Using banded crabwalks in your rehab program or warm up? Where you place the band is important!
Lower extremity injury rates are increased with a weakness of the hip abductors and external rotators; this is particularly prevalent in females with patellofemoral pain – a common knee injury in runners! To address this, resisted side-steps/crabwalks/monster walks are commonly prescribed.
One of the biggest issues we face with this exercise is overuse of our Tensor Fascia Latae (TFL). We want to be strengthening hip abduction and external rotation in this movement with those main muscles being Glute Med, and Glute Max. Whilst our TFL is a hip abductor, it also creates an internal rotation torque and as increased hip internal rotation and adduction is what had us needing this exercise, you can see why that may be of concern!
So what does band placement have to do with this?
Lewis et al investigated muscle activation and movement patterns between 3 different band positions and found that Glute Med and Max activity were highest, and TFL activity was lowest, when the band was placed around the feet.
Give these a try and let me know if you can feel the difference!
πPMID: 30615490, 19028000
