hi, i am trying to become more flexible. i am doing the side split hold for a min or half min. i dont have that much trouble pushing my legs apart. but when i am done, and i am going back up from the splits to recover my legs, i have this huge pain in my right leg iliotibial band. it takes my about 30 secs of pain in right leg Before i can go up. i continue to do the side splits 3 times a seasion. but i dont seem to improve because of my iliotibial band pain. i have tried the tutorials from Youtube about the iliotibial band pain. but the movements only help temporary not permanent. as soon as i go up from the split it hurts again. then i do the iliotibial band exercises, and pain is relieved. then i go down side split, then i go up and it hurts again. i have maybe 14 cm left to split. help me please.
If it hurts, stop doing it. Or at least don't push as far. Pain is there to tell you that damage is being done. That's not to be confused with discomfort, which is normal in training. Pain hurts. Pain is bad. Pain = damage. Note my username. I chose it because for too long I ignored the same advice. Now I'm nursing a range of self inflicted injuries. At least one of which is never going away unless I have surgery.
NO PAIN NO GAIN thats what i have learned when doing the splits unfortunately. if i dont do side split stretch my legs will become very stiff soon.
Can't help you really, but I have the same problem with my IT band. If I rehab it, it helps the "daily" pain (walking, going up and down stairs etc) but still hurts if I run or something. It never goes away completely. If I stop trying to fix it, the pain comes back and I get a constant ache a few inches above my knee and is pretty severe if I run or whatever. It's been like that for about 2 and a half years now. No sign of it letting up!
It could be the IT band seizing up to protect the knee. Get a pretty solid foam roller and try rolling out the IT band before you do the splits.
The tensor fascia latae can become inflamed at the point where it connects to the iliotibial band, which is also where it slides over the greater trochanter (the boney process on the outside of the femur) during side splits. This can cause referred pain further down the IT band, as far down as the knee, or elsewhere in the limb (deep butt cheek pain is not uncommon). Keep doing the exercises to mobilise the IT band and do strength exercises such as squats.
Although it seemed to be the thing to do a few years back, they say don't roll the IT band these days.
It's not quite that simple Bozza. ITB issues are thought to be related to relative weakness of the glut medius. If you want to see how strong your glut medius is , try these exercises and see how you fare. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxokaEvKnD8[/ame] Rolling etc is all fine, just often is a distraction rather than a cure (much like taking tablets too quickly). Just sayin' LFD
Yeah my trainer says to roll the muscle right above & below the band along the sides of your thigh, but not on the band itself.
i have been doing the exercises and body weight squat. but as i said Before, it only helps temporarily. As soon as i go down to split and get back up, i can feel the pain again. And i have to do the exercises again.
I'm not sure that you understood my comments previously. ITB problems are often due to relative weakness of the muscles that should be holding your hip in position. When there is weakness the tensor fascia lata muscle becomes overworked (like using too much anterior deltoid) and this can put excess load on the IT band (all theoretical). Strengthening the the gluteus medius might help if this is truly your problem. One concern/caveat. You talk about getting pain coming out of a split '' i am going back up from the splits to recover my legs, i have this huge pain in my right leg iliotibial band. it takes my about 30 secs of pain in right leg Before i can go up.'' Now this doesn't sound very typical of an IT band problem. It sounds more like rebound pain from the capsular ligaments of the hip being wound tight. There are other possibilities. Really you need to go and have an orthopaedic assessment from someone who can establish where the pain is originating from rather than just continuing to chase the pain. Have you ever had the hip/leg looked at by someone with this sort of training? The internet can only really solve internet type problems. Problems that need an examination don't tend to do that well ;' ) LFD
A fascinating thing I discovered when reading up on a number of recent injuries is that it all comes down to butt strength. Not just general butt strength, but specifically the muscles that run to the outside of the gluteus maximus muscles, past the hips and down the side of the legs to the knees. Also if the butt muscles don't hold the pelvis in correct alignment, it can lead to problems all the way from lower back right down to the feet. When both my knees randomly gave in for more obvious reason, the physiotherapist set me on a programme of knee strengthening exercises. I found this odd considering a train a lot of kicks, and the muscles in my legs are now very strong, but I did them anyway. It had negligible effect. So I started isolating the muscles in my butt, and guess what, I was back at training within less than a month if starting butt exercises into my regime. I'm not saying for one second that my situation is the same as anyone else's. The point I'm trying to make is that the cause of pain is not always obvious. And you should never underestimate the importance of the butt.
I have issues with internal rotation on my right leg (I tend to walk around externally rotated if I don't pay close attention to it). This has caused several issues (at least, from what I can tell, these are caused by it): - Right knee painful, especially when elevated (e.g., step-ups, stairs, etc). - Right achilles tendon tends to get irritated easily Until recently I hadn't suspected this was the cause. My new weight trainer explained: - My quads & back are doing more work than they should (in most movements), I need to correct it and instead recruit my hamstrings & glutes & abs more. - He wants me to strengthen my glutes, especially the sides where it runs into the hips. I told my masseuse this explanation and the masseuse went really deep into my adductor and loosened up the glutes as well on that side. Surprise: No more external rotation for a few hours! Usually when I try to stand with my feet both pointed forward, I feel an externally-rotating tug from my right leg (it wants to turn out). After the masseuse got in there, it no longer did that (for a little while), which seems to confirm what my trainer was telling me. I've had issues with this leg for years, and just a little mobility/stretching work, along with some strength training, has alleviated most of the issues within a few weeks. So yeah--butt strength.