Hip strength and knee pain. How are they related?

Are you someone that sees squats programmed in the workout and starts to get nervous because of some knee pain you are dealing with? Or maybe the workout has running and you opt to use the bike instead? As a former CrossFit coach and a physical therapist who does CrossFit, I know that knee pain can be a common thing that fitness athletes deal with.

Now the knee joint itself is relatively simple as it primary flexes and extends (bends and straightens). There are some very small motions in other planes but we will not get into that today. What I have found during my time as a physical therapist is that often times knee pain may not stem from the knee itself. Now there are definitely times where someone may have arthritis, a meniscus tear, or something else going on inside the knee joint. However, what I commonly see is that the patient may lack hip strength/mobility and/or ankle strength/mobility. 

Now, today I just want to focus on hip strength as the ankle is a whole separate topic. The hip itself can move in all three planes meaning the hip can flex/extend, move away/toward the body and rotate externally and internally. There are a variety of muscles that help accomplish these motions and while they are all important, the one I want to focus on is the gluteus medius muscle. This muscle primarily is used when performing hip abduction (think about kicking leg out to the side), hip rotation and plays a vital role in hip stability. When it comes to CrossFit or Olympic weightlifting we primarily move in the sagittal plane. While this will improve our strength in other glute muscles, there is usually not a big focus on improving glute med strength. 

Why is this important you ask? Well, as mentioned before, the glute med plays a huge role in hip stability. It is responsible for preventing your opposite hip from dropping when standing on one leg. Not really important without context I guess so lets talk about running or even walking. Running and walking are both single leg tasks where there is a moment in time where your whole body weight is supported on one leg. If your glute med is not strong enough, the opposite side hip will drop and lead to increased stress on different body structures, one of them being the knee. The glute med also plays a role in keeping your knees stacked over your toes when performing squatting motions, jumping motions, and running motions. Weakness in the glute med can cause the knee to dive inward and cause increased stress through the medial (inside) knee.

If you are dealing with knee pain, the team over at Loon State Physical Therapy is able to help. We serve the twin cities communities with locations in Lake Elmo, Linden Hills and Minnetonka. Feel free to call us at (612) 405-8503 or book online at www.loonstatephysicaltherapy.com for an in-person or virtual appointment.

Loon State Physical Therapy approaches physical therapy with a fitness forward approach and specializes in treating the active adult. We look forward to working with you!