The Best Way to Protect Leg Muscles Is To Make Them Stronger
7 exercises to prevent muscle tears in the legs
All throughout my residency program, I was told to focus on the lower back and hips to rehab and prevent future lower body injuries. By improving gluteal and lumbar strength, I was addressing the root cause of all trunk and lower body injuries. Those muscles control the positioning of the legs and stabilize the pelvis.
At least, that was the theory.
Over 10 years of clinical practice, I read and applied a lot of research. It turns out, that focusing on the lower back and the gluteals isn’t the best way to prevent all trunk and lower body injuries. They are important to address, but strengthening those areas alone is insufficient.
In reality, you need to directly strengthen the muscles you aim to protect.
Preventing muscle tears
A new study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine explored the relationships between hip strength and groin pain. They compared hip abductor strength with hip adductor strength.
The hip adductor muscles are a group of inner thigh muscles responsible for bringing the leg toward and across the center of the body, a movement known as adduction. This group consists of five…
