It’s All in the Hips

The fitness industry is at an all time high and commercials, news reports, pretty much everywhere we turn we are encouraged to be active for a healthier lifestyle.

No matter who you are, if you are active you have experienced an injury at some point in your life. Whether you are training for a run, playing soccer or skiing, you can suffer from an injury.

It’s pretty obvious that a females build differs from a male. But did you know those differences (especially in the size and shaping of the hips) could increase your risk for an injury? One common injury, ACL damage, that can be sustained by both females and males is actually 4-10 times more likely to occur in a female.

Now, I am not saying the next time you walk out your front door to run you are going to tear your ACL. What I am getting at is if we as females strengthen specific muscles, not only can we prevent ACL damage but we can prevent other hip and knee injuries.

So what can you do?

Research states that the combination of glute med (side of the butt aka hip abductors) quad, and core (not your 6 pack ab muscles) strengthening will be prevent injury from occurring.

So if your in the gym try doing squats, hip abduction seated, cable hip abduction, lateral band walks, monster walks with bands, clamshells, jane fondas, side lunges, forward/back lunges, step ups, side step ups, planks, side planks, dead bugs, abdominal isometrics

Make it a circuit! Do 1 minute of step ups, lateral band walks and planks. Repeat 2x! You can get creative with this!

You will 100% not only notice a difference in muscle definition but even when you workout, go on a run, join a fitness class, you will be able to feel more support and stronger in your lower extremities!