These IT Band Syndrome stretches and exercises can help relieve pain and increase flexibility in your IT (ilotibial) Band. When the IT band is tight, it can cause a lot of problems in your hip and knee including hip bursitis and patellofemoral pain syndrome. See Doctor Jo’s blog post about this at:
For the first stretch, take the foot of the leg you want to stretch and cross it behind your other leg. Then take the arm on the same side and bring it up and over your head. Now stretch the area by pushing that hip out to the side and hold it for 30 seconds. Do three of these.
Now you are going to do a hip hike exercise. Keeping your body upright, lift your foot slightly off the ground. Hike your hip straight upwards. Try not to lean over while doing this. Your hip is going straight up and down. If you want more range of motion for this, you can stand sideways on a step and drop your foot off when coming back down. Start off with 10 of these and work your way up to 20-25.
The next exercises and stretches will be on the ground. This stretch is a very intense stretch and will hurt some people. If you have a noodle or foam roll, lie on your side with the injured side down on the roll. Gently roll/pull your leg up and down from the hip to just past the knee. Start off with 30 seconds and work your way up to a minute.
Roll over onto your side with the side you want to work on top. The top leg is going to stay straight and pull your toes up towards you. Keep your body in a straight line as well. Try not to let your leg come forward. Also, keep your hips up towards the ceiling, perpendicular to the ground. This is going to work your hip abductor muscles. Start off with 10 of these and work your way up to 20-25.
Finally, you will do a clamshell exercise. Still lying on your side, bend both knees slightly forward. Try to keep your hips perpendicular to the ground with the top hip towards the ceiling. Slowly lift the top leg up and out, like a clamshell opening up, and then slowly back down.
Related Videos:
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Hip Bursitis Stretches & Exercises:
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Doctor Jo is a Doctor of Physical Therapy.
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IT Band Syndrome Stretches & Exercises:
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