• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
live love fruit logo

Live Love Fruit

Eat Vibrantly. Live Vibrantly

About Start Here Work With Me

  • Home
  • Start Here
  • About
  • Health
  • Remedies
  • Recipes
  • A-Z Conditions
  • Fitness
  • Environment
  • Self Improvement
  • My LLF
  • Shop
Category: > Fitness > Get Rid of Pain And Tenderness In The Outer Knee And Thigh with this Fool-Proof Exercise Guide

Get Rid of Pain And Tenderness In The Outer Knee And Thigh with this Fool-Proof Exercise Guide

Jul 19, 2017 Carly Fraser Save For Later Print

Last Updated: Oct 30, 2018

1.3K shares
  • Facebook1.2K
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

If you find yourself walking a lot, or you’re an avid runner or cyclist, it’s likely you’ve experienced pain in the outer knee and thigh area.

The iliotibial band (IT band) is often to blame here. When this connective tissue gets overworked, it is believed to cause pain and tenderness in the areas it attaches – namely, the outer thigh and knee (especially just above the knee joint).

What Is The Iliotibial Band?

The IT band is a thick band of fascia (elastic connective tissue) that begins at the pelvis and runs down the outside part of the thigh. It crosses the knee to attach into the top part of the shinbone (tibia) (1). Its main role is to help stabilize the outside part of the knee and to aid in both knee flexion and extension.

IT band syndrome (ITBS) is primarily known as a running injury, however it is quite common in anyone who undergoes consistent vigorous training that involves use of the legs – long walks, hiking, biking, and backpacking can also cause the syndrome. Conventional medicine claims that ITBS is a kind of tendinitis, however, studies have been pointing to something much different – something that might not involve the IT band at all.

One study that measured a bunch of different factors in a group of young athletic women (2). Women that did get ITBS were examined by expert assessors who determined that not one of them had tight iliotibial bands. “All the athletes with iliotibial band friction syndrome had a negative bilateral Ober test.” In other words, their iliotibial bands were not tight.

What Is Really Going On?

If we’re experiencing IT band pain, but our IT bands are not tight, then what’s going on here? Well, to understand the IT band, we need to understand the anatomy of the hips and thighs.

If you know anything about the hip muscles (the glutes, deep rotators and adductors), then you’d know that they control and stabilize everything below the hips. If something is off with your hip muscles, then it’s likely that you’re going to be experiencing pain anywhere below this point.

According to Dr. Stephen Pribut, “weak hip abductor muscles play a large role in the development of ITB syndrome. These weak hip abductors are part of a commonly seen pattern of weak core muscles. This leads to muscle imbalance. On longer runs, and as you are just starting to increase the length of your runs, your hip abductors can become fatigued and require the added assistance of the muscles which attach into the ITB to work harder (3).”

He suggests that strengthening the hip abductors and stretching the ITB and structures that attach to it can help alleviate the problem.

What Are The Hip Abductors?

The hip abductor muscles include the gluteus medius, gluteus minimus and tensor fascia latae (TFL). They move the leg away from the midline of the body, and also help rotate the leg at the hip joint. They are necessary for stabilization during walking (and running, biking, etc.), and one-legged movements. Weakness of the gluteus medium muscle has been most commonly found in runners with ITB syndrome (4).

The IT band is attached to the TFL, which functions to stabilize the knee and assist in abduction, however the gluteus medius is far stronger and better at performing these functions. When the hip abductors are weak (aka. the gluteus medius), the TFL must contract harder, and for longer periods, therefore straining the ITB.

The Gluteus Medius

When the gluteus medius isn’t working correctly (which in most people, it isn’t), it can’t really stabilize the knee, so your TFL takes place. Since the TFL isn’t as strong as the gluteus medius, it can’t really stabilize the knee as well. However, it is connected to the massive thick connective tissue, otherwise known as the IT band, so the IT band tightens up to stabilize the knee instead.

Do you see how this all makes so much sense now? According to Robery Camacho, fitness coach, “the problem with this is that you’re now statically using a structure [the IT band] to achieve dynamic stabilization. That’s kind of like responding to the shocks on your car being too loose by tightening them up so much that they can’t move (5).”

As a result, an enormous amount of pressure is put on the IT band, leading to tightness, inflammation,and pain.

Strengthening The Gluteus Medius

Strengthening the gluteus medius and practicing stretches that loosen up the hip abductors is the best place to start when trying to find relief to outer hip and knee pain. Use the following guide to your advantage, and

1. Glute Medius Test

For this test, you will need a friend to help, but it is a good test to see if you have glute med weakness, and also a good exercise to help alleviate it.

1. Lay down on your side in a straight line and make sure your hips are stacked.
2. Bring your top leg back a bit so that your toe is touching the heel of your bottom foot.
3. Flex your ankle and try to raise your leg.

At this point, many people have trouble doing the leg lift without rolling backward, turning the foot outward or letting the leg shift forward (if you do these things, you are cheating). If you can do this so far without “cheating,” then you’re ahead of the game. Now, take your friend and do the following:

4. Get your friend to push your leg down gently at first (in the same position we left off with – #3 above), and then with slightly increasing force.
5. If you can maintain the height of your leg without your body position shifting, then your glute medius muscle is strong! However, most people can’t do this (especially without cheating/compromising body position).

This test can also be used as a great exercise to strengthen and re-teach your glute medius muscle to fire. Just make sure you’re not cheating and make sure you feel the muscle pulling from the upper region of the outside of your buttock (where this muscle is located). If you’re only feeling a pull on the front of your hip, change your position, because you’re no longer working the glute medius!

For the exercise, simply repeat the leg lift you used as a test and repeat it several times to strengthen the muscle. If you have a friend around, they can provide some resistance to strengthen it further.

2. Clamshell Leg Lifts with Band

1. Lay on your side with both knees bent. Line up your heels with the hips and pelvis and keep your pelvis neutral or slightly forward (don’t let it roll backwards or open up).
2. Place a tied resistance band just above your knees for extra resistance (not necessary, but helpful).
3. Breathe out, engage your core, and lift the top knee up towards the ceiling slightly.
4. Breathe in and lower.
5. Repeat this exercise until fatigue. Aim for 2-3 sets of 10-20 reps.

3. Side Plank

1. Lie on your side and line up the neck, shoulders, pelvis, hips and ankles.
2. Put your bottom elbow under your shoulder, and keep your heels grounded.
3. Lift up through your side body and hips so that you have good spinal alignment. Do not drive through the shoulders or upper back too heavily.
4. Hold for 5-30 seconds, and repeat until you can no longer perform the exercise (about 8-10 reps).
5. If this exercise is too difficult, do a modified side plank, where the knees are bent instead of lifting through the feet (see video).

4. Supportive Stance Glute Medius Exercise

1. Bring your body to the side of a wall opposite to the weakness (if your left leg is the one that is affected, put the right side of your body against the wall).
2. Lift the leg closest to the wall, keeping the knee bent 90 degrees and in line with the other knee.
3. Keep the pelvis level (don’t let the hip or pelvis drop).
4. Push the lifted leg into the wall and hold with the support stance leg. You should feel it in the lateral buttock of the stance leg.
5. Hold for 5-10 seconds, and aim for 3 sets of 5-10 repetitions.

5. Crab Walk with Resistance Band

1. Attach a resistance band around the thighs (easier) or around the ankles (harder). Make sure the resistance band is short enough to generate increased tension when you sidestep.
2. Sidestep with a slight squat, and feel the resistance band stretch and create tension between the legs.
3. Maintain good control in stance leg and keep the weight centred between the legs.
4. Do 3-4 sets of 10-15 repetitions in each direction.

6. Pigeon Pose

1. Start in a downward-facing dog with your feet together.
2. Draw in your left knee and turn it out to the left so that your left leg is bent and near-perpendicular to your right one. Lower both legs to the ground.
3. Keep your right back leg extended straight behind you, and stabilize yourself with your elbows on the ground, or if you feel comfortable, fold your upper body forward and collapse over the left leg to a fully relaxed position.
4. Stay in this position and hold for 5 to 10 deep breaths.
5. Switch to the other side and repeat.

7. Basic IT Band Stretch

1. Stand tall with your right leg crossed over the left.
2. Lean to the right (towards front leg) until you feel a stretch along the side of the left leg.
3. Hold for 30 seconds, breathing deeply the entire time.
4. Repeat 5 times before switching sides.

1.3K shares
  • Facebook1.2K
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Filed Under: Fitness, Yoga & Stretching Tagged With: gluteus medius, iliotibial band, IT band, outer knee pain, stretching, tensor fascia late

Carly Fraser

About the Author

Carly Fraser has her BSc (Hons.) Degree in Neuroscience, and is the owner and founder at Live Love Fruit. She currently lives in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with a determined life mission to help inspire and motivate individuals to critically think about what they put in their bodies and to find balance through nutrition and lifestyle. She has helped hundreds of thousands of individuals to re-connect with their bodies and learn self-love through proper eating habits and natural living. She loves to do yoga, dance, and immerse herself in nature.

View Profile

Reader Interactions

Related Posts

  • Get Rid of Knee Pain With This Cinnamon Pineapple Smoothie. It Nourishes Joints And Fights Inflammation!
  • 20 Pain-Relieving Solutions for Knee and Joint Pain (And Tips on How To Prevent It)
  • Eliminate Knee Pain for Good with this 10-Step Strengthening and Stretching Routine
  • Ultimate DIY Knee, Bone & Joint Pain Healing Salve Recipes - People Are Going Crazy For Them!
  • Strengthen and Relax The Feet with these 5 Exercises to Reduce Ankle, Knee, Hip & Lower Back Pain
  • Target The Glute Muscles With These 10 Stretches For Back, Knee and Hip Pain Relief
  • illustration of psoas muscle and trigger points within the psoas muscle
    10 Psoas-Releasing Stretches to Stabilize the Spine and Relieve Low Back and Knee Pain

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Free Ebook

Success! Please check your inbox to download your FREE eBook.

Reduce Chronic Inflammation Naturally!

The Ultimate Guide to Fight Inflammation and Restore Your Health!

21 Ways to Reduce Chronic Inflammation

Recent Posts

people making transition from unhealthy to healthy food concept

Tips For Making The Vegan Transition

body with different inflammation points and random images of different foods that cause it

10 Foods That Cause Chronic Inflammation and Trigger Pain, Fatigue, Bloating + More

visual illustration of toxins stored in fat cells in body

How to Eliminate Toxins From Fat Cells That Are Making You Fatigued and Swollen

foot with demonstrated achilles pain

This One Stretch Relieves Plantar Fasciitis, Shin Splints, Achilles Pain, and Heel Pain

Neutrogena and Aveeno sunscreens recalled by Johnson & Johnson

Latest Sunscreen Recall Raises Concern Over Chemicals

lemongrass plant in garden

How to Plant Lemongrass to Repel Mosquitoes

Popular Posts

Man spraying pesticides on tea plants with other side of image showing dry loose tea bags

Pesticides in Tea: Is Your Favorite Tea Contaminated with Harmful Chemicals?

glyphosate in wine

Monsanto’s Harmful Chemical Glyphosate Found In 100% Of California Wines Tested

whole dandelion plant with flowers and roots on cutting board on a table

Dandelions Are Not Weeds! Top 10 Health Benefits of Dandelion

johnson & johnson baby products in pharmacy

Johnson & Johnson Finally Admits: Our Baby Products Contain Cancer-Causing Ingredients

10 Plants That Attract Dragonflies for Mosquito Control

companion planting chart

Use This Companion Planting Chart to Help Your Garden Thrive

France Bans Neonicotinoid Pesticides

France Bans All Five Neonicotinoid Pesticides Linked to Bee Deaths

Glyphosate in Food: Complete List of Products and Brands Filled with Dangerous Weed-Killer

whales dying from plastic pollution

Whales Dying From Plastic Pollution Are a Grave Reminder to Give Up Our Addiction to Plastics

illustrated piriformis muscle showing trigger points and radiating pain

How To Get A Deep Piriformis Stretch To Get Rid of Sciatica, Hip & Lower Back Pain

RECOMMENDED

Thank you! Please check your inbox to confirm your subscription!

Want to reduce inflammation and restore your health?

Join Live Love Fruit and we'll show you how!

Footer

Stay Connected!

Follows
  • 316k Followers
  • 1.9k Followers
  • 110k Followers
  • 607 Followers
  • 11.5k Followers
  • Home
  • About
  • Start Here
  • Write For LLF
  • Contact

Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a healthcare professional.
Content on Live Love Fruit may not be reproduced in any form.
Ads provided by AdThrive. Displayed ads do not constitute endorsement or recommendation by Live Love Fruit.

Copyright © 2012 - 2023 Live Love FruitPrivacy Policy | Terms of Service | Full Disclaimer | Affiliate Disclosure

1.3K shares
  • 1.2K