- The muscles that perform hip abduction and hip external rotation are:
Abduction: Gluteus maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, sartorius, tensor fascia latae and piriformis.
External Rotation: Gluteus Maximus, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, gemellus superior/inferior, obturator internus/externus, psoas, iliacus, sartorius piriformis and adductor magnus.
A common term thrown around the gym is “tight hips”, “Loose hips”,“ strong hips” and “weak hips”. But what do these terms mean?
You might hear terms like “ Hip Flexors” or “Hip Extensors”
Hip Flexors are muscles located on the anterior or front part of the hips
Hip Extensors are muscles located on the posterior or back of the hip
Hip Flexors allow the body to lift your knees and bend at the waist . Hip Extensors are for backwards movement at the hip joint. More often than not people with tight hip flexors have weak hip extensors which could become a muscle imbalance and cause injury.
The hip abductor and external rotators provide a connection between the pelvis and lower limbs. Producing stability and lower limb control. Studies have shown that weak hip abductors and external rotators can cause lower muscle fatigue, low back pain, knee pain, hip impingement, ankle pain and poor pelvic posture. Due to these weak hip muscles, other muscles have overcompensate and can become overworked and can produce injuries. One important function of the Gluteus medius muscle on the lateral side provides stability and maintaining center of mass. Weak hip abductors can affect hip joint position and can affect body balance.
Why do some athletes have tight hips?
Desk Jobs are one of the biggest culprits, sitting is possibly one of the worst things we can do as athletes. We can find ourselves sitting for a good part of every day. I bet I could catch you doing at least one of the following things: playing video games on your couch, sitting in class, studying, and driving odds are you’re in a seated position with your hands in front of you. With your hip flexors shortened and hip extensors lengthened. Spending long periods of time in this position can lead to poor posture and you can develop anterior pelvic tilt. A Lot of athletes unknowingly work their anterior muscles more often than their posterior muscles. Causing a muscle imbalance and increase of injury.
What can we do to improve our hips and hip muscle balance ?
-mobility exercises daily
-stretching daily
– activate the weaker hip muscles
-training with muscle balance in mind