IT band syndrome is one of the biggest mismanaged pain problems out there. Typical treatment involves
stretching the IT band (physically impossible)
ice (worthless)
hip strengthening (often done poorly)
Here’s how we do it and keep it gone for good. I’ve added our program at the end, and its one of the many added benefits for our paid subscribers.
#1 Do Less Exercise
This should be a no brainer but is easy to overlook. You irritated something so STOP irritating it.
Decrease activity by 50%
Slowly increase each weak
Use pain as your guide
Using pain as your guide is fairly straight forward. Don’t EXCEED 5/10 during the activity make sure YOUR pain isn’t worse the start of your NEXT session
#2 Fix the QUAD
Every knee issue is a quad issue FIRST. The KB quad smash is the best way to start.
I got this technique from Kelly Starrett, but it’s more similar to Body Tempering from Donnie Thompson.
You don’t have to cross your one leg over the other, but the contract/relax is important. Try to hold for 5-10s, relax for 5-10s, and do AT LEAST 2 minutes.
When pain is present, it’s common to have protective spasm in the quad that can limit knee function.
This technique helps to reduce that spasm. I find this to instantly decrease knee pain and improve knee function.
Heavier is better. Too heavy and the quad won’t relax but give it a few reps before you give up. A dumbbell works too.
#3 Make the quad stronger
Again, a no brainer, but somehow the focus has become hip strengthening, not quad strengthening, in the traditional rehab setting.
And the hip exercises often chosen (bridges and clamshells) WILL NOT make you stronger
I like single leg exercises, and here are some of my favorites
step ups
split lunges
single leg squats
Technique matters and
A properly executed single leg exercises does more for the hips than typical hip exercises given by physical therapists
Be sure to drive the foot THROUGH the ground for CONSTANT tension on the quad. You should be pushing through the MIDDLE of your foot.
You’ll feel this on the inside of your quad (VMO what?!)
#4 Be More Powerful
There are many ways to improve power, I’m just partial to kettlebell swings to develop power endurance.
Often times you’ll feel pain on the outside of the knee doing exercises when you have IT band syndrome.
A trick to stop lateral knee pain is to “pretend the knees are headlights and keep then shining forward” This prevents your knees from excessively point out.
You may also need a wider stance
What is the IT Band Syndrome?
The IT band is a thick piece of tissue that runs the entire length of the side of the leg. IT band syndrome is a common overuse injury and often affects runners, but I’ve seen it also affect cyclists or any activity that requires repetitive knee bending.
The first step in recovering from any overuse injury is to reduce the aggravating movement. That’s always going to be person specific based on
chosen activity
fitness level
tolerance
Stretches and hip strengthening exercises are often prescribed. The IT band is really thick so there’s no physical way to stretch it. This is great news and means
We can ignore it.
Targeted hip strength work is also prescribed, usually the glute medius, but I find just doing single leg exercises covers the entire leg and hip, so its more efficient.
Summing it up:
To KNEECAP (see what i did there?), I treat knee issues as quad issues first. This usually fixes the knee issue and the hips get stronger by default
Any good knee program should focus on the quad and actually strengthen you. That’s what our program does
Good for coming back form an injury, and great for preventing a future injury.
Grab it below