IT Band Syndrome and Tight TFL | Fix knee pain, hip pain, low back pain

patellofmoral pain syndrome. The

tightness in the muscle, the TFL muscle pulls the band tighter and that kneecap gets pulled over. The most common cause of knee pain on planet Earth. Today

we're going to be talking about the IT band, the tensor fascelatte or the TFL muscle. We're going to talk about their

muscle. We're going to talk about their relationship to back pain, hip pain, knee pain. All of this is going to be

knee pain. All of this is going to be associated with repetitive motions. The

IT band and the TFL. So that's these guys right here. We have uh the TFL muscle here and the IT band runs the entire length from the pelvis all the

way down into the knee. This anatomy

here causes problems. The TFL is an actual muscle. It's full name is tensor

actual muscle. It's full name is tensor fascia latte and the IT band is is a very misunderstood tissue in the body.

When we talk about IT band, the full name is ilotibial band. So ilio refers to the iliacis

band. So ilio refers to the iliacis which is part of your pelvis. This big

wing part of the pelvis right here and it attaches from there all the way down into the knee or into the tibia. So ilot

tibial band or tract is another name for it. And it is not a muscle but it is

it. And it is not a muscle but it is kind of in between a tendon and a ligament. It behaves like fascia. So,

ligament. It behaves like fascia. So,

we've been looking at kind of the front angle of the IT band where you can see the TFL. And by the way, the TFL is a

the TFL. And by the way, the TFL is a hip flexor muscle. It's in the front of the hip. When it contracts, it pulls the

the hip. When it contracts, it pulls the leg up just like any other hip flexor.

And so, we can see that IT band in white. And then we can see that there

white. And then we can see that there are other muscles that connect into it.

Look at that. The glutes connect into it. And so, they have a factor of

it. And so, they have a factor of pulling on this fascia. We can see the glutes, the glutius maximus and even the glutius minimus do attach into this IT

band. When they contract, they are not

band. When they contract, they are not only pulling on bone, they're pulling on this fascia, this band of tissue, and it's having an effect on the body, especially the hip and the knee, also

the back because everything is connected. And one of the reasons why I

connected. And one of the reasons why I like calling it fascia is this TFL muscle here. If you spell out the full

muscle here. If you spell out the full name, it's tensor fascia latte. It

tenses fascia. That's its job. Let's get

into the problem. I look at the body as a synergistic machine. All the muscles work together. And what tends to happen

work together. And what tends to happen with us is the muscles get out of balance with each other. When these

muscles get out of balance with each other, the muscles in the front pulling on the front of the IT band and the muscles in the back pulling from the back, they get out of balance with each other. They're going to pull on that

other. They're going to pull on that band on in different angles. And the

predictable pattern in the body is that the front muscles, the hip flexor muscles, are the ones that get too tight. They're predictably hypertonic.

tight. They're predictably hypertonic.

And the muscles in the back, the glutes, are predictably hypotonic. They don't

have enough tone in them in a lot of people. And it causes that muscle

people. And it causes that muscle imbalance problem throughout the entire body. If we're going to zoom in on this

body. If we're going to zoom in on this one tissue today, that causes the IT band to get pulled forward. If you

follow the arrow of my mouse, it's getting pulled more so in that direction. And this becomes extremely

direction. And this becomes extremely relevant when you're talking about the knee. Because if this band is getting

knee. Because if this band is getting pulled more in that direction when it attaches into the knee, guess what happens? This tissue attaches directly

happens? This tissue attaches directly into the knee cap. And when the kneecap gets pulled out of alignment, out of its groove, we get patellof pain syndrome.

You get a tracking disorder in the knee.

and the kneecap is tracking a little bit off center. We can look at this image

off center. We can look at this image here and you can see the IT band here coming down attaching into the kneecap.

The tightness in the muscle, the TFL muscle pulls on this band and pulls the band tighter and that kneecap gets pulled over in the groove. It gets

pulled laterally. Lateral patellar

tracking is another word for this knee pain. The most common cause of knee pain

pain. The most common cause of knee pain on planet Earth. Another common problem is the hip pain. When when it's just getting too tight up high, this band,

this IT band rubs on a bony structure.

This is the greater trocanter. And that

IT band runs over the top of it. And

when it gets pulled tight by this TFLO muscle that's right here, it just makes it a little too taut and it's rubbing, rubbing, rubbing on this bony landmark and causing friction and pain. One of

the things that I teach about as a strategy that I like to use using reciprocal inhibition. So we can inhibit

reciprocal inhibition. So we can inhibit a muscle by creating extra tone, more activity in its opposing muscle group.

What's on the opposite side of the body of the IT band is the glutes. So if we can get more tone in the glutes, we can inhibit its opposite. It's like a

universal law of the body. In order for my bicep to contract, if I want to contract my bicep and bend my arm, the opposite muscle, the tricep, has to relax and it has to let go and lengthen

in order to allow for this contraction.

And so the body does this as part of its operation of how it functions. And

that's true not only for active contraction, but also just tone, the resting tone in a muscle. In contrast to say stretching a muscle, this tissue

actually does not stretch. We can think of it in this sense. It's kind of made of this similar material as a ligament.

And you do not stretch ligaments. It

doesn't stretch. And if you try to stretch it, you're potentially going to cause problems. Also, foam rolling is another recommendation people give.

Since it's not really a muscle, it doesn't get knots in it. The foam roller rolling on it isn't really going to do much, but what it will do is it's going to roll the muscle underneath the IT

band. So, if you have rolled your IT

band. So, if you have rolled your IT band and experienced any kind of effects or results from foam rolling your IT band, it's actually because you're foam rolling this really large muscle

underneath it called the vastest lateralis. It's one of the quad muscles.

lateralis. It's one of the quad muscles.

What is the technique that we want to use to strengthen the glutes? You

probably already know the bridge is one of the most effective exercises on the planet. If you have uh IT band pain or

planet. If you have uh IT band pain or you know hip pain or knee pain only on one side then it is worth taking a look at your left right balance in the body.

We've talked about that in recent videos and if you can start doing a modified or even full single leg bridge. So there's

that TFL attaching into the knee and we're lengthening and inhibiting it while simultaneously strengthening and activating the glutes.

And so this exercise, while it's incredibly effective, it may actually reproduce your symptoms if you already have irritation going on. The IT band

also rubs over this lateral epicondile of the knee right here. It's going to pull that IT band even more taut when you get into the bridge because you're lengthening the TFL. You're lengthening

the tissues that tug on it. The modified

version of the bridge that I recommend is if this person right here were to get a big exercise ball and put it right here, right in front of where his feet

are. He or she can straighten their legs

are. He or she can straighten their legs and prop their legs up on the exercise ball. Or it doesn't have to be a ball.

ball. Or it doesn't have to be a ball.

It could be a couch or a chair. and you

are able to bridge up on straight legs, that's going to be a much more tolerable way to do this exercise while strengthening, activating the glutes,

um, but not so much, uh, irritating the problem. IT band pain is often

problem. IT band pain is often reproduced by going downhill. It is in alignment with IT band syndrome or IT band pain that is rubbing over your

greater chroanter in your hip. And it

all ties in, it all makes sense to the anatomy because when we're going downhill, we are using our hip flexors extra heavily. This TFL muscle is having

extra heavily. This TFL muscle is having to contract extra heavily when you're going downhill to slow you down. So, you

don't end up running downhill. If you're

trying to walk downhill, you're actually slowing yourself down and you're using your hip flexors to do that. It can

create and reproduce IT band pain syndrome. IT band does not get tight. It

syndrome. IT band does not get tight. It

does not stretch, but the muscles that attach into it, most likely the TFL is what gets tight. It's important to know that. So, we don't stretch the IT band.

that. So, we don't stretch the IT band.

So, say this person were to not completely lift this leg up, but just slightly reduce the amount of weight on it. 25% of the weight is still on this

it. 25% of the weight is still on this leg, but now 75% of the weight is on this other leg. And you can work your way up by reducing that percentage down to zero eventually over time and being

able to do a full single leg bridge.

First step is for me it's always educating myself on the problem. What is

the second step? Second step is going to be finding the floor. Getting really

comfortable with it. Getting down on that floor and letting your body melt into the floor. Start from the center.

We got to start with the core. I would

back anchor. I would front anchor. And

then you progress from there. But when

you have a big setback, I was just talking above about going back to the basics. We appreciate you here at Core

basics. We appreciate you here at Core Balance Training for leaning into your health and uh we'll see you again next