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As we already know, the problem of glutes amnesia has reached epidemic proportions. Our lifestyle is not like what it used to be. More work gets done sitting on our behinds all day than ever before. Spend too long in sitting and we slowly start to lose the important movement of hip extension. In this blog post I would like to discuss two conditions that I have often seen in the past which can be directly or indirectly related to loss of hip extension (both lack of active control and loss of ROM). Seen in the general population and often perpetuated in runners. Lets begin-
- Low back pain– while the causes for LBP could be endless, we will discuss the role of inhibited glutes and lack of proper hip extension in LBP. If we spend 8+ hours a day sitting on a chair (hip flexion), the glutes will be in an overstretched position and often inhibited. To add to those woes, the hip also gets stuck in a flexion position with classic ilicaus and psoas tightness. Now to maintain a upright posture and to compensate for tightness caused by excessive prolonged hip flexion which would put our trunk in a forward lean, the back extensors have to work harder to keep us upright. This often manifests as an increased lumbar lordosis (low back curvature). Prolonged time in this position can cause increase in tone of the lumbar erectors and could potentially cause low back pain. I see this often with recreational runners or those who are new to running. During running, if your hip do not go in to enough extension, the back begins to arch and the erectors being part of the posterior chain have to work extra hard. Remember the body is a great compensator but over time this catches up. This, I believe is often one of the common reasons why recreational runners come to see us for low back pain with running. If you are an athlete or a runner, this is not the best situation for running. Your glutes have lost their VIP status. No one likes weak glutes, unacceptable.
- Plantar fascitis– I often find people with plantar fascitis have well developed calf muscles. It appears like its ‘calf raises’ day everyday for these folks however on further questioning you may find that they might not have been doing any calf strengthening exercises. If such is the case, I implore you to check for their active hip extension in walking or running especially during the midstance, heel off and toe off of the stance phase. This is the time when the leg should start to cross back behind the body due to hip extension. This is the primary movement that propels us forward. Now if the body lacks this crucial movement, due to weakness of the glutes max or tightness of the ilio-psoas etc the calf seems to become a more significant driver to push the body forward. Now multiply this a few thousand times a day (even more if you are a runner) over a few weeks, months or years and we have a overworked calf complex. As we all know, the calf exerts a pull on the plantar fascia (remember its a two joint muscle) and that irretates the PF blah blah, we all know this. So improving active hip extension and utilizing the full potential of the glutes is crucial to give the calf a break and in turn might relieve some stress of the PF.
The take home message is simple- Hip extension is a crucial movement for many daily activities and a lack of which might cause LBP or PF. When treating these conditions, don’t make the mistake of running after the symptoms like I have so often in the past. Here’s a little video to give you an idea of my thought process when analyzing hip extension in running.
[wpvideo Jsy97HeQ ]
(PS- this is not the only thing I look for, I’m only focusing on Hip extension here).
You know the drill.
Pursue excellence-
Abhijit Minhas
(BPT,MS,CMP,FMT)