IT'S ALL IN THE HIPS...

"It's all in the hips" Those wise words from Chubbs, weren't just true for Happy Gilmore. So much of what we do as athletes depends on strong and flexible hips. From IT-band syndrome to lower back pain to an asynchronous freestyle swim stroke, the hips are the key. So often athletes are told to improve their core strength, yet most people don't realize the "hips" (gluteus medius and maximus, illopsoas, pectineus, and others  ) can be far more relevant than the more commonly associated abdominal musculature.

Hip strength is most often apparent to us when we have running problems like IT band syndrome. Take a look at some of your old race photos in a running race or the run portion of your triathlons, preferably head-on. If you look like my good buddy below, you have an injury problem "potentially" waiting to happen or just as bad, an inefficiency in your running form. Hip Drop is the dreaded biomechanical break down of your running stride when you allow your hip to drop vertically and knee to rotate inward, more and longer than necessary. Just Google "running" and "hip drop" if you don't believe me.

It's not difficult to revamp your stride to begin to eliminate this inefficiency, but it doesn't take work. First and foremost run with a higher cadence. You are less likely to sink into the hip dip if you spend less time collapsing your body down into the ground and more time moving quickly from foot to foot. Second, imagine you have the legs of Oscar Pistorius. If you don't know about Oscar (see below) he is a gold medal para-olympian track athlete and he has stiff and springy carbon fiber legs. When you plant your foot into the ground maintaining the firmness of the knee and hip joint allow you to fully maximize the stored energy within the elastic elements of your legs, providing a quick recoil and return of energy.  All of which improves your efficiency.

So next time you see a picture of yourself, maybe you can look better than Lance?