Keeping your hips strong is essential to maintaining balance and posture, including during your regular day-to-day activities and when you’re exercising. Proper hip mobility is important since it can affect the entire kinetic chain of movement.
There are several exercise programs you can do to improve the strength of the muscles around your hip. Someprograms are for beginners, and other programs offeradvanced hip-strengthening exercises.
Use a best to provide resistance during the isometric gluteus medius exercise.Brett Sears, PT, 2015
Yourgluteus medius muscleis one of the more important muscles that helps stabilize your hips and pelvis. It is located on the side of your hip and is active when lifting your leg out to the side. It works to keep your pelvis level when you are standing on one leg or when you are walking and running.
Weakness or poor neuromuscular control of your gluteus medius muscles may cause problems such as:
Some research indicates that your gluteus medius muscle is responsible for helping to maintain your leg in the optimum position while running, jumping, or landing from a jump.Weakness or poor neuromuscular recruitment of your gluteus medius muscles may cause your hips and knees to turn inwards, placing increased stress on your hip, knee, and ankle joints.
One of the main goals of a hip strengthening program should be to maximize the function of your gluteus medius muscles. The isometric gluteus medius exercise is one exercise that can help build a foundation for strong glutes.
Isometric Exercise in Physical Therapy
What the Exercise Does
The exercise helps to:
The isometric gluteus medius exercise should be the foundation of any simple or advanced hip strengthening program.
Before starting the isometric gluteus medius strengthening exercise, or any other exercise program, speak with your healthcare provider to ensure that exercise is safe for you to do.
Performing the Exercise
To perform the isometric gluteus medius strengthening exercise, follow these simple instructions.
The exercise can be repeated two to three times per day to help improve neuromuscular recruitment of your gluteus medius muscles. Once your glute strength has improved, you can move on to more advanced hip strengthening exercises. You may wish to keep performing the isometric gluteus medius exercise a few times per week to maintain the gains you have made with your glute strength.
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A Word From Verywell
Keeping your hips strong can help you prevent many musculoskeletal problems with your hips, knees, and ankles. Strong glutes help keep your kinetic chain from collapsing when you are running and jumping. By performing the isometric gluteus medius strengthening exercise, you can be sure to have a strong foundation on which to build your hip strengthening program.
7 Sources
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LaPorte C, Vasaris M, Gossett L, Boykin R, Menge T.Gluteus medius tears of the hip: a comprehensive approach.Phys Sportsmed. 2019;47(1):15-20. doi:10.1080/00913847.2018.1527172
Huang BK, Campos JC, Michael Peschka PG, et al.Injury of the gluteal aponeurotic fascia and proximal iliotibial band: anatomy, pathologic conditions, and MR imaging.RadioGraphics. 2013;33(5):1437-1452. doi:10.1148/rg.335125171
DeJong AF, Koldenhoven RM, Hart JM, Hertel J.Gluteus medius dysfunction in females with chronic ankle instability is consistent at different walking speeds.Clin Biomech. 2020;73:140-148. doi:10.1016/j.clinbiomech.2020.01.013
Buckthorpe M, Stride M, Villa FD.Assessing and treating gluteus maximus weakness - a clinical commentary.Int J Sports Phys Ther. 2019;14(4):655-669.
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