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Walt Reynolds' ITB Special

Walt Reynolds' ITB Special is an exercise that mimics the running gait and strengthens the iliotibial band. I found the original instructions a bit difficult to follow, so I've taken the liberty of adding a few photos to illustrate. Please let me know if I'm doing it wrong.

First, find a four to six inch elevation.



Place the involved leg, i.e. the leg you are working out, on the step. Use a wall or railing on your non-involved side for support.



With both knees locked, lower your non-involved leg towards the floor. As you do this, your involved hip would be higher than the non-involved hip. (see pic below) Try to shift most of your body weight to the inside part of the foot of the involved leg. Make sure that a fair amount of your body weight is directed through your heel, not just your toes.



Bend your weight-supporting, involved knee slightly (about 10 to 20 degrees), but keep the non-involved foot off the ground or floor.



Now, move the involved hip forward about four to six inches, while keeping the involved heel in contact with the step and your weight on the inside of your involved foot. As your involved hip moves forward, your upper body should move backward.



After you've moved your hip forward, move it straight backward. As your hip moves backward, your upper body will tend to bend forward.



As you do the exercise, you should feel the burn up toward the side of your hip. If you don't feel anything happening, go back to the basic position and try again. Make sure that
1. Your involved hip is higher than the other hip
2. Your weight is shifted to the inside of the involved foot.

Start with 10 reps per day on each leg, and gradually build up to a set of 20 to 30 reps - carried out at two different times during the day.
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Blogger Unknown said...

Brilliant, exactly what I was looking for! I found the original instructions a bit cumbersome too.  

9:05 PM   


Blogger Gardengypsy said...

I agree. Thank you for the images. Where do you start over for the repetitions?  

11:55 PM   


Blogger Rush said...

Thanks for the pictures. Is there anyway you can post a video of the move? I'm still not clear about how to move the hip forward. Am I rotating my trunk? Am I doing a pelvic tilt? Anyway, thanks for the pics. I'll keep practicing and maybe I'll just feel it.  

9:52 AM   


Blogger ESOL Teacher said...

Terrific and thanks. The adage "a picture's worth a thousand words" sure is applicable here.

I went through pages of instructions and couldn't "see" it. Since I think in pictures, that was a problem.

I appreciate your helping me.  

6:25 PM   


Blogger ultrarunnergirl said...

Wow, this is GREAT! Thank you so much. I can feel it! Thanks for giving me a tool so I feel like I have something I can do besides simply "not run."  

4:29 AM   


Blogger kimdolan said...

wow.. thank you. I am hoping this is going to help. i would love to get back running.  

9:59 PM   


Blogger Gail Rhyno said...

Have been dealing with this problem for almost two years now, how is it I've not ever seen this exercise before? All the running sites, magazines and google articles I've read all said the same 'stretching, rolling and generic leg/butt/hip strengthening', and 'no running', but not this particular exercise. I'm hopefull for the first time in two years that I can recover.  

3:28 AM   


Blogger Unknown said...

Do you think this video captures the exercise well?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x82FfI6PKEQ

(I don't believe it has the "lock the knees" instruction. I'm not sure if/how much that matters.)

Thank you !

Eddie  

2:52 AM   


Blogger Unknown said...

Nice to find the post related to my searching criteria. Thanks for sharing pictures. Keep posting.
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6:15 PM   


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