The human body possesses the ability to confront obstacles and complete challenging tasks. Resilience is one of its distinct qualities that enables it to adjust to difficulties and assist in fulfilling objectives. Moreover, the body’s resilience compensates for any biomechanical deficits or inadequacies in a given region. Nonetheless, if these inadequacies persist, they can eventually result in conditions like imbalances, muscle weakness, tightness, or injuries.
A runner’s gait relies significantly on their hips, but structural imbalances can have adverse effects on their performance. Considering the complex and dynamic nature of the hip area, involving multiple muscles operating in high intensity and long duration, it’s no wonder that many runners complain of hip imbalances.
Hip muscles
There are various muscle groups that are responsible for movements at the hips. These comprise:
The main force behind hip extension is provided by the strong gluteal muscles and hamstrings.
The lower core and front thigh hip flexors work together to propel the legs forward.
The muscles located in the outer thigh known as hip abductors perform the action of moving the legs away from the center of the body.
The muscles located on the inner thigh, known as hip adductors, are responsible for bringing the legs closer to the body.
The muscles located deeply in the hip enable outward rotation of the leg in relation to the body’s midline.
The muscles surrounding the hip joint aid in moving the leg inward towards the center of the body through rotation.
The muscles in these groups collaborate to ensure the hips remain stable, well-balanced, and operating at peak performance.
Running and hip imbalances
Running primarily targets the hip flexors and extensors within a limited range of motion, thereby increasing the likelihood of instability when needing to move the knee or thrust the hips in unusual ways. If a runner encounters a situation, such as overcoming an obstacle or performing a non-routine movement, that requires hip movements beyond their typical training, it can cause imbalances in the hips and hinder their running performance.
A hip drop is a typical consequence of an imbalance in the hips. This condition is more prevalent in women due to their wider pelvis. Weakness in the outer hip muscles results in the thighs angling inward and not remaining vertical, increasing the risk of injury in the long run.
The dropping of the hip is noticeable when an individual stands on a single leg and their pelvis inclines downwards in the direction of the elevated leg. It suggests an inadequacy in the hip abductor muscles, specifically the gluteus medius – the most superior gluteal muscle attaching to the apex of the pelvis, and the gluteus minimus – the lowest and smallest among the gluteal muscles.
The stance phase of running reveals hip drop, as one leg bears the weight of the body while the other generates forward momentum. Consequently, having an imbalance in the hips could cause a decrease in both running speed and efficiency.
Signs of hip imbalance
Indications of hip imbalance may comprise cautionary signals such as:
When a knee caves inward, it is usually due to either weak glutes or faulty foot mechanics.
If you experience intense discomfort on one side of your body while running, it may indicate an issue with your running form.
If left untreated for an extended period, shin pain can progress into shin splints.
How can you correct hip imbalances?
It cannot be emphasized enough that exercises aimed at strengthening the hip are crucial. Walking may seem simple, but it entails a complicated process involving several movements such as hip flexion, adduction, internal/external rotation, abduction, and extension, which often happen simultaneously or in different combinations. Hence, your workout routine should hone in on those muscles responsible for this process and challenge them to execute the same complex actions.
Being attuned to your body and heeding its warnings to slow down or reduce the intensity of your training is an effective means of preventing or managing injuries. The majority of running-related injuries fall under the category of overuse injuries, resulting from repetitive use of specific muscle groups over prolonged periods.
Though it might not be completely feasible to avoid injuries altogether, you could potentially mitigate their consequences or prevent transient complications from turning into enduring issues by being attentive to your body’s signals.
Strengthening exercises to correct hip imbalances
Incorporating hip stretches and exercises that strengthen the hips into your running routine may aid in avoiding or managing hip sagging, and potentially assist with correcting hip alignment.
Perform the following exercises for 12 repetitions in two to three sets. Remember to repeat these workouts for strengthening on both sides.
1. Dirty dog
These are the instructions for carrying out this exercise routine:
- Start on your hands and knees with your toes curled under and pointing toward your body. Your knees should be under your hips and your hands should be shoulder-width apart and facing forward.
- Stiffen your abdominal/core muscles gently to position your spine in a neutral position, avoiding any sagging or arching
- Exhale and gently lift one knee off the floor. While maintaining the bent-knee position, slowly rotate it externally outward and upward. Attempt to move the leg and minimize the rotation of your trunk.
- Hold this position briefly while keeping a stable trunk and head level with your spine. Then, slowly lower your knee back toward the floor.
- Take a short pause and repeat this exercise
2. Side-lying hip abduction
This exercise needs to be done in the following manner:
- Lie on your side on a mat or floor with your legs extended straight away from your body
- Hold your feet together and keep your lower arm bent and positioned under your head for support while the upper arm rests upon your upper hip
- Align your hips and shoulders vertically to the floor, and your head with your spine
- Exhale and gently raise the upper leg off the lower leg while keeping the knee extended and the foot in a neutral position; however, avoid flexion and extension. The hips should remain vertical to the floor and the knee of the raised leg should point straight away from you.
- Continue raising the leg until the hips begin to tilt upward or until you feel tension developing in your lower back or oblique muscles
- Inhale and slowly return your raised leg to your starting position in a controlled manner
HIP POSITION AND PELVIC TILT
Do you know what “pelvic tilt” means? Imagine your pelvis as a container full of water, and your goal is to keep all of the water in the container by maintaining a neutral hip and pelvis position.
Engaging your glutes is a simple method to secure a neutral pelvic position that will prevent the water in your bowl from tilting, without requiring conscious effort on your part.
One can experiment with their glutes by assuming different stances and observing the impact it has on their hip position. When you stand in a posture that maintains your spinal curvature, it is not difficult to contract your glute muscles, consequently improving your hip and pelvis stability to the fullest.
PELVIC TILT AND THE SPINE
Once you adopt postures that don’t align well with your spine, such as slouching or sitting on one hip, it becomes increasingly challenging to contract your glutes and bring your pelvis back to a neutral position.
Your brain refuses to activate muscles that would secure the position because it recognizes any posture that causes misalignment of your spine as hazardous, due to its fragility. This is the reason why.
PELVIC TILT, THE SPINE, AND RUNNING
Applying this to the activity of running becomes even more crucial due to its inherent characteristics.
It is common for runners to experience fatigue during a run, which often leads to a forward tilt of the pelvis and a spillage of water from the front, as illustrated in our earlier bowl analogy. As an observer of numerous runners, I have found this to be the most prevalent physical response to exhaustion while running.
Assuming such a position elevates the curvature in our lumbar spine, which falls under the classification of unsafe posture.
The danger of this error in running form lies in its ability to intensify impact with each footstep. While the spine possesses discs between its vertebrae that serve as shock absorbers, their effectiveness is limited.
To minimize the impact on our shock absorbers while running, we should engage our glutes which can help distribute the impact if they are in a proper position.
By assuming a forward tilt position, the engagement of our glutes is prevented, resulting in heightened strain on our spine upon landing.
HOLLOW BODY EXERCISE
After grasping the reason why running with an arched lower back is unsafe, let’s explore some exercises that will enhance your posture and hip positioning as a habit. So, during a run, you won’t have to consciously think about it.
Our initial workout will target the core and address the issue from the upper region downward. Engaging your core muscles will prevent any excessive arching of your back and thus allow the gluteal muscles to activate and function effectively.
Begin by lying on your back and ensuring that your lower back is firmly pressed against the ground. While maintaining this position, lift your head and shoulders off the ground, bring your knees to your chest, and slightly elevate your arms by your sides with palms facing upward.
Perform 10 deep inhale and exhale breaths through your nose while in this posture. The duration of the hold will be approximately 30 seconds.
To make things more difficult, try extending your legs at a 45-degree angle and your arms straight back even with your head. You must choose the variation that tests your limits without allowing your lower back to come off the ground. You may prefer to extend only one leg and one arm, one leg only, or both arms. Regardless of what you choose, maintaining contact with your lower back is our main priority!
Counting breaths is preferable to counting seconds because when we count time, we instinctively hold our breaths, making the exercise more difficult and less suitable for running, in which breathing plays a key role.
Attempt to focus on this both prior to and following your runs for a period of seven days!
RUNNING AWARENESS EXERCISE
The last exercise will give you the opportunity to improve your ability in monitoring your hip placement. This mistake in running technique is prevalent due to the fact that it involves a slight variation that requires conditioning your body to detect.
Begin by jogging in place for roughly 10 steps with the intention of intentionally arching your back. Notice the sensation and the impact it has on various parts of your body, such as your glutes, core, and arm swing.
Afterwards, perform 10 in-place steps while maintaining a good, neutral hip position and contracting your glutes. Observe the effects this has on your entire body and look out for any hints that suggest your hip position is neutral when you run.
Finally, practice running a short distance of about 50 yards back and forth, focusing solely on maintaining the correct and neutral pelvic position.
To enhance your movement during this position, try visualizing a rubber band encircling your waist and someone at the front pulling it to guide your running.
By implementing this, we will be able to maintain an upright posture and a neutral pelvis position that will enable our hips to take the lead. When running, it is often easier to conceptualize this approach of a “rubber band” rather than attempting to contract your glutes while in motion.
