Tricky but Important Gluteus Medius Strength Exercise

Some videos NSFW possibly, due to explicit language or other reasons.

A fairly common issue with long distance hikers, runners and walkers is tightess and even pain down the outside of each leg, and it can be anywhere from the glutes down past the knee. There can be pain but not always. Sometimes a cause of this is said to be Iliotibial band syndrome, also known as IT Band syndrome. See Mayo Clinic – Knee Pain for details. I get some tightness along my left leg side when I walk on concrete for longer distances.

I don’t know if I have that particular syndrome because I am not a doctor, but it cannot hurt to do prehab type strength training on related muscles, namely the gluteus medius. Wiki – Iliotibial band syndrome is an basic information page on the issue. This issue is common in runners and is highlighted in several runner’s websites, here for example.

Dr. Jack Taunton at the University of British Columbia states in this article that “the days of only stretching and rolling are no more. Even a full-blown case of ITBS can be eliminated in just four weeks with an exercise regimen that focuses on strength, rather than flexibility.” Recommended is ‘Hip Abductor Strengthening’ and ‘Hip Gluteus Medius Strengthening’.

Several doctors write that they see a very high rate of success treating those two muscles. They also mention that core strengthening is important, and strengthening these muscles should be done as a preventative measure in all runners. I would assume that goes for cyclists who also experience this common issue.

A decent physical therapist and strength trainer, Jeff Cavalier of AthleanX strength program, has a great video about it. Apparently foam rollers and stretching don’t help but strengthening does work. Here’s a really good video focusing exclusively on the exercises, done by a runner. These require band(s). I’m going to make non-scientific bro statement about this video: “This guy knows his stuff!”

Another video, and here’s a good exercise in that, pressing against a wall with knee with weight on heel of other foot. Kristie Ennis does a good stretch here and I tried it: very nice. I can perform this fairly easily laying in bed without crossing the other leg.

Update: Exercise victory: all scheduled tasks complete!

I just wrapped up the final exercises, including Nordic curls. I’m going light on that. I may switch out the leg raise and use the Kristie Ennis exercise shown in the first link of the paragraph I mention her, above. I can get good intensity on the appropriate muscle that way. Also, I saw in one of the videos to do Bulgarian split squats with a weight only in the hand of the arm opposite to the foot being worked. That will force a compensation by the gluteus medius muscle. So I have some ideas to improve a couple exercises.

My success here is important since I am gaining motivation in several important areas of my life as a result. Volunteering can have the same effect and I recommend doing it where possible. Good friendships can be made and networking can occur.

I think I can see my traps come in which are the diagonal muscles visible from the front but reach up behind the neck. I’ve seen gymnasts with monster trapezoids. That’s a muscle that can be readily seen through a shirt, and many work it cause it’s a pretty many thing to have. I saw a gymnast mention that handstand pushups will cause it’s growth to explode. Now, I’m not quite at the strength level to try those yet: I keep rock solid straight arms to minimize the effort, which taxes me. However, I used to struggle a lot more. I feel *very* strong in the wall supported handstand and I can easily keep up for 40 seconds.

There are plenty of various progressions, and a big one is free standing handstand. I have trouble kicking up into it. I can get advice with a form check by putting a video in a forum somewhere. The internet is great that way. A place to do that would be like body-weight fitness on Reddit.

One of my long term goals is handstand pushups. Apparently, that is superb for multiple muscle groups including the shoulders and trapezoids. Very difficult, though. I have a lower body fat than many people at this time. It could change if I don’t regulate my food intake, but that’s an advantage I have at this time.