Achy knees? Strengthen your hips

June 3, 2011

Many runners experience knee pain (I get questions about knee issues all the time and always count my lucky stars that my knees have been pain-free thus far) — and one of the most common injuries is patellofemoral pain (PFP is when the thigh bone rubs against the back of the knee cap — ouch!).

The good news for those with these achy knees? A new study from Indiana University has found that hip strengthening exercises (such as squats and those using a resistance band) that focus on strengthening the abductors and external rotators resulted in significantly less PFP pain and improved runners’ gaits.

For some exercises that strengthen your hip abductors, here are a few from livestrong.com.

Yoga shorts, Stella McCartney for Adidas.

 

 

 

Filed under: Fitness Swellness,Healthy Swellness

Tags: hip abductors, knee pain, running, running injuries