- Do you have weak hip, or hip pain
that's causing you to waddle
and other symptoms as well?
Oh, man.
- Well, in this video, we're gonna show you
a common cause of hip pain,
and give you some exercises
to help keep your hip strong and be more mobile.
- Yeah, I am, I'm back.
(upbeat music)
All right, we just featured a video
on how to stretch your hip,
five different stretches
to get the tissue so they are mobile as they need to be.
Now, it's time to strengthen that hip.
Some people won't need to stretch their hips.
It's just particularly strength.
And once the muscles are strengthened properly,
the hip joint will become stable,
much less chance of having hip pain.
- Yes, and we're gonna start talking
about anterior femoral glide syndrome,
which is a common cause of some hip pain in people,
and also address the waddling Brad was doing earlier.
- Well, that's common as well, you'll see that.
And we've worked with many people over the years
with that waddle as well as the femoral glide.
That's a mouthful, I'm not even gonna say it.
All equals hip pain.
All right, now keep in mind
that the hips are the center gravity of your body.
If your hips are strong, which relates to your core,
it makes a tremendous difference on your mobility,
your balance, and just being strong and mobile.
- So, in this video, we're gonna talk about
some key exercises to strengthen these hips,
because if they're weak, that's what causes
waddle walking, imbalance,
and a whole lot of dysfunction in your body.
- Right, so again, I'll review waddle walking.
That's when you have this lateral motion,
and I did that at the beginning of the video.
The other part that we're talking about,
the help me out, the anterior femoral glide syndrome.
Let's look at Sam, he's gonna help us out today.
Right here, we've got a nice view.
Now, the anterior means forward.
So, what happens is the ball of the hip
actually, moves forward.
It's not a lot, but it's enough to get the joint
not aligned properly, causing abnormal wear,
premature arthritis, and it can lead to a hip replacement,
which obviously not desirable.
Mike, do you have anything to add?
- So, we're gonna show you a stretch,
or mobilization-type exercise you can do
to help get this from being forward,
back into place properly, and not cause as much pain.
- Well, actually, a strengthening exercise
that's gonna pull that back.
- That as well.
It all fits together.
We'll clear it up as we go along.
All right, now the first two exercises
are specific to the gluteus maximus muscle.
It's a problem, and Mike's gonna explain
why we're gonna do this briefly.
- So oftentimes, when you're sitting
for prolonged periods during the day,
it can disengage your buttock muscle.
This is called gluteal amnesia.
Another common cause of gluteal amnesia
is when your knees are locked or straight like this.
This can happen just when you're standing or walking.
So, if your glutes aren't activated,
they're not gonna fire as often.
Oftentimes, this can lead to the femoral head
slowly shifting forward or anteriorly,
causing that pinching sensation in there.
So, if the glutes start engaging more,
it'll help get that femoral head
where it needs to be decreasing your amount of pain.
- All right, let's show them the exercises, Mike.
All right, here we go.
The first exercise is called gluteal pump.
We're gonna show you two options.
One, this is a preferred option on hands and knees,
and I'm gonna show you another one
if that's not comfortable for you.
So, we're working the glute maximus muscle
on his left hip.
Go ahead, Mike.
- So, you wanna get into a nice neutral position like this.
Don't be too flexed over or too extended.
Then you're gonna lift one of your legs
up towards the ceiling.
You're not gonna go all the way up.
You're just gonna kind of go in between
all the way down and all the way up.
You're gonna do a little gluteal pump,
or kick your foot towards the ceiling,
but notice I'm just doing small oscillations
in this little range of motion.
This will keep the butt muscle engaged,
and firing the whole time.
When I do the whole range of motion,
it's working other hip muscles,
which we're not trying to target right now.
So, just try to do 30 repetitions total like this.
If you're not feeling much engagement
in your buttock muscle,
you could try turning your foot in like this.
And this will help engage the buttock more.
Once this becomes simple,
bring that leg back and do them this way.
- Good job, Mike.
Is it, can the counter, can they go for time as well?
- We often recommend 30 repetitions.
If you need to do sets of 10 or 15, that's fine.
You can break them up that way,
or do all 30 at once if you're able to.
- And doing these on the floor is best-carpeted floor.
Not on a bed, it's gonna be too soft.
So, if you're not comfortable getting down on the floor,
go to a cupboard or a solid chair,
something solid you can go on
and you're gonna do them in the standing position.
And it does work plenty good
as long as you do it properly.
So here, I'm gonna support myself.
Here, I'm gonna work my right glute muscle,
90 degree bend in the knee.
Does that have to be exact?
You don't have to get a protractor out.
Just bring it about to here.
Bring the knee.
What are you laughing at, Mike?
- Don't you get your protractor out?
- Well, you know, that's the engineer in me.
And then out to here, again, not up high.
It's in that mid-range and it's an oscillating motion,
exactly like Mike described, 30 repetitions,
or if you're starting out again less.
And if you wanna get more,
just think about bringing your heel this direction,
and then work it to isolate those fibers
of that glute muscle a little bit more.
And, you know, it's amazing
because I can start to feel those muscles
start to burn a little bit, and then you know you got it.
Okay, make sure you do both legs.
Three sets is good.
Again, start out easy.
Make sure you do it right.
All right, our second exercise.
Again, for those glutes, Mike's gonna demonstrate it.
He's showing it here.
You can do this one on the bed
if you want a soft bed, not so well.
Again, prefers a firm surface like, you know,
on a carpeted floor, but whatever is safe for you.
Go ahead, Mike.
- So, you're gonna start in a bent knee position like this.
This is just called a bridge.
You're gonna lift your buttock and low back off the mat.
Once you're up, hold it for three seconds
and then slowly go back down.
When you're doing this,
make sure your butt cheeks are firing
because these are the muscles you're trying
to target right now.
Obviously, low-back muscles,
and hamstring muscles are also gonna be working.
But the goal here is to get those glutes firing again
to help with that anterior femoral glide syndrome.
- Can I interrupt, Mike?
- Sure.
- So obvious, or he's doing nice, slow motions up
and he holds for a second,
thinking about those muscle fibers kicking in
and then going down.
Repetitions, 10 to 15 is good.
Start out with 10.
If that gets too easy,
just go two to three reps
and rest a minute or so between the reps.
And how are you doing, Mike?
- I'm good.
Do you wanna show the advanced version?
- Sure.
- So, if this is easy for you,
you can try going to one leg.
So, just kick your other leg out straight like this,
and you're gonna hold up.
Again, try to hold for three seconds,
and then go back down.
Make sure this feels good to you
if you're having back pain.
Don't do this. - Right.
- But you can do 10 repetitions on each side
and then make sure to switch and do the other one.
A good thing to focus on is keeping straights.
You don't wanna be rotating anyway with one leg.
It's a little bit easier
and that just makes it a lot more challenging.
- Yes, outstanding.
This is actually a very aggressive technique.
A lot of people may not get to this
and that's just fine.
You'll still get the objective and the goal set.
So, let's go on to what number we on?
- Three.
- The third exercise.
This one's specific to the glute medius.
It's forward, it's right in this area.
And this really is gonna help this waddle walking
if you happen to have that.
That glute medius needs to be strong
to stabilize the pelvis.
We're gonna show a way to do it lying down,
and then we're gonna show options coming up as well.
So, to lay on your side to begin
and we're going to strengthen
the hip abductor muscles here.
So, what I'm gonna do is kick this up towards the ceiling,
but try to keep my foot pointed forward,
or slightly down like this.
We don't wanna rotate like this.
- [Brad] Right.
- This disengages the muscles we want.
Then you're gonna go down.
If you feel unbalanced like this,
you can bend your lower knee back,
kind of making a little tripod there,
and then you can balance a little easier.
Make sure I'm kicking in a straight plane of motion here.
It's even with my arm, I'm not going forward
and I'm not going too far back.
This will engage the right muscles, go slow and controlled.
You can try to do 10 to 15 repetitions with this
and just take your time
and you should feel these muscles engaging.
- All right, nice work, Mike.
And actually, turn over and do the other side as well.
- Yes.
- While we're in this position,
we might as well show the hip ad doctors
as dip the opposite side of muscle groups.
- Yes.
- And go ahead, I'm sorry.
- So, I'm gonna be doing the left
leg since I'm laying this way.
I'm gonna bring my top leg and bring it back like this
to keep balanced.
I'm still gonna try to keep my trunk facing this way
and you're gonna kick this leg up towards the ceiling.
You're gonna work those inner thigh muscles
this time trying to strengthen them.
Some people, these are weak on some.
Most people they're pretty strong on.
It's not as important as the abductor
if you're just gonna pick one.
But as long as you're here, try to do both.
- Right, right.
- Yeah, and this is one of those things like you said.
Some people, I've had people even just getting enough
of the, you know, the better the floor,
two inches be is very difficult at first.
And then those muscles start to engage
and there they go within a week.
So yep, that's a good one to do.
It doesn't take much time and be complete.
All right, now this next option I really like
because it's more functional
and it makes those muscles kick in with weight bearing
which is exactly what you do
while you walk to eliminate this waddle.
You do need one step and a handrail,
or anything like Mike is showing here.
Make sure you're safe,
and you feel comfortable doing this.
Go ahead, Mike.
- So, you're gonna stand sideways on the stair,
hold on to the railing for support.
And what we're gonna do is this is gonna strengthen
this leg and the hip abductor, the leg on the step.
So, all I'm gonna do is drop my pelvis
at an angle like this,
and then I'm gonna lift it up.
So, you're gonna feel some muscles engaging
on the right side as well.
But the focus here is a hip abductor on the left.
Try to go slow and controlled with this.
Take your time and try to do 10 to 15 repetitions,
and do two to three sets if possible.
I do wanna add one thing.
When I've worked with patients with this over the years,
my verbal cue to make sure the mechanics are done right
is focus on this knee.
Mike, I want you to lock that knee out and keep it locked
and that's gonna stay there and that, there we go.
And then I say, see if you can touch your heel
towards the floor, so pull those toes up.
And obviously, you're not gonna touch,
but think about that, like,
pistoning up and down while this knee is locked
and it really isolates to that hip abductor muscle
and that's what we want.
And Mike talked about the reps.
Any other suggestions, Mike?
- You're gonna feel a slight stretch when you go down
because I commonly don't do this exercise.
- Yeah, it's a good one.
So, if you have any pain, this does work the low back.
If you have back pain with it, you do need to stop it.
Okay, just quickly, Mike is doing the same exercise
and you can see it has his belt lying.
This hip drops and it pulls up.
This knee stays locked.
It's just a nice visual of proper mechanics
while you're doing it.
All right, okay, this last set of exercises
is gonna work the hip muscle in three different directions.
I like to call it the triple threat.
It's a nice exercise.
Now, please be aware, we're giving you five exercises
and some options.
Do all of them, pick out the ones that work best for you.
You may only pick two or three of them
or possibly only one.
None of them should create pain.
If they do, you do not do that one.
So, work with them, do the ones you like
and kind of work with them over time.
You may end up doing all of them.
So that's the rule.
The next set, you can use ankle weights
if you want or have them.
I've had one here.
I've already wrapped one around my ankle.
Mike is gonna do them without ankle weights.
You do not need them.
Go ahead, Mike, you start.
- So, the first one I'm gonna do is a front-forward kick
like this.
You can either do them with the straight leg,
or you can flex your knee like you're marching
if this is easier for you or less painful,
but just go straight forward and back.
Be nice and controlled.
Make sure to hold on to support if you feel unsteady.
I'm using a stair rail, Brad's using a cane-like stick.
So just do 10 repetitions, slow controlled
and you're working those front hip muscles.
- Good, and if you are using a stick or a cane or a wall,
if you're working your right leg,
you're gonna hold on with your right hand.
It just makes a wide base.
It makes a big difference versus over here.
You'll find out very quickly.
Let's do the next exercise.
- The next exercise is hip abduction,
or kicking out to the side.
Go nice, slow, and controlled.
Keep the foot forward the whole time.
Don't turn out or turn in too much.
Again, try to keep your pelvis somewhat neutral.
Don't lean over like this to kick up higher.
That is not gonna effectively strengthen this muscle.
So good upright posture, slow controlled movements
and 10, 15 reps again.
- That's right.
And the third one, I think you can do these all as a set
and that's why I usually do it myself
or with patience, forward, sideways, and then.
- Backwards, so we're gonna kick straight backwards.
Obviously, I'm this way,
so, I'm not hitting anything behind me.
You wanna keep a nice straight leg
like Brad is showing there,
and it's gonna work your buttock muscle again,
kind of like the earlier exercise.
- Good, I'll demonstrate the two mistakes
people commonly make.
They start doing this,
which works the hamstring muscle.
We don't want that or compensate by doing this,
which is really gonna take away
from working the hip muscle.
- So, don't do those two.
Make sure to do both sides evenly
and the side standing is actually gonna get a workout too
because it's keeping balance
while you're strengthening the other side.
- It's a bonus.
It's a double bonus.
- [Mike] Triple threat with a double bonus.
- There you go, you can't get much better.
However, we are gonna go one more step.
If you have bands at home and you wanna use those,
it's a really effective way
to work the hips will be right there.
All right, now if you do have bands,
typically, they come with four or five bands.
There's an ankle strap as well as a door anchor
and you're set to go to really, really advance
your strengthening of the hip.
So, on a door like we have here,
we put it in the door, we've already have it in there.
Mike's gotta connect it up.
He's got his ankle, Velcro strap around his ankle
and look at that, he's going to town already.
Oftentimes you may need something to hold on to.
You're gonna need a stick or cane.
We got the Booyah, go ahead, Mike, talk about it.
- So, we're gonna do the same exact exercises.
We just have a band for resistance.
So go nice, slow, and controlled.
You can either do flexion like this,
hip flexion like you're marching
or straight leg like we mentioned earlier.
Now to go into the other planes of motion,
we gotta turn a little bit with the band.
So, here I like the band in front of my foot here
and then we're gonna kick out to the side.
Again, keeping a nice neutral position here,
not leaning over too much.
The closer you are to the door,
the less resistance you're gonna have with the band.
The more resistance you want,
simply stretch it out and go this way.
And Brad, do you wanna show the last variation
on the wall anchors?
- You bet.
Again, with the bands, there's gonna be different colors.
Typically, the darker colors have more resistance.
It's very obvious to see.
If you do have bands and you want to progress
and you don't wanna use the door anymore,
because it's an issue, there's wall anchors
that really work out well for different levels.
Obviously, for this, we're gonna use the lower wall anchor.
The upper ones are particularly for upper arms
and trunk strengthening.
So here, I'm gonna do it with a loop band.
So, it works really well with a loop band as well.
You do not need the strap, the Velcro strap.
And I'm gonna do adduction this way.
Yeah, it is nice to have a stick to hold onto them
a little wobbly and it's the same exercises
that Mike just demonstrated.
And again, this one, it's always nice
to have the band in front, I think.
I have much more balance.
Ooh, I'm too tight there, I gotta move in.
- Brad, you just made the triple-theta quadruple.
- Well, whatever, that's fine.
These are the people in the advanced anyway,
so, we did give you an extra exercise, but I'm good at that.
You ever see a band snap?
- No, I did.
- Oh, he's gotta have some fun.
So good luck with your hip strengthening.
It's gonna make a difference.
It's important, though.
You do this for one week.
If you're a waddle walking, one week of hip strengthening
probably is not gonna correct you
and allow you to walk straight.
It does take time and it's gonna probably take
two to three weeks and some really focus.
Cause you've got a habit of water walking.
Your mind doesn't even know you're doing it.
Look in a mirror, walk down the hallway
and look at yourself, correct yourself
as you're walking in the mirror
in addition to the strengthening,
and you can get this taken care of.
Any questions on that, Mike?
- No, but if you wanna watch the five stretches for hip
that we talked about earlier in the video,
we'll link it down below in the first comment.
So, if you wanna learn more about the hips,
go watch that video.
- Most excellent, good luck.