Okay, stay with me here – I am going to go a little anatomy geek on you right now. I want you to take your index finger and point to your ITB…okay, I don’t really want to know where you are pointing right now because I bet for most of you it is not at the outside of your thigh :)! The ITB (iliotibial band) is show as a white connective tissue band running from the top of the hip along the outside of the thigh to just below the knee. Do you see it in the image on the right?
For a variety of reasons – weakness in the lateral hip muscles can be a big contributor – this connective tissue band can get very tight and even painful. Some hockey players will just feel a stiffness, while others may feel pain on the outside of the thigh or knee which can get worse with activity.
There are a few stretches that you can use to target this area, but you will also need to do some form of myofascial release to work on the connective tissue adhesions. We do this with the foam roller or in this video I will show you another tool called “The Stick”. So check out the video, try the stretch and do some myofascial release to keep your hips tuned up!
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Maria