The hip controls the entire leg and that is one of the reasons why hip strength is so important! The hip seems like such a large solid joint that I think a lot of people neglect it when it comes to strength. Obviously the hip muscles help stabilize your whole body when lifting heavy while doing deadlifts and squats. But for this post we are concentrating on the importance of the hip when only one foot is on the ground at a time.
Unless you hop around like on two feet like a rabbit, you primarily use your hip muscles when only one foot is on the ground at a time. Walking, jogging, running, and all sports that involve running, your using your hip to stabilize one leg at a time.
When your foot is planted, the hip muscles help to control rotation and movement toward the midline of the body. I will often see this most prevalent in young teens at the height of their growth spurt. These kids tend to have really long legs and the muscular and neurological systems have not caught up with how to control these legs. I will often have them do a jump test or a step down test and what I will find is when they go to land a jump is that their knees come together without any control. And what do these kids complain about? They complain about knee pain. The hip controls the leg. When the hip isn’t strong the knee suffers.
That rotation of the leg when it hits the ground can also carry all the way down to the ankle. I see this in long distance runners. They will come in with a posterior tibial tendonitis or achilles tendonitis which is cause by the foot going into pronation as it tries to stop the rotation of the whole leg. The patient will be complaining of foot pain but the problem is strength in the hip.
These are just a few examples of how important strengthening the hip muscles are for everyday athletes. If your an athlete or active adult in Johns Creek, Alpharetta, or Roswell who wonders if their hips could be the cause of your knee or foot pain, we would love to help you. Give us a call and we can chat about how to get you moving without pain. 678-400-0300.
