Rather than causing iliotibial band syndrome, it’s possible - downright likely, in fact - that hip weakness could be a minor symptom of iliotibial band syndrome, collateral damage. The researchers showed only that - maybe - these things tend to go together: ITBS and hip weakness, sitting in a tree, kay-eye-es-es-eye-en-gee.īeware! People, including scientists, are too easily impressed by correlations like this. It didn’t prove that weak hip muscles actually cause iliotibial band syndrome, or that strengthening them will cure it. The buzz began in 2000, when Fredericson et al reported in the Clinical Journal of Sports Medicine that “long distance runners with ITBS have weaker hip abduction strength in the affected leg compared with their unaffected leg and unaffected long-distance runners.” 2 Better yet, they found (or seemed to) that “symptom improvement … parallels improvement in hip abductor strength.” But it’s mostly a story of a pet theory that has gotten blown way out of proportion based on inadequate evidence - a good modern example of a type of science failure that plagues musculoskeletal and sports medicine. It’s worth exploring, and keeping tabs on. However, it’s an interesting subject, and the theory is not completely without merit or promise. In general, no kind of strength training is known to prevent sports injuries, especially overuse injuries - though that claim is often made, often by citing one scientific paper that doesn’t actually support the point. The evidence is not compelling enough to “believe” in hip strengthening as a prevention or therapy for any condition. I don’t think that runners should get excited about it. “Dead butt syndrome” has become a popular scapegoat, especially the two kinds of runner’s knee, iliotibial band syndrome ( ITBS) and patellofemoral syndrome ( PFPS). Hip weakness is a rising-star of running injury risk factors.
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