#Banded abduction how to

This causes the foot to compensate by pronating (allowing for more forward knee migration), forcing the tibia to internally rotate, which leads to hip internal rotation and hip adduction, and therefore knee valgus. Inadequate ankle dorsiflexion mobility along with tight lower leg musculature (gastrocnemius, soleus, and anterior tibialis) prevents the tibia/knee from migrating forward sufficiently. And when the adductors are overactive in comparison to the glutes/hip external rotators, the knee is similarly pulled into valgus collapse. The hips then move into adduction and internal rotation. Inadequate gluteal/hip strength (gluteus minimus, glute medius, gluteus maximus, hip external rotators), possibly in conjunction with overactive hip adductors, prevents proper stabilization of the femur. I’ve arrange them in order of most likely to least likely, based on my informed opinion: Women are more prone to experiencing knee valgus due to their proportionately wider hips, increased Q-angles, diminished hip strength, and in my opinion from being taught to “sit like a lady” (along with reinforcing that movement pattern repeatedly throughout their lives).Īs to what’s causing the valgus collapse, in the research it has been suggested that knee valgus can be caused by four primary fixable factors. You won’t see knee valgus occur very often during hip thrusts either, but if you do it’s much more easily correctable compared to knee valgus during squatting due to the lesser adduction/internal rotation torques and lesser hip flexion ROM.Īre Women More Prone to Exhibiting Knee Valgus? This is rare, and it typically occurs with individuals who experienced a lower body injury and never rehabilitated it properly.

I’ve actually trained a few clients that were so weak and deconditioned that their knees caved inward when performing a body-weight Romanian deadlift (simple hip hinge task with no load).

While you won’t see many instances of knee valgus during hip-hinging motions such as conventional deadlifts or good mornings, it does occur on occasion. You’ll commonly see valgus collapse rearing its ugly head during squatting, lunging, jumping, landing, climbing and descending stairs, and even during gait/running. For many individuals, this is easier said than done. The hips must absorb and reverse the sagittal plane flexion torque while stabilizing the femur in the frontal and transverse planes so the knees track over the toes. Essentially, gravity acting on the body induces large adduction and internal rotation torques on the hips while the hips move into flexion. Knee valgus most commonly occurs during upright ground-based activities that require eccentric action of the hip extensors. Knee valgus can lead to patellofemoral (knee) pain, ACL tears, and iliotibial band syndrome. When standing on one limb, the opposite side pelvis will usually drop during valgus collapse as well. It can also be thought of as knee caving as you sink down into a squat or landing. It is characterized by hip adduction and hip internal rotation, usually when in a hips-flexed position (the knee actually abducts and externally rotates). Knee valgus is also referred to as valgus collapse and medial knee displacement.

#Banded abduction how to

In this blogpost, I am going to teach you all about knee valgus and how to go about correcting it. Hell, you can even go to a public place and examine people’s walking form and detect knee valgus in a minority of individuals. Knee valgus is a very common occurrence in the weight room.