Here’s how a hip that can’t rotate can become the root cause of lower back, hip, knee, or foot pain. [1]
A hip must be able to rotate a minimum of 15-20 degrees to protect neighboring joints like the lower back, knee, and ankle.
Now, if your hip can’t rotate, there are two main ways your body will compensate.
1. A very visible snapping leg twist (I’m exaggerating this motion to highlight it)
2. Asymmetrical shoulder rotation and arm swing.
Ideally, when your left leg steps forward, your left pelvis moves forward with it. The right hip absorbs the rotation created by the left leg, moving you forward.
But what happens if that right hip can’t absorb that rotation?
As soon as the right heel lifts off the ground, that stored rotational force snaps the leg and rotates it.
This ‘snapping’ motion alters how the spine, hip, knee, and ankle all move with each step.
Where this compensation becomes a chronic problem is at scale. If you walk some 5,000 steps a day. This happens 5,000 times a day. That adds up to 35,000 times a week, which means over a month, this compensation occurs 140,000 times.
If painful movement problems or muscular imbalance are preventing you from doing what you want, let's first look at how you’re walking to understand why you feel the way you do.
Put your phone on a chair, and record yourself walking.
Then review.
Does one of your legs ‘snap’ when the heel lifts off the ground?
How about your arm swing, is one arm swinging more than the other?
Leave a comment below with what you noticed. Let's talk about it!
[1] Michaud, T. C. (2012). Abnormal Motion During The Gait Cycle. In Human locomotion (pp. 139–261). essay, Thomas Michaud.
Ещё видео!