Stretching Tips ; Inner Thigh + (Iliotibial band) ITB

It should have been one of my busiest weekend with my pending assignments. I was stoked that by the end of the week nothing much was left in my mind, and the only thing which I knew would work for me to ‘recover’ from the stress was going for a bicycle ride, trail running or both. So I manage to gather a few friends to ride with me on Friday night, but one of them had to cancel as his wife had contraction (yeah, they’re expecting another addition to the family). Just a short ride in Putrajaya, around 18km or so. Slow spinnin’, and guiding my friend how to spin, and when to tell that you’re spinning too fast. That’s when you find your shoulders moving  frantically or bum bumping against the saddle as u cycle (meaning ur butt is not glued on the saddle). It was a short ride but a good one. I need to get back in shape and I will do it gradually. Did some stretching after. I find that some of my tri/running friends do not stretch their inner thigh.  It is one of the important stretches you can do  to maintain your knee stability .Your inner thigh muscles are one of the 5 muscle groups which maintains the knee’s stability; Main muscles affecting knee stability;

1. Quadriceps
2. Hamstring

Other muscles affecting knee stability;

1. Calf muscles
2. Hip abductors (located in the outer thigh)
3. Hip adductors (located in the inner thigh)

Fibrous tissue affecting knee stability ;

1. Iliotibial band (IT band, or ITB)

QUADS, HAMSTRING,CALF

ADDUCTORS

Tight adductors

Tight adductors can throw off the balance of power in your legs. If your adductors (inner thighs) can’t effectively do their job (help stabilize the knee throughout the running movement), your hamstrings will be recruited to pick up the slack, putting them at an increased risk of injury. While some runners neglect to stretch their adductors, others have the opposite problem, and do exercises that can overstretch increasing the risk of a muscle pull.

p.s. : seated climbs  for cyclists may also trigger tight adductors especially if your training regime does not include strengthening for your precious inner thighs !! Allow me to translate it to Malay , ‘mengayuh basikal di bukit sambil duduk boleh mengakibatkan paha (bahagian dalam)  yang ketat, terutamanya jika latihan menguatkan bahagian paha ini tidak dipraktikkan’

Stretching the adductors/inner thigh

ILIOTIBIAL BAND

Tight Iliotibial band (ITB)

ITBFS or ITB Friction Syndrome; is an overuse injury that produces pain on the lateral knee during running and, occasionally, cycling. Pain is generally caused by an unusually tight ITB, the undersurface of which frictions over the lateral femoral condyle.

Stretching the ITB