The Effects Of Flexibility Of The Hip Muscle On Strength

The muscles that support your hip have a complex, codependent relationship, which evokes images of employee dynamics in a large corporation. When workaholic employees do more than their fair share of the workload, the other employees lose efficiency. Your hip muscles work the same way. Tight, overactive muscle groups cause opposing muscle groups to weaken and atrophy. Optimal athletic and functional performance requires a delicate balance between hip muscle strength and flexibility.

Hip Muscle Function

The hip flexors, along with the hip adductors and the gluteus maximus, medius and minimus, make up the muscles of the hip. The gluteus maximus performs hip extension, or moving the leg behind your body. The gluteus medius and minimus abduct, or move your leg away from your body's center. Your hip adductors or inner thighs move your leg toward your body's center, while your hip flexors bend your hip and bring your thighs toward your abdomen.

Strength and Muscle Strains

Hip muscle imbalance may cause National Hockey League players to experience adductor or inner thigh strains, says physical therapist and athletic trainer Timothy F.Tyler of the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma. Tyler and his team reported that preseason hip adductor or inner thigh strength was 18 percent weaker in athletes subsequently sustaining adductor injuries. Uninjured players had adductor strength equal to 95 percent of their abductor or outer thigh strength. The injured athletes' hip adductor strength was only 78 percent of their hip abductor strength. It's interesting that flexibility did not play a role in susceptibility to injury.

Reciprocal Inhibition

Constant sitting tightens the hip flexors, which connect your thighs with your pelvis. This tightness causes a condition called reciprocal inhibition that occurs when one side of the joint tightens and the other side weakens. Overly tight hip flexors weaken your gluteal muscles and cause your hamstrings to overcompensate.

IT Band Syndrome

The illiotibial band is the thick layer of muscle tissue that runs down the side of your leg. Illiotibial or IT band syndrome causes pain on the outer side of the knee, which sometimes runs up the entire length of the outer thigh. This injury sometimes leads to a chicken-or-egg question. A tight illiotibial band or weak hip abductor muscles both cause this condition. Physical therapists suggest hip abductor strengthening exercises, along with stretching exercises for the illiotibial band.