg while helping prevent knee pain from excessive rotation.
Poor hip abductors can lead to knees caving in, known as valgus. This increases stress on the anterior cruciate ligament and patellofemoral cartilage resulting in patellofemoral pain syndrome.
Lack of Use
Weak hip abductors often result from extended sitting or jobs that require you to remain stationary for extended periods, leading to muscle disuse. Over time, inactivity can weaken muscles further – potentially resulting in hip pain when exercising with this weakness present. Studies have linked hip abductor muscle weakness with both patellofemoral pain syndrome (pain behind the kneecap) and iliotibial band syndrome.
When your hip abductors don’t work as intended, surrounding muscles attempt to compensate, leading to poor mechanics and increased risk of injury. If your gluteus medius is weak, your knee might drop inward which is known as knock knees; this causes excess inward rotation which stresses medial collateral ligaments and anterior cruciate ligaments as well as possibly leading to shin splints.
Also contributing to weak hip abductors is pregnancy and childbirth, where hormones released can loosen and relax pelvic area muscles and legs, making it hard to regain the strength of hip abductors after childbirth and pregnancy.
Another factor associated with hip replacement surgery is weakness in the hip abductor muscles. Studies have demonstrated that targeted strengthening therapy of these abductors can significantly enhance gait speed and cadence after total hip replacement surgery.
Trendelenburg testing is an effective way of identifying hip abductor weakness, in which you place one leg flat on the floor in front of you and place your other foot against a wall for support. If your opposite hip drops downward like it was from a Vegas showgirl, this indicates your gluteus medius and hip abductors may be weak.
Hip abductors play an essential role in keeping your pelvis level during gait, enabling people with weak hip abductors to exhibit a waddling gait. Other signs include lateral trunk lean, lumbar spine tightness and quadratus lumborum tightness – symptoms which physiotherapy treatments for. Our protocols may include corrective exercises and flexibility work to increase hip abductor strength.
Pregnancy and Childbirth
Hip abductors are located on the lateral side of your pelvis and can move your leg away from you, providing stability when standing on one leg or climbing stairs, controlling knee movement inward and rotation at hip joint, as well as controlling knee control when moving it outward and rotating hip joint. When weak, their movement may become uncomfortable or cause feelings of instability when walking or climbing stairs.
Many factors can contribute to weak hip abductors, including age and living an inactive lifestyle. Repetitive movements using the same muscles may fatigue them and result in weakness that over time leads to pain in your hips or back.
As you age, the muscles supporting your joints may lose elasticity and strength, leading to mobility problems and pain. Osteoarthritis of the knee can wreak havoc with hip abductors resulting in pain in both hips and knees; studies have demonstrated how improving hip abductor strength and flexibility may reduce symptoms associated with this form of arthritis as well as improve functional performance for people suffering chronic low back pain (LBP).
If your flat feet are caused by weak hip abductors, a physical therapist or podiatrist can perform an evaluation and recommend stretching and strengthening exercises for these components of the hip abductors and iliotibial band. A study by Nakagawa et al25 demonstrated that performing combined quadriceps and iliotibial band strengthening exercises proved highly effective at relieving knee pain among its participants.
One way of measuring the strength of your hip abductors is through performing the Trendelberg test. To do this, stand with one hand against a wall for support while placing one leg bent in front of you with foot on floor directly in front of body; hold this position for at least 10 seconds without moving your leg and see how strong your hip abductors are!
Strengthening your hip abductors during pregnancy will prevent your core muscles from having to work overtime to compensate for weak ones, thus helping avoid swayback posture, which can cause back and neck pain.
Injuries
Your weak hip abductors can have disastrous effects on both your lower limbs and back. Injuries such as knee pain, iliotibial band syndrome and lower-back problems have all been attributed to this weakness; strengthening them may help alleviate such problems while preventing future ones.
Hip abductors are key for keeping one leg stable when walking or running on one leg; when these muscles become weak, you may lean out to one side, leading to Trendelenburg test gait – where one hip drops down instead of staying where it belongs – often seen among runners or those with flat feet who run longer distances, increasing the risk of collapsing the arch of one of their legs.
Weakened hip abductors may lead to patellofemoral pain syndrome, wherein your kneecap rubs against the front of the tibia when walking or running, creating increased stress on the iliotibial band (an attached piece that connects from femur to tibia), leading to pain, swelling and tissue damage.
As another consequence of weak hip abductors is excessive pronation – where your knees cave inward as you move – this may also be linked to hip weakness caused by factors like muscle imbalances, improper exercise techniques or joint movement restrictions. Particularly gluteus medius muscle weakness has been shown to contribute to excessive pronation and internal rotation at the knee joint.
Most injuries sustained from weak hip abductors can be avoided with proper exercise and rehabilitation programs, including strength training at home with resistance bands or bodyweight exercises. Prior to engaging in any new exercises it is wise to consult your physician first in order to ensure their safety for you. If any discomfort occurs while performing certain exercises it should stop immediately and speak to your physician about alternative rehabilitation methods; those suffering joint damage or arthritis may benefit from pool-based classes that are easy on joints while resistance band training at home or other forms of resistance training may also help strengthen hip abductors while decreasing risks associated with injury risk reduction.
Genetics
Weak hip abductors can have detrimental consequences in both your lower limbs and back, impacting basic mobility such as walking, climbing stairs and running as well as higher level performance such as sports activities and weight bearing exercises. Furthermore, weak hip abductors have been linked with injuries like Iliotibial Band Syndrome, Hip Ostearthritis and Knee Pain.
Lack of hip abductor strength can result in an increased knee valgus angle, meaning your knee moves inward more than it should when walking, which causes unnecessary stress on the ITB and can shorten over time. Luckily, strengthening hip abductors is an easy solution to reverse this condition.
Your gluteus medius and tensor fascia latae muscles are responsible for abducting your leg when walking or standing on one leg, requiring approximately 42% MVIC of gluteus medius in healthy individuals; however, weak hip abductor muscles may require more work in order to achieve the same functionality – and therefore require additional muscles from other parts of the body in order to complete its function.
Hip abductors play an essential role in keeping your pelvis level during weight-bearing activities, keeping it level in frontal plane. When these muscles are weak, this results in gait patterns similar to Trendelenburg test (pictured), wherein your opposite hip drops during stance phase stride and drops lower than expected.
Studies have demonstrated that strengthening hip abductors can enhance knee function by decreasing load on its medial compartment, which in turn enhances hip adduction moment and lowers knee valgus angle.
Studies have also demonstrated that strengthening hip abductors can lower your risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA). This is because doing so helps ensure that weight-bearing activities don’t lead to unstable hips that could put pressure on joints that could eventually result in knee OA.
