Hip Abductor Question

[tweakxc03]

Rip:

I've asked chiropractors and physical therapists this before and nobody has been able to give me a straight answer on this. This doesn't pertain really to squats or SS... It's more for just athletic range of motion in general. I'll try and describe it as best I can:

If I am standing up straight with my feet under me, and I were to then try to take a really wide stance, or bring one leg straight out to the side, I get sort of a pinching, biting pain on the outside top of my hip, right on the top of the femur/hip socket or where the abductor muscle is. I don't feel a stretch at all in my groin or adductors. It's as though there is something physically blocking that range of motion to far less than even a 45 degree angle. If I "unlock" the hips and bend at the waist, my lateral ROM increases and the biting starts to go away the more I bend forward.

I feel this same sensation when trying to set my legs as a base during bench press. I can get a pretty good base, but not as good as I would like. After I get a strong foundation, I want to get into mixed martial arts, so I will need at least some flexibility going forward.

I wonder if it has to do with lack of flexibility of the gluteus medius, minimus, and piriformis muscles. I sit hunched over at a desk for 50-60 hours a week, if that gives you any background.

Any idea what this could be?

Thanks,


Adam

[Mark Rippetoe]

There is the remote possibility that you have either some osteoarthritis in the joint or that you have a labrum tear. But probably something is a little inflamed and taking up a little too much room, and you pinch it with this motion. Does it hurt to squat, and how old are you?

[tweakxc03]

I'm 26 yrs old. Doesn't hurt to squat at all. It's ONLY if I try and move my legs laterally with the hips in an upright, locked position.

I've had this problem pretty much all through my years in college cross country. I think I first noticed it my senior year of high school. It's never bothered me actually while running or anything like that.

I do know that my hips/glutes are really tight from all the sitting I do at work and such, but that's all I got. In the past, the chiropractor/ART guy I see has said that my glutes and hips have quite a bit of scar tissue built up. The use the phrase "locked up" a lot, but I've never really understood quite what that means.


Thanks for your help!

[Mark Rippetoe]

It doesn't hurt when you squat, pull, or run? It doesn't interfere with your training. It just hurts when you make a certain little abduction movement? When does this movement occur? I'm not really sure I understand the nature of your complaint.

[tweakxc03]

Sorry I didn't clarify. My goal, once I've got a strong foundation, is to get back into mixed martial arts. I did a bit of that in high school, but that was before my hips started bothering me.

If I can really only move in a straight line, that sort of causes problems for things like kicking, grappling, and really any other kind of lateral movement.

The reason for my question was if I can do something to correct this without interfering with my strength training, then that would be an added bonus for when I want to start specializing.

Thanks,


Adam

[hardAtWork]

Sorry to intrude, but I think I might have had a similar problem. When I used to try to squat below parallel, I'd get a pinching that I would describe as in my hip. I went to a sports medicine doctor , and she said basically that my hips were tight and I didn't have any mobility.

She sent me to a physical therapist who had me do variations of the "Figure 4" stretch. I'm not sure the specific parts of the body this affects, but it increases hip mobility and if I stay consistent on this stretch and don't let my hip mobility get too bad, I completely avoid that pinching pain.

Have you heard of this type of problem (lack of hip mobility/flexibility), Rip? And does that sound seem like what the other guy has?

[Mark Rippetoe]

In stead of us all guessing about this on the internet, why don't you get an actual diagnosis by someone equipped to do so. Then, my opinion about what to do would be grounded in reality.

[tweakxc03]

I've had the same experiences. So far, the sports med doctors and chiropractors I've been to haven't been able to provide much of a diagnosis other than "you're hips are tight and locked up"

Rip:

Do you have any recommendations on what type of doc to see? I guess just a sports med specialist?

[Mark Rippetoe]

Any physician in the US can order an MRI prescription, as far as I know.