![]() Lower your butt almost to the ground and thrust upward by activating your glutes. Lift one leg so your weight is all on one leg and your back. Lie on your back with your weight on your upper back your feet. Open your legs like a clam shell but don’t move your pelvis – the motion should not rock your torso or pelvic girdle. Your thighs should be about 45 degrees from your body and your knees bent at 90 degrees. Lie on your right side with your knees together and a resistance band around your lower thighs. Lift your left leg to about 45 degrees in a controlled manner, then lower. Lie on your right side with a resistance band around your ankles. ![]() We also have an illustrated guide to the routine here. It included exercises that targeted my hips, glutes, quads, and hamstrings. The specific strength exercises I did while in physical therapy formed the basis for the ITB Rehab Routine I developed. I needed massage to target these areas, break up the scar tissue, and increase my hip mobility. Since my injury was severe there was significant scar tissue along my IT band and a lot of tightness in my hip and glute. What worked for me was a combination of targeted massage and specific strength work. It wasn’t until my fourth physical therapist that I finally found someone who knew about running injuries and knew how to treat me. He sucked and had no idea what was wrong with me. I made an appointment with a physical therapist. March rolled around and I got more proactive. In February I sat around on my couch, watching episodes of House and eating ice cream. Despite a lot of strength exercises, my knee still hurt if I tried to run. My fiancée convinced me to do a one-month boot camp in January. Isn’t the definition of insanity trying the same thing and expecting different results? I spent hundreds of dollars and saw numerous massage therapists, who couldn’t rub the pain away. I kept testing my IT band every few days for 6 weeks, with the same result every time. I rested for a few days and then went for a run, only to be struck down by the same crippling pain within a few minutes. My initial treatment for my IT band injury was simple (and ineffective): take more time off. Not enough core exercises, no hill sprints, no weights, not enough miles, and no hills. You’ll notice a pattern there: almost everything I skipped was strength-related. My overall volume wasn’t consistent and too low for marathon prep: 65-75 miles per week.I didn’t do any flexibility exercises before or after my runs.The only core workout I did was my standard core routine (and I skipped it a LOT).I didn’t do any hill workouts and even avoided them during most distance runs.Looking back, there were a lot of things that I did poorly to prepare for my first marathon that led to my IT band injury. Why did it happen in the first place? My training leading up to the marathon wasn’t perfect. ![]() ![]() At the same time, my left glute and hip were extremely tight. Most ITB injuries hurt at the knee insertion and I showed the traditional injury symptoms. I was able to do about four 20-30 minute runs every other day until a sharp pain started on the outside of my left knee – classic IT band pain. In hindsight, I didn’t take enough recovery time and went for my first run only 9 days after the race. But the race beat me up pretty bad – I had trouble walking for close to a week. My IT band injury didn’t happen during the marathon itself. Now I want to talk about what exactly I screwed up, how I turned my running around for the better, and key takeaways to help you. When I started running again my training was different – and I haven’t had a major injury since. I’ve told my story before: I devoted those six months to getting healthy, seeing physical therapists, doing a ton of research on strength exercises and training strategies, and seeing expensive massage therapists. After New York I couldn’t run again for six months because of an IT band (ITB) injury, also commonly known as IT band syndrome or ITBS. It was because the marathon reduced me from a somewhat fast, competitive runner to a cripple. It wasn’t because I ran 2:44:38, which I thought was pretty fast. ![]() Now I want to talk about the most defining moment of my running career: the New York Marathon in 2008. I talked about what worked, what didn’t, and what goals I have for this year. Yesterday afternoon I sent a 2,600+ word email to my newsletter readers detailing my past running history and a full analysis of last year. ![]()
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