We all have a movie moment that gets us excited or “pumped up” for some of us we’re thinking of Rocky in his grey sweats storming the steps or hanging upside down in a barn in Siberia on his comeback. We’ve all been motivated by the narrative of a movie or a book, embodied the character in a movie, or simply gotten excited to get out and get after it after watching a movie. Growing up, I always found myself in the moment - with the characters on the field in “Remember the Titans” dodging tackles and making the other team. Growing up wrestling so much of what I was leaning into was about toughness, grit, and tenacity. Sometimes we need that extra spark to get out of bed, to change our mindset, or just give us a little push out the door to get that run done in the rain.

So what are we working with?
Illiotibial Band Syndrome (ITBS) is the second most common cause of knee pain in runners. Runners aren’t the only ones who experience this pain it’s commonly seen in cyclists, soccer players, and military personnel. The IT band runs longitudinally along the lateral aspect of the thigh and originates at the iliac crest (hip/pelvis) and down to the proximal tibia (lower leg). The IT Band has broad attachments to numerous parts of the lateral knee and spreads out like a set of fingers reaching into your hip/glutes. These attachments points when inflamed can cause pain in the hip and knee. These attachment points are why ITBS can be hard to nail down the root cause because a weakness in the hips can show up in the knees. Let’s take a closer look at why this can happen and look through some solutions.