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Mike
Mike is a currently a coach at DeFranco’s Gym in Wyckoff, NJ. He studied under Buddy Morris and James Smith while at the University of Pittsburgh and has also studied at various physical therapy practices. He has coached levels of athletes from Pro-Bowl, MLB, to pre-pubescent athletes and has also consulted for high caliber athletes worldwide.
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Mike has also written articles for various websites and is the founder of a website that provides free information in hopes of properly educating a mass of coaches and athletes around the world.
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Getting rid of IT Band Syndrome

by: Mike Guadango

I never knew what I had until I spoke to a marathon runner in passing about my symptoms. It's a pain that makes my knee feel like its about to snap when I bend it. Turns out I had IT Band Sydrome; only problem is that it's never gone away. I lift weights with proper form, so I don't think it has to do with that or even running, because I ran for years for without a problem.

Still, like clockwork,  every time I run remotely long distance, my knee tightens up and it'll stay like that for days. I went to P.T. with no relief. I foam roll along with using a lacrosse ball (needless to say it isn't a pleasant feeling). I do that, and I stretch (somewhat) consistently (but maybe I can be a little more thorough with both sides of the leg).

Then I read that it could have to do with a muscle imbalance between the hamstring and the quadriceps. When I stretch, my hammy is fine, however I feel a slight tightness in my knee after stretching my quad. It doesn't bother me at all while I lift but it's been far too long (over a year) since I've had no pain.

What the hell do I do now?

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I've had many guys with problems like this. The typical answer is foam roll and lacrosse ball the hell out of it. And ya know what? That helps for the time being. But it's just a quick fix. By doing that, all you're addressing are the symptoms of the issue: Pain. You're causing short term alleviation, but continuing long term aggravation. If you want to fix something, you usually need to look at the bigger picture. Sometimes it's not the pain that's the issue. Pain is only the result of the issue - a symptom. Look to a more general area to find the real issue - then simply guess and check to see if you're right.

In situations like this, I will give my own little eval' and usually notice that the athlete has flat feet. It's not uncommon. Sometimes this is due to the arch of the heel being collapsed. When the heel collapses, the knee will valgus. When that happens, the lateral muscles of the knee will be shortened and will adapt to this position. I'm not saying this is your problem. Your arches may be fine, but this could quite possibly be a contributor. Everything can very well stem from the ground up.

To be honest, I have more athletes that have flat feet than those that don't. Once I see that, I always ask, "Do you wear orthotics?" Most guys don't. They either have them and don't like them because they're not comfortable, they bother their feet when they play, or they're just too lazy to put them in different pairs of shoes, or they simply didn't know they had flat feet. Go to a podiatrist. See if you need orthotics for your feet.

You can see how orthotics can clear up knee and hip issues. Once the weight is distributed differently on the foot, the forces will no longer be carried or produced on the medial aspect of the lower limb. This will cause the knee to go outward or shift laterally. By doing this, it will change the structure of the lower limb. The muscles will all have to adapt to the new working environment. Medial muscles will shorten, lateral muscles will lengthen - particularly the IT Band and vastus lateralis, and pain could eventually subside.

On top of that, you're going to have to do abductor and adductor work. Because of the structure you've adapted to, muscles that have been under worked and need to be activated, and muscles that have been over worked need to be reprogrammed.





CATEGORY: Training