Why Would You Strengthen Your Hips When It’s Your Knees That Hurt?

Elevation Physiotherapy & Wellness :: Why Strengthen Your Hips When It's Your Knees that Hurt?

Pain at the front of your knee is often called patellofemoral syndrome, and can be a nagging ache or a sharp pain that you might feel after exercising or even sitting too long.  Over time, your knee might start to hurt during exercise or throughout your day, and may cause you to limit your activities. 

Recent research showed that in people with patellofemoral syndrome, strengthening the thigh muscles can be helpful, but it is even more helpful to strengthen hip muscles.  One study followed 33 women who did consistent knee or hip strengthening exercises over four weeks:  the group that strengthened their hip muscles reported 43% less pain than the group who did knee/ thigh strengthening exercises—they reported only 3% decrease in their knee pain. 

Pain relief and function were similar for both groups by 8 weeks.

Why?

The power for you to move your body around is supposed to come from your hip muscles, specifically the “outer” butt muscles.  Often people are fairly weak through these muscles and your brain makes your thigh muscles take over and do more of the work than they should.  It is thought that getting or keeping the hip muscles strong helps to improve the mechanics of the whole leg and therefore reduces stress on the knee itself.

Strengthening your hip muscles can help decrease knee pain faster, but it is also thought that keeping those muscles strong can actually prevent knee pain from beginning. Examples of targeted hip strength exercises are clamshells, lateral walking with a resistance loop around your legs, and even squats—these exercises need to be done properly and should not be painful. It is always best to see your Physiotherapist who can determine specifically what is causing knee pain, and can then design a program individualized to help you.

Snow Shoveling … Canada’s “Other” Winter Sport!

Elevation Physiotherapy & Wellness :: Snow Shoveling Tips for Canada's "Other" Winter Sport!

With winter comes snow, and with snow comes shoveling.  Snow shoveling can be the cause of muscle and ligament injuries, as well as back pain.  It should be treated the same way as any sport—warm-up and cool down with some basic stretches and movements to increase your heart rate.

7 Steps to Easier Shoveling

  1. Start Slowly – shoveling can increase your heart rate and blood pressure, so warm up and cool down with stretches.
  2. Clear Off Snow as Soon as Possible – fresh snow is lighter than packed snow, so the job is easier.
  3. Push Snow Out of the Way – when possible, push snow off to the side rather than lifting and throwing the load.
  4. Don’t Overload the Shovel – fill the shovel half full and step forward when loading the shovel.
  5. Don’t Stoop and Lock Knees When Shoveling – that position increases the pressure on your low back, so bend your knees and keep your back straight.
  6. Take Breaks – if it’s a heavy job, rest awhile and return later to finish
  7. Stop to Stand Upright – make sure you regularly stand up straight and even stretch backward during shoveling to give your spine a break; repeat a few times in a row.

Choosing a Shovel

“Ergonomic” shovels have a bent shaft that allow you to keep your back much straighter, as you can get a good grip on the shaft without having to reach down too far.  Often these shovels have an aluminum shaft, making it lighter and helping to minimize the stress that shoveling imposes on your back.  Also look for a small, lightweight, plastic blade to help reduce the amount of weight that you are moving.  When shopping for such ergonomic snow shovels, pick them up first and go through the motions of shoveling to see if they’re the right length for you.

Proper Lifting

When lifting even a light load, be sure to keep your feet wide apart and put your front foot close to the shovel.  To lift, shift your weight to the rear foot and keep the load close to your body; turn your feet in the direction toward which you are throwing the snow rather than twisting your body. After you’re done, try to keep moving for a short time afterward—allow your muscles and your lower back to stay limber.