According to a new study, a culprit for overuse running injuries which is often overlooked, is weakened hip muscles.“Various studies have estimated that up to 70% of runners suffer an overuse running injury every year” lead author Reed Ferber, Assistant Professor and Director of the Running Injury Clinic from the University of Calgary.

Literature review has revealed that excessive foot pronation and reduced hip muscle strength are the most common causes for overuse running injuries. “Hip muscle weakness especially appears to lead to atypical lower extremity mechanics and increases forces on knees and feet while running.”

The review quotes from studies which have found that after 4-6 weeks of hip abductor strength training, 22 out of 24 runners suffered less pain and between 35 and 51% demonstrated increased hip abductor strength.

“These results suggest that hip strengthening rehabilitation programmes may be an effective way to lessen running overuse injuries,” said Dr. Ferber.

He recommends performing hip abductor strengthening exercises to prevent injury. Individuals should progress up to three sets of 10 repetitions gradually to avoid muscle soreness.

This review was taken from the human kinetics blog