If something is up with your hip, the motion between your pelvis/femur will be limited. Like your joint won’t want to rotate properly. If you squat with limited hip motion but still try to get down there something else has to bend to make up for the hip. Sometimes the knee goes way forward over the toes, stretching thigh/patella. Or the leg/hip tries to twist “outward” so you can do some weird curtsey type move, tightening up your IT Band, and outer hip stuff like that little Glute muscle.
If your body get used to moving around the restricted hip, you can get lots of symptoms, from a flat foot up to a sore neck. Different stuff will tighten up/flare up and cause you trouble until you get your hip moving freely.
Sometimes the cause is tight, deep hip flexor muscles. Like the muscle between your inner thigh and lower back is tight, restricting your hip. Also pulling your ribs forward, messing up your Peterson step up and sometimes even your bench press setup.
I think you described exactly what’s going on. The first picture really hits home. My legs are definitely different lengths, likely from my hips out of alignment, and I think it’s making my IT band cranky and grinding down on all the cartilage in my knee. I had some back injuries in the past, so it would definitely make sense if I developed some compensations that led here.
What do I do or where do I learn more?
I appreciate your, and everyone on here’s, help so much!
If you want more info from outside you could search
-Anterior Femoral Glide (femur locked forward in hip socket)
-Hip Impingment (restricted hip motion)
-Right A.C. Pattern / Postural Restoration Institute( these guys focus on the psoas and its connection to diaphram and breathing. And your psoas and adrenal glands/ fight or flight response. These dudes say if your psoas is tight you’ll be stressed out and pissed off all the time)
-Smashwerx, hip ( this is a YouTube guy who does all kinds of band stuff to move the femur (accetabulum) in the socket. Dude is Extreme, so do be careful!)
I’m pissed off all the time, but I think it’s more my personality…
Dude, I really appreciate all this. I’m going to dig into that thread and those videos. I’ll probably save the aggressive ones for last. Thanks so much for going out of your way to help me.
Its no problem. A few of us have been dealing with this on and off (or over and over and over…) for years now. We’ve been trial and error-ing our way through it. Every time someone new is willing to talk about it I learn so much more about what’s going on. So you’re going to help me, too.
Before I forget! A great way to train with this is to use box squats and partial deadlifts in place of full ROM lifts. Then you do a bunch low reps sets, to get lots of first reps really focus on staying tight. Practicing moving with proper hip mechanics.
Since you’re doing many sets of low reps, putting quality motion before the weight it can get boring. To add the feeling of intensity and a challenging workout, you can limit and then shorten the rest times between sets. The effect this has on your overall conditioning is Unbelievable.
Hey, Flats, I’ve been thinking that I need to find someone who can analyze my body. I’ve of my chiropractors keeps pointing out that my right shoulder and left hip are connected. I’d love for someone to help me narrow down the cause of my problems and separate it from the effects. Right now it’s tough to tell.
I didn’t realize Quint was treating people online until I went looking for his phone number. I’ve heard him speak about shoulders and hips and how to treat them on podcasts. Specifically, the Westside Barbell ones. I know I’m a total brain washed can boy, but just listening to Quint’s thought process has helped me.
DeFranco is awesome. The limber 11 hits all parts of your hips. Some of those things will help. But some of those exercises could be to difficult. And some will just irritate your inflamed tissues. Go through them and see what’s good or bad. But don’t go 100 miles per hour!
IT Band foam roll - good
Adductor foam roll- I think especially good for you
Lax ball glute - good
Bent Knee iron cross- if your hip mobility is limited you might just twist your lower back to make up the knee ROM. Be aware and focus on motion of hip joints.
Rollover into v sit- probably cool, but you may be stiff. If your psoas is tight I expect the lowest part of your back, just above your SI joint to be stiff and not “roll” very smooth.
Rocking frog stretch- this is a good one, but if your psoas/hip flexor is tight it could be painful. You might need to start with an easier position.
Fire hydrants -maybe good. Keep your lower back flat and your pelvis square and motionless. Also check out “bird dogs”
Mountain Climbers - watch out! These might blow up your poor hip! If your hip is limited, pulling your knee(flexion) towards your ribs may hurt.
Cossak squat - I’ll buy you a beer if you can do 1 on each side.
Piriformis stretch - probably good. Start easy.
Rear foot elevated hip flexor- maybe good, maybe to extreme. If you have to lean forward or super arch your lower back to get into the stretch it’s too much.
Try to go into rear pelvic tilt anytime you’re doing a hip flexor stretch. Just leaning forward and letting your back arch can jam the femur forward in the socket. No Bueno.
As an update -
I’ve been doing the ol’ Limber 11 (and skipping my workouts, because that’s apparently just how the end of the year goes for me).
Anyway, I don’t do the cossack squats because they’re impossible. Everything else I roll through very slowly and try to focus on quality and posterior tilt.
It helped out today. I even did some pretty solid pause squats without feeling all unstable. I think this is a good combo for me - the pause forces me to get into the right position and the hip warm-ups definitely seem to get me moving correctly.
I get annoyed that it takes 10-15 minutes to do, but it’s (so far) pretty easy to remind myself that that time is a drop in the bucket and hurting and not being able to do stuff I like is an actual consequence.
No problem! I’m glad the Limber 11 is helping you. I need to start doing them too; like you, I don’t want to put time into mobility and flexibility, but that always bites me in the butt.
Another update, I squatted (to a box) again today. I’m already finding it easier to get my hips back, which also shows me how much I was not doing that before. Kind of explains the cranky knees
