Don’t forget the hips!

There is a principle in physical therapy which states that we need proximal stability before we can have distal mobility. And what does that mean?

It means we must have a stable platform (hips/core) if we are to have mobility (strength, flexibility, etc) in our legs. This article - strong hips prevent injury – explains a little more.

Basically, a lot of lower leg injuries, particularly overuse injuries can be traced directly to weak hip muscles. I often have patients who have lower leg diagnoses who wonder why we are working on hip and abdominal strength – this is why – everything is connected, and a lot of it goes back to core strength.