hip clunk

[Chris Hansen]

Hello

When I do any type of leg raise exercise, my right hip clunks at about te half way point as the leg lowers. I get this during exercises like lying leg raises, dead bugs, and tuck ups. It doesn't hurt but it is annoying. What might cause something like that, is there a fix for it?

Thanks.

[Richard Hamilton]

Not entirely sure what it is but I and a few others get the same thing. Doesn't hurt me either but it sure doesn't sound right so it's worth trying to fix it.

My experience is that it's improved since working on F1 and stretching more

[Cole Dano]

One cause of this is an imbalance, or lack of coordination, of the rotator cuff of the hip.

We hear a lot of talk about how important the rotator cuff of the shoulder is, but we don’t often hear about the deep rotators of the hip.  Similar to the shoulder joint, the hip is also a ball and socket joint.  This type of joint is great in that it allows for a large degree of multidirectional range of motion. However, because of this the inherent nature of the joint is less stable than say a hinge joint like the knee.  To increase stability the hip joint relies on the labrum (a fibrous ring that increases the depth of the socket) and the tiny, deep muscles that surround the joint – the rotators.  Similar to the shoulder, the hip is really only attached to the body via soft tissue.  Because of this reason, maintenance of a healthy balance between strength, structural stability, and flexibility is important to the overall health of the joint and surrounding structures.

For today, I will focus on the hip external rotators and the internal rotators. There are 6 external rotators of the hip – piriformis, gemellus superior, obturator internus, gemellus, inferior, obturator externus, and quadrates femoris.  My guess is that most of you reading this have not heard of most of these.  Okay, maybe you have heard mention of the piriformis muscle from friends or loved ones with sciatica (a whole separate topic for another day!).  This small group of 6 muscles is responsible for laterally rotating the hip/leg and keeping the hip in the socket.  On the opposite side of the joint lie the internal rotators – gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and tensor fascia lata.  You guessed it, these oppose the external rotators and help with activities requiring internal rotation.  Individually, these muscles (both internal and external rotators) also assist with other motions in the hip, but let’s just talk about the contribution to rotation, stabilization, 

 

 

Hip muscle pdf - http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfje/2440/Hip-muscles.pdf

 

If you've seen the band routine that Ido learned from Coach Sommer, then you can apply the same idea to your hip rotator cuff.

 

Find a way to attach a light band to your ankle, lay down and hold the other end of the band in your hand. Starting in a supine position, raise your leg a few centimetres and make small circles one way  then the other. Lift  your leg a bit further and repeat, doing this through the entire range of motion that you have. Also repeat the circles as you lower the leg bit by bit.

 

When the leg is down again, repeat the entire process now taking the leg to the side.

 

If you start to get stronger at this, then rather than holing the band, attach it to your stall bars for some real delight.

[Keilani Gutierrez]

I  will try this out and get a form check on this ASAP. 

 

Cole, do you know of a video showing this skill? would it be too much to ask to comment if im doing it correctly if i post a video up?

 

thanks.

[Connor Davies]

....On the opposite side of the joint lie the internal rotators – gluteus minimus, gluteus medius, and tensor fascia lata...

Huh.  All this time I've thought the glutes were external rotators.  I'm confused now... 

[Cole Dano]

Look at the pdf, the glute medius and minimus are very interesting muscles.

[Connor Davies]

Look at the pdf, the glute medius and minimus are very interesting muscles.

Ah I see now.

 

The gluteus maximum is responsible for external rotation, as well as to some extent the gluteus medius.  However, both the medius and the minimus are used in abduction which is why I feel them engage so much during straddle work.  Since I can get deeper into a straddle with external rotation, I figured they were all doing the same thing.

 

You're right, they are interesting.