in today's video we're going to go through three exercises for a complete
hip abductors work out for both flexibility and strength
hey what's going on Eric Wong here from precision movement and today we're here
with another video to focus on a specific muscle group and how to train
that muscle group for strength flexibility and function ok so today
we're talking about the hip abductors and before we get into any techniques
let's make sure that we know what the hip abductors are so hip abduction the
movement of hip abduction is simply bringing the leg out to the side okay
it's a frontal plane movement so this is the frontal plane this is the sagittal
plane is the transverse or rotational plane ok so this hip abduction movement
occurs in the frontal plane so if you're throwing sidekicks if you're skating
striding out you're using these muscles yeah they're also used primarily for
single leg balance so a single leg stance whenever you're walking you're on
one leg if the hip abductors weren't firing you would go like this ok so if
you've got something like a Trendelenburg gait or your pelvis just
shoots out a lot to the side you might not have a true Trendelenburg but you
get a lot of lateral shift or a lot of shift in the frontal plane then your hip
abductors may not be functioning correctly ok so we've got to train them
you've got to work them but then you've got to integrate them into the movement
patterns that you need and that's what we'll do with the last exercise today
all right so that's the movement kinesiology now let's talk about the
anatomy so the anatomy there's a couple of main muscle groups the glute medius
would be the biggest and the strongest hip abductor and that's right around the
side here we got the glute minimus which is right beside it it's very very small
and then we've got the tensor fasciae latae which can also contribute to hip
abduction but primarily it's the glute medius ok so when we think about this
the glute medius also contributes to hip extension
so when we think about how are we gonna fully lengthen this muscle if we want to
stretch it out then we've got to get into a position of both hip flexion so
we're gonna go the opposite so the glute medius shortens up in hip extension and
hip abduction so we need to go hip extension and hip adduction to fully
lengthen it okay so we're gonna do that with the first technique right here so
you've might have heard of this technique it's called the brettzel great
coke I think from functional movement systems FMS is the one who initially
came up with this and just a really great kind of big bang technique which
addresses a lot of different elements that a lot of people need addressing
okay so let's get into position here you lie down on your side sideline bottom
leg you want it you want the hip extended okay so it's back and then
you're gonna flex the knee and you're gonna lock it in with your opposite
hands top leg you want the hip flexed to 90 degrees and then your other hand on
top to help push it down to the ground okay so I'm going to show you a couple
angles just so you can see that the back leg or the bottom leg a little better
after from here you're basically getting a rec fem stretch rectus femoris on this
leg yeah and then we're going into hip flexion and hip adduction so this is
where we're getting a really good stretch on the glute medius at the top
and then from the hips up we get rotational movement especially through
the thoracic spine and that's where we're going to focus that rotational
movement so we want to drive this scapula down okay to open up the chest
or push this knee down and that gets a good stretch through the hip abductors
and the glute medius right there so let me just show you other angle so bottom
leg you want to make sure it's the hip is extended flex the knee grab the foot
and get a rec thumb stretch pull that heel to but that also locks your pelvis
in so that you're not rotating through the pelvis when you grab this guy and
pull it up yeah so this hips flexed to 90
push it down with the opposite knee and lay back
open up take some deep breaths and make sure you're staying long through the
spine gave elongation through the spine where rotational movement is great when
you're moving properly through all the spinal segments you've got segments that
are really stuck that's when you get into problems with rotational movements
scapula down and back on the top shoulder and just stretching out through
the glute medius by pushing that knee down across the body okay so that's a
static stretch and that's just going to help you to get into that range of
motion but we want to develop range of control we want to develop strength
throughout the range in the glute medius and in all the muscles okay so the next
technique is really great technique it's the one leg side bridge or side support
so the side bridge position is on your elbows that's what I call it side
support position is when you're supporting yourself right on your hand
okay so one leg version let's do the side bridge first
it's simply bringing the top leg up as high as you can
staying in the frontal plane don't lift it forwards you've been in the frontal
plane keep the chest out shoulders back good long spine and hold okay what's
great about this technique is we're working both open and closed chain
function of the hip abductors the leg that's closer to the ground the foot
that's on the ground that hip is closed chain it's on the ground and I'm
attached to the ground there so I'm gonna work more of a stabilizing
function the leg that's on top those hip abductors are open chain ok I'm not
connected to anything the limb is moving so that's going to work better in terms
of activation so I find that closed chain movements help better with
stability and firing up all the stabilizers around a joint in addition
to whatever muscle it is you're trying to work open chain movements are better
for activate a specific muscle group yeah so that's
just a distinction of methodology that I use when I create courses when I'm
thinking about creating programs okay so the one leg side bridge there or the
side sport same idea there just make sure you're staying in the frontal plane
not flexing the hip or rotating the body down towards the ground at all so for
that one under reps old times from anywhere from five to 20 seconds
I'm not through I don't recommend doing max hold times all the time when you do
these plain type exercises okay up to 30 seconds is fine but for this technique 5
to 20 seconds is good and 2 to 5 repetitions per side is good couple sets
there you go all right so that's technique number two so that's gonna
build stability and strength in an isometric position it's a you're not
moving it's an isometric movement so what do we want to do if we want to take
it up to the next level now we've got to integrate this strength these muscles
into a movement pattern and the technique that I'm going to show you
today is the lateral crossunder lunge ok and we could add a little reach to it
as well but to start all you gonna do and I've got this mat in front of me
just kind of as a guideline to stay in the frontal plane okay so I'm not
stepping back here and I'm not stepping to the front I'm stepping straight
across to the side okay so that's gonna use a line in the floor or something
like that if you want to do the same okay
it's all you're doing as you're stepping under like so get that range whatever
range you can and you don't have to go super low and back but you want to stay
right in this frontal plane yeah you're stepping under reach just kind of
lightly touch and then bring it back okay so you can try that out but then
you want to make sure that you've got the correct elements on to ensure proper
stability in through the whole leg and hip complex so for the foot that's on
the ground about applying metatarsal pressure so
driving down through the ball your foot and all of the metatarsals okay
underneath each toe just like as if each toe has the ball of the foot it does
those are called the metatarsals put your pressure through there as well as
the heel so you're distributed evenly across the foot not just all on the
heels okay so that's step one from there you want to make sure that's attached
okay so I'm connected from the metatarsals all the way up because that
ensures that I've got stability right from the feet joints all the way up
through the knees and into the hips and then here I'm just stepping out to the
side keeping metatarsal pressure here just lightly touch okay and then bring
it up to the start position what I want you to do is reach with this foot okay
so you're not just kind of throwing it down with momentum but under control you
reach it and then you touch you go as far as you can
metatarsal pressure there and then controlled all the way up so fit go slow
motion here so you've got control through the full range touch metatarsal
pressure driving through and return okay so for this technique anywhere from
three to six reps per side is good again two to three sets and that's going to
train those hip abductors all right so they have three techniques we went from
a static stretch that hits the hip abductors as well as other areas of the
body for that hold for 30 seconds good to go then we went to an isometric
technique that worked both open and closed chain activation patterns of the
hip abductors themselves and finally we went through a more movement pattern
style where complex movement pattern to integrate the strength that you develop
in the hip abductors into a pattern that is relevant to everyday life okay so
anytime you're on one leg that's relevant to walking running any kind of
movement on your feet balance any type of balancing technique
or exercise that you do you're gonna benefit from that as well okay so they
have three techniques to hit those hip abductors up and hit them in a way
that's gonna build you towards greater function okay so if you like this make
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peace