December 19, 2025 • 48 mins
The ache that won’t sit still, the quad-dominant stride, the back that tightens after miles on trail—none of it is random. We invited Dr. Sean Rimmer, PT, DPT of Run Potential PT, to unpack how the pelvis truly drives running: three-plane motion, rotational loading, and the elastic recoil that makes a stride feel effortless. When the pelvis stops moving, hips overwork, nerves get irritated, and the system loses its spring. Sean explains how to spot the difference between hip, pelvis, and nerve-driven pain, and why a shifting, vague ache is often a neural clue rather than a muscle tear.
We go deep on practical solutions you can apply today. Sean demos walking pelvic rotations and reverse steps to restore glide and rotation, and shows how a simple flow rope builds rhythm, timing, and side-to-side weight shift that mirrors efficient running mechanics. He also shares quick self-screens—pelvic side glides and marching with hands on the pelvis—to reveal blocked planes of motion. If you’ve been told “anterior pelvic tilt” is your problem, you’ll learn why hip flexor rotation is the missing piece and how better sequencing beats endless stretching.
Strength that actually transfers to performance is the final lever. Sean outlines heavy split-stance isometrics to load the glute–ham complex the way running demands—fast stabilization with tendon recoil—without crushing soreness during hard training blocks. Expect clearer cues, less quad overload, and a snappier, more resilient stride within weeks. Whether you’re dealing with nerve flare-ups, stubborn hip tightness, or you just want more power and durability, this conversation gives you a blueprint: restore pelvic motion, retrain rhythm, and load what matters.
If this helped, subscribe, share it with a running friend, and leave a quick review on your favorite app. Tell us which drill changed your stride first, and what body area you want us to tackle next.
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Contact Sean for PT - @runpotentialpt
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast.
I'm your host, James L'Orealow.
And today I'm so excited towelcome Sean Rimmer back to the
show.
Sean is the physiotherapist forRun Potential PT based in
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Yeah, he's my personal PT and agood friend of mine.
And we've had him, he's also thefirst uh guest we've ever had on
(00:23):
the show, which was kind ofcool.
Um so excited to welcome Seanback to the show this time for a
very specific reason.
It's interesting.
I've had uh dealt quite a lot inthe past with hip and um uh more
so hip and SI, pelvis and nerveinjuries, and I've had quite a
few podcasts lately withathletes dealing with similar
(00:44):
injuries.
So I feel like this was a reallyinteresting time to have Sean
back on to talk all things onhips, pelvis, nerve issues, um,
how to get those hips and p howto get those uh rotation, um,
how to get the hips strong andall kinds of fun things.
It was a really goodconversation.
Sean did a lot of demos.
So if you're listening to thison Apple Podcasts, that's
awesome.
But if you want to pan on overto Spotify or YouTube, that
(01:07):
would probably be the most idealbecause the video episode of
this podcast is gonna get youkind of the most value in that
um there's quite a fewopportunities uh that you can
watch Sean doing different typesof strength and mobility
demonstrations.
Um, that would be the mostideal.
So I hope you guys enjoy thisone and get a lot of value out
of it.
Uh Sean is an absolute brain andhas been a miracle worker for me
(01:30):
over the years.
Um I've definitely thrown a lotof athletes his way, um, you
know, that listen to the pods souh they can get some help with
these injuries as well, and it'sbeen quite beneficial for a lot
of them.
So um, like I said, Sean is amiracle worker and an absolute
brain.
So without further ado, I hopeyou guys enjoy this one.
Dr.
Sean Rimmer, uh DPT um of runpotential PT on hips and uh
(01:56):
pelvis and rotation.
(02:58):
Ladies and gentlemen, we Dr.
Sean Rimmer, welcome back to theSame Stuff Podcast.
How's it going, my friend?
SPEAKER_00 (03:11):
Good, dude.
Happy to be back.
It's had a little hiatustogether, but glad to try to
bring some knowledge andawareness today and hopefully
help some people out who arelistening.
SPEAKER_01 (03:21):
Yeah, man.
I'm super excited to have thisconvo.
I've been dude, I've beenstewing on this one for a while
as far as like what can we talkabout to provide value for
people that are might be goingthrough injury right now?
And the one that I feel like I'mI might be a spokesperson for at
this point is hip and pelvicissues, um, notably.
(03:42):
And the amount of athletes Iknow that you probably see on
the regular with hip and pelvisissues is probably pretty
immense.
I know I've referred a couplepeople over to you, uh like
athletes in the space that havehad like nerve and some
different issues.
Um this is something you see alot, right?
SPEAKER_00 (03:59):
Yeah, it is something that's fairly common.
Now, it doesn't always mean thatthis is something that I'll see
coming directly from running,like a running-related injury,
but sometimes it can beexperienced by running and other
things.
And so, really, you know, withanything, as we know, like
having a good history of howlong something's going on for
(04:22):
what's the behavior of whatthey're feeling, um, other
things going on holistically intheir life, their training,
their diet, their stress, allthese things help me to get a
little bit of a lens into likemaybe what we're dealing with.
And then, you know, looking atthe testing from there, kind of
breaking down maybe what what'sthe problem.
If it is truly something of hipspelvis origin or nerve from that
(04:46):
region of the back or pelvis,you know, that's where we can
really dive into the testing andreally isolate what the problem
is.
Um and then again, looking attheir movement too.
I think, you know, everyone allthese everyone runs, and but
people can run differently, andhow they are running on terrain
can and change their mechanicsand things.
(05:06):
So really looking at therunners' mechanics and if that's
even relevant to what's goingon, at least helps also paint a
picture.
So, really what it comes down tois just being holistic with
everything, taking a look at allthese things and really
listening to the person in frontof me talk about what they're
experiencing to help me kind ofput my problem-solving hat on
and try to figure things out.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
Yeah.
No, I love it.
It's it's interesting because Ifeel like that's a very peculiar
section of the body, the hip,the pelvis, the SI joints,
everything kind ofinterconnected.
Can you talk about how thatfunctions as a unit and running?
SPEAKER_00 (05:40):
Yeah.
So if we think about the pelvis,like that's where I think of as
like the true core of the body.
It's literally like the centerof the body.
And just below or the undersideof the pelvis, we have the hip
joint where the femur connectsto the pelvis bones.
And then above that, we have thespine.
So a lot of times we'll perceivesome hip issues or back issues
(06:03):
and nerve issues.
But instead of directing tothose general areas, I typically
have found that the pelvis canbe a link of why those areas are
being irritated.
And so, to answer your questionon how does the pelvis function
and running, if we think of thepelvis, and I'll kind of use my
hands as a little bit of a demo,uh if if we're thinking of the
(06:27):
front of the body where I'mfacing you, the pelvis kind of
has this bowl feature in thelegs would be on the underside.
The pelvis really can move inthree planes of motion, and we
need it to move in three planesof motion.
So if we think of together, thepelvis can forwardly rotate.
(06:48):
So that think of like rotationforward and back, but not like
tilting.
And then we have posterior,anterior forward tilt and
backward tilt.
But more specifically inrunning, it's usually gonna be a
little bit of equal andopposite.
So we're not really gonna havelike this action running because
of the leg action.
We're gonna have some forwardrotation and back and forward
(07:09):
and back.
And then we have some side bendor side glide of the pelvis.
And all of those happen togetherin sequence.
We don't have like isolatedmovements, but we need to have
all that pelvis mobility movingproperly because what that
actually allows for is the hipmuscles to like stabilize as the
(07:35):
pelvis rotates and moves.
So the hip hip muscles canstabilize but also store elastic
energy and produce force.
So if we're not getting thepelvis moving, the hip function
starts to be impaired orimpacted, or just becomes less
optimal compared to when thepelvis is moving fully.
So to sum things up with that,the pelvis needs to move, and we
(07:58):
need to make sure all of thosemovements are there, and that's
where I do my testing on.
Do we have all access to allthat?
Because sometimes we'll find wedon't.
And then if we do have access toit where I check movement
passively or isolate it, do theyuse the pelvis when they run?
Do they have their motorpatterns connect the dots where
(08:19):
we have that movement, or isthere something off with their
coordination and timing andrhythm that's causing things to
not move as well when we look attheir running or movement
patterns?
And so hopefully, I mean that'sit can be a little complex
trying to simplify it, but thekey is it needs it needs to move
because everything around thatabove and below is dependent on
movement through that area.
SPEAKER_01 (08:41):
Well, that rotation is so important.
Can can you I don't want todeviate too much into this
topic, but this is something youand I have talked about in the
past.
I feel like it's it's a reallyinteresting tagline and it's
it's a gone viral.
I see this on PT accounts allthe time, um, where these
influencers are trying to talkabout anterior pelvic tilt.
And I find it to be a verycommon thing in people where
(09:01):
that pelvis almost like the hipflexors gets so tight, pulls the
pelvis forward.
I deal with it all the time.
And for me, when I like I have aton of different stretches I do
to really get more length in myhip flexors and stretch
everything out, and it makes itgo away almost instantly.
Um, I don't want to say anteriorpelvic hilt, but like enough to
where it's tilted to where itcauses lower back pain at times.
(09:23):
And I don't know if that's fromsitting a ton, and I feel like a
lot of athletes deal with that.
Um, maybe talk about likeanterior pelvic tilt and why
that's such a common thing now.
SPEAKER_00 (09:33):
Yeah, it is relatively common, and I think
it comes down to a couplethings.
Like, of course, looking attheir running and what's going
on there, because there's areason why maybe we see that
more in runners, but also justthe nature of humanity nowadays,
and there is so much sitting,and that kind of does tighten a
little bit more of the frontside of things.
(09:53):
Now, I'll still see people whoare sitting a lot during the day
who have really good mobilitythrough there.
So there's we have to kind ofconnect all the dots there.
What I will say is if the pelvisis tilted forward and and kind
of more stiff in that direction,typically that may mean that the
muscles in the front of the legsmaybe are tighter as well.
(10:15):
If we think about like themuscle pole.
Um and so tension there couldobviously be creating that, but
typically it's again coming downto how we move.
So if we think of the hipflexors, even the long quad,
some of the big players in thefront, if we're moving in in our
running when we have rotation,we tend to get better movement
(10:36):
through those tissues, like thehip flexor.
Most people think the hipflexor, of course, flexes the
hip and it's more of thissagittal plane of action, but a
huge component to that hipflexor is internal and external
rotation.
And so if we're not touching onthose pieces when we run, if
we're not having that pelvisrotation to wind that tissue up,
(10:57):
it's gonna become short andstiff.
So I think this is a coolopportunity to kind of show you
an example in the video.
Now, of course, you know, peoplelistening they can always look
at the recording to see thisbecause I think the
demonstration helps.
But I'm gonna demo um like thatstride position and running and
show kind of how the hip flexormobility should present with the
(11:18):
rotation.
SPEAKER_01 (11:22):
And so this is why I love doing the video.
I can totally demo.
SPEAKER_00 (11:26):
Yeah, is obviously benefits.
So when most people think, like,and I'll show from the side of
you, like the hip flexortechnically flex helps to flex
the hip.
And then as we go in alengthened position, there is a
stretch, period.
Now that's part of the story.
If we go from the front side,when that leg is back, the hip
(11:47):
flexor that attaches inside ofthe pelvis and the back of the
spine attaches to the inside ofthe femur.
And so if the attachment's hereand here, as we the leg goes
back, there's some stretch, butif the leg rotates or if we
rotate into the pelvis, thatactually winds it up more.
(12:08):
And when we run, we need some ofthat rotation and weight shift
to help facilitate that stretchand then that recoil as the leg
swings through.
So in the hip flexor, when weload it and push off behind us,
or when that we're in thatterminal position, this is under
good stretch to then help theleg swing through with flexion
(12:31):
and external rotation to thencome down.
So if we're not getting to thatpoint, especially at faster
speeds, this can get reallyfeeling like it's pulling and
getting angry and getting tight.
So when people are reallydominant tilted forward, I find
that some of that can bemissing, as well as they're
(12:51):
using a lot more of the quad tohelp push because things are
getting tighter in the front.
So that I I put a post on this alittle while ago, like tissue
tension in the body kind oftells a story.
And I think we can stretchthings and mobilize things, and
of course, that can buy us somemovement and freedom, but it's
(13:12):
figuring out why that keepscoming back and is present.
And if we can understand theroot issue of like where the
problem is with the mechanicsand movement coordination, we
can tend to find where we canget things moving more fluidly
with movement based practice andum coordination work to help
integrate into your running.
SPEAKER_01 (13:31):
Makes sense.
How would you here's the thing?
Like people um I know when I hadthis issue, I went to you and I
was like, oh my god, I have aherniated disc.
That doesn't sound like that.
Um, but I think the biggerquestion here lens it, and I
think for athletes listening tothis, how would you know if you
have a hip or a pelvis problem?
Like, how do you be able todistinguish either of the two?
SPEAKER_00 (13:53):
Yeah, that's also a really good point.
I think that comes down to, likeI said, a little bit of what
people are experiencing.
Um, and I'll give an example ina moment, but also the testing.
And so that helps me kind ofpoint an area what's what the
problem is.
So, you know, for a lot ofpeople, they may experience like
a nerve issue in their leg, youknow, it could be in the hip,
(14:15):
could be in the thigh, could beeven lower than that.
Um, and a lot of times thatcould be coming from somewhere
upstream, somewhere near thepelvis, low back, um, or lumbar
spine interface.
And so I always tend to startfrom the pelvis and spine just
to make sure, again, do we havethat adequate mobility?
And if we don't, is thatcontributing to triggering that
(14:38):
nerve-related symptom into theleg?
Um, so you know, even if thereis potentially a herniated disc,
right?
If we can get things to changevia changes in how we move or
getting more mobility in areas,like, you know, who cares if
there is a herniated disc?
There's been enough studies toshow that people with
(15:00):
asymptomatic MRIs have herniateddisks.
And so, regardless of thefinding there, if we can get
people to move better and feelbetter, you know, that's what we
want to work off of versus beingscared of a diagnosis that may
not even be relevant or aconcern.
And so I always like to look atat least the movement to see
(15:21):
what where the problem is, andthen maybe why certain tissue is
irritated.
So again, if there is nerve ornot, if we get the movement
better and we retest something,is it improved?
And if it is, we want to workoff that.
You know, that test retest modelis very helpful in this field.
If we can find a movement orposition that doesn't feel good,
do some sort of interventions ormovement practice and then
(15:44):
retest.
And if things are improved, likethat's a great sign we want to
start working off of that.
If things are worse, if ifsymptoms got more intense or
there's more irritation, that'salso helpful information telling
us maybe we want to not go inthat type of movement direction
for now and kind of figure outwhere more the problem is.
So I find that super helpful intrying to like isolate problems
(16:08):
and figure it out.
And then that allows me toeducate, you know, the people I
work with to like, here's wherethe direction we really want to
work towards and integrate intoour overall movement practice or
movement patterns like running.
SPEAKER_01 (16:21):
On the nerve topic, I find this to be so interesting
because I've seen you over theyears where I've come to you
with adductor pain, or I've cometo you with stuff outside uh on
the outside of the hip thatfeels kind of funky.
And generally it's always beennerve-related pain.
Can you talk about therelationship with the nerve and
the fascia and why somesomething's obviously not
(16:43):
gliding correctly, orsomething's obviously I guess
irritated tissue, and that'swhat will cause that.
Can you talk about how the nervegets irritated and maybe
sometimes poor movement cancause that?
SPEAKER_00 (16:56):
Yeah, it's and it's hard to fully like say, like,
this is definitely what'shappening, just because we don't
have enough information on that.
But typically, if I if I were totake a step back for a second,
when I see nerve issues, mostpeople think if they've felt
nerve pain, which this can be apattern of nerve pain, it's it's
this sharp shooting pain or orburning or numbness or tingling.
(17:18):
You know, that that can be whatyou feel with nerve pain, but
um, and it and it's where it'sthis like radiating from the
spine or in this whole likelength nerve pathway from your
butt all the way down, you'relike, and sure, that's something
I'll definitely see and we see.
But it can also be like thisvague pain that's in a specific
(17:39):
area that sometimes is there,sometimes is not, or is
sometimes just always there andconstant.
And it can be an ache, it can besharp, it can vary.
I think that's a really commonpredictor of nerve-related pain
versus soft tissue pain, evenpotentially bone pain.
It's more consistent in the typeof pain.
(18:01):
And the other thing is withnerves, things can move around.
So you may feel it in the lowerpart of the adductor one time,
and then we do some sort ofmovement or change, and it and
it shifts to radiate higher up,or it shifts to lower in the leg
or up in the hip.
So things can move around.
And if we if I typically hearthat from folks, that's kind of
like ringing a radar in my brainof like, okay, like there may be
(18:24):
a possible bit possibility thisis going on.
Now, most of the time I'll seenerve-related pain stemming from
the again, the region of thespine and the pelvis.
And so that's where I alwayswant to start looking at motion
and how people are movingthrough there.
Because again, typically I'llsee if there is a problem, there
is a movement limitation throughthere.
(18:45):
And if we start to improve themovement through there, people
can actually integrate that intoactive movement.
I'll typically see things startto improve.
Now, if they don't, we want tofurther explore.
Sometimes it's just not ascommon.
We'll see some type ofnerve-related entrapment where
the nerve can get potentially alittle adhered in the tissue
(19:07):
within the peripheral system.
And we want to work through thatarea.
So nerve-related mobilizations,neural flossing, neural tension
or slatters, those can beeffective interventions to
getting the neural system just alittle bit more mobile through
the tissue.
Um, because the nerve does movethrough muscle, moves through
fascia, it kind of interconnectsthrough all those things.
(19:29):
The other times I may see itperipherally or like in the leg
in areas and not stemming fromlike the back or the pelvis
region.
There could be a muscle that'sreally tight.
Um, for example, I just sawsomeone who had a ton of tension
in their peronial, which is likethe lower leg outer side.
(19:51):
And how they were running, theywere loading a lot more on the
outside of the foot, and thatarea was just getting
overworked.
And after so many steps or somuch time of running.
They would start to getnerve-related symptoms in that
lower leg.
And so, yes, it's a nerve issue,but likely for that individual,
we needed to work on some of thechanges with his mechanics to
(20:11):
get him to load through the fullfoot and not overload that
tissue so we could get thatnerve less irritated.
And so again, it's figuring outthe whole story of like why it's
getting irritated and where it'sstemming from and looking at
their movement.
If we can connect all of thosepieces, we can kind of problem
solve and figure out the problemand hopefully start to move in
the right direction.
SPEAKER_01 (20:32):
I think you hit a very valuable thing there where
a lot of times it's down thechain.
Something with the foot,something with your steps,
something with your movement.
How would you know like if it isa nerve issue, whether it's
around maybe the pelvis or thelike if it's presenting issues
in that area, it might not bedirectly related to that.
How would you know, like be ableto like dissect that?
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
Yeah.
So again, coming down to justlike isolating all those areas.
So like I'll look at the footmanually and I'll do some
specific movement test to like,do we have adequate movement
through there and control?
And if so, at least I can checkthat box of like, all right, I
feel good about like this maybenot being a problem, but like
let's still like make sure wekeep it on the radar.
(21:14):
And then check spinal mobilityand pelvis and hip mobility.
And if things are like reallyfluid and symmetrical and
strong, I feel better that maybethings aren't coming from there.
And again, these are justisolated things that we can
test.
Looking at the movement, though,is the important thing.
So if it's triggered withrunning, I want to look at
running.
I need to figure out like what'sgo when does it come on?
(21:36):
Does it come on if you'recontacting in that initial
loading phase?
Is it come on more when you'rein swing phase, when you're
pushing off?
The body is in a differentposition and things are under
different loads and tensions anddifferent points in the gate
cycle.
So that might help paint apicture and tell the story as
well.
As well as loading cycles.
Like, does nerve pain come onafter running two miles?
(21:59):
Right?
How are they running and maybeare they overloading and certain
tissues and things are gettingirritated?
So to break it down, I'llisolate things and I'll look at
their movement.
And if there's any othermovements they feel it with, I
want to look at those too.
Because again, I want to try tounderstand the whole picture of
where the problem's coming fromand not just guessing, but like
really trying to be a littlemore specific about where the
(22:22):
issues are so we can try to makesome change.
SPEAKER_01 (22:26):
How would you like treat some of the maybe you
could show I I don't know, youkind of broke it down as well.
I just want to better get anunderstanding of like treating
some of the hipper nerveproblems.
Like I know you and I haveworked together many, many times
over working through differentstuff like this, and a lot of
different movements help.
And yeah, now now I feel like Idon't want to say I'm in
remission, but like I feel likewith the tools I gained from you
(22:50):
and then with different strengthwork, um, like I I haven't had
an issue in a really long time,knock on wood.
And it's been which is great.
Great.
Yeah, yeah.
All because of you.
Um well you're putting in thework, so yeah.
Rotation is key.
It's so nuts not to like go intothe weeds on this, but like once
I've actually figured out how tolike use my glutes and my ass,
(23:12):
my running is completelydifferent.
Like, I have full rotation now.
Oh, I feel like a completelydifferent runner where I was
just so overloaded in the quadsbefore.
SPEAKER_00 (23:20):
Yeah.
It's hard.
I mean, I think it's easier.
Obviously, you're doing andyou're doing mixing it up now,
from what I'm hearing.
Like you're doing like roadstuff, track stuff, you know,
trail.
I think it's in general on thetrails, there's a lot more
variance uphill.
It's sometimes harder at timesto get in the rhythm.
And I think on like a track,treadmill, um, something
(23:41):
flatter, you can really get alittle more in tune with the
rhythm of your running mechanicsbecause it's like more
consistent.
Um, but you may have, you know,you other people may sometimes
they don't feel certain tissueactivation because of, again,
how they're moving.
Do they have rotation?
Do they have weight shift?
Are there ground contact timesand initial point of contact in
(24:02):
a good position, setting upeverything in further stance?
So all those pieces ofbiomechanics do matter and
setting up to how the tissue inthe joints function.
And so if you're, you know,realistically, if you're running
flat, if you're running uphill,like most of the activation
should be from posterior chain.
(24:24):
So flute, hamstring, calfcomplex, chilles, and more so um
like tendon elasticity, right?
Like muscles are turning onquick to almost stabilize to
have the tendons be able tostretch and recoil.
That's why we don't want a tonof joint excursion at the knee,
at the ankle, at the hip when werun during stance phase.
(24:47):
We want to be rather stiff sothat muscle can stabilize, and
then we get this elastic storageand release of energy from the
hip all the way down through thefoot.
And if everything's sequencedwell, it's very fluid because we
have the motion, we have thesequencing of how everything
activates, and then we have thisstiff tendon release, and things
(25:08):
feel very good.
Now, if pieces of those are off,our body's gonna shift to how
we're moving, and you know,things can change.
And so making sure people haveaccess to movements the first
part, because coordination isalso part of it, but people need
to have mobility to feel certainthings engage.
And so the the story of that isit can it could be the chicken
(25:31):
or the egg.
Do you have the mobility to haveaccess or do you not know how to
access it so you lose themobility?
So typically I like to work onboth some mechanics and mobility
pieces, if that's the issue, tosee if we can just kind of
bridge that gap.
So, you know, either way, ifwe're wrong, we're at least
going in the right directionwith both pieces.
SPEAKER_01 (25:48):
If you're an athlete listening to this, you're
probably wondering, like, okay,what can I do as preventative
measures to not like not have todeal with hip pain or not have
to deal with like pelvisimmobility and things like that?
What are some things?
Because I don't want to talkabout like what I did or what
you showed me to be the wrongthing, but like what are some
(26:10):
things that like you would mayberecommend to athletes for better
rotation, for better mobility,to pay better attention to their
mechanics so that way they aregetting good rotation.
SPEAKER_00 (26:19):
Yeah, I think that's a really good thought.
I've just found that I havethese different ideas and
exercises and drills that work.
Everyone's a little different inwhat they experience with
exercise.
So there's some people who havemaybe the same issue presenting,
but one responds really well tothis type of exercise, and one
(26:41):
responds really well to that.
And I usually can get that trendif I'm teaching someone this,
and it just as much as I try towork with them to get it and
it's just frustrating and um notfeeling good, then I try to use
my knowledge and mind's head totry to find something else that
we can connect the dots.
But I find if people can feelthings differently via exercise
or drill, that can actuallytranslate better to them feeling
(27:05):
better in their running, betterthan me just cueing things and
running.
Because if you don't know whatto feel, and I'm telling you, do
you feel this or feel this or dothat?
It doesn't connect.
So I'll go over a couple thingshere on the video and I'll
describe it a little bit too ofjust some general mobility
pieces or exercises that I'vefound impactful for myself, I've
(27:29):
found impactful for otherpeople, and they're relatively
um simple to do, doesn't meanit's easy or feels fluid right
away, especially if you'rehaving some rotation um tension
in the hips and pelvis.
And so let me pop up here andI'll kind of demo a few things.
(27:49):
And this will be available in4K.
This this video better get a tonof hits.
The first one demoingeverything.
That's right.
All right.
So this kind of feeds off ofwhat I was demoing a little bit
before.
And let me just make sure youhave full site.
So I like to do this in a walkpattern forward and back.
(28:10):
Um, as long as you have space todo it, you could do it 30, 40
feet forward and 30, 40 feetbackwards and just rep that.
Um, really to teach the movementof the pelvis and read the hips.
So I like to have hands onpelvis so you at least have that
feedback of feeling the bones soyou don't feel like you're just
twisting with the spine orcondensating with the spine.
(28:32):
So I'm using people take a stepforward, not too far, but where
you can be in a staggered stanceposition with the front knee
bent, hip bent, back leg, kneerelatively straight, maybe a
soft bend in it, and then heeldown.
From here, if you are balanced,you're gonna wind pelvis into
(28:54):
front thigh.
Now, if I just rep this a fewtimes, like this should feel
pretty elastic and springybecause both hip function and
pelvis function are mobile andwe get this elastic recoil.
A lot of times when I test thisfor folks, this feels blocked or
really stiff, and it does notfeel like that.
(29:14):
So that's a sign that we maybewant to work through this.
The other thing about this is asI rotate my pelvis and my hips,
I get this good rotation,especially in the back leg
through the knee, through thefoot and ankle.
So the whole system needs to beelastic and stringy.
Super important for running.
Okay.
So I'll take a step, rotate,make sure I can feel good end,
(29:35):
feel I'm stable, and then steptwo, and then that leg that was
back, I'll step forward, and nowI'm doing the same thing.
So basically, I'll repeat thisforward for a period of time and
then go backwards.
Now, the cool thing aboutbackwards is it tends to just
feel a little bit more open tothe hip than moving forward, and
(29:57):
it just gives you a littledifferent feel, even though it's
the same movement pattern.
And I find typically that peoplewho do this for several days,
several weeks, if they're reallylocked up in here and they're
consistent with this Uberpattern, things start to open up
a little bit more.
And when you have a little bitmore motion through here and
access, we can start to helptranslate that into our running
(30:22):
where we can rotate and weightshift.
Super important if you watch anyhigh-level runner, especially
from the back, they're notstaying in midline.
There's always some rotationalweight shift as they contact,
their head's gonna be over theirfoot.
As they load and drive off,they're driving off that leg,
and they're gonna see some headshift over each leg.
(30:42):
That a lot of is the storage andrelease of energy with that
rotational full wind up.
If you feel someone's just stiffin the middle and they're moving
their legs, we're missing thatrotational piece there.
So that's one simple one you cando.
Um, the other one I like to dois the, and again, you know of
this, the flow rope.
Okay.
(31:03):
It's again, I'll do it now andI'll demo it.
It's rather, again, simple,simple concept, but people have
people struggle with it rightaway.
There's definitely acoordination practice component.
So if you this is something youtry, there's plenty of videos
out there on this, and there'sall different things, but let me
show you it and then we'll kindof talk through why it's
important.
SPEAKER_01 (31:23):
I feel like I need to get like an Amazon affiliate
code before we post this podcastso that way we can make some
money off these ropes.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (31:31):
I'm sure I've made a if I had a code, I'm sure I
would have made some money offthat.
SPEAKER_01 (31:36):
Oh dear.
You've posted some great videoson these.
SPEAKER_00 (31:40):
Yeah.
So um basically it's just asimple rope.
Um, this one has a little weightto it.
I feel like having some weightto it allows you to feel things
like momentum-wise better.
But the pattern is thisunderhand figure eight.
So I'll start swinging it on oneside and then I transfer to the
other.
(32:00):
Now, if you're watching this,what you'll notice is looking at
my head, my head shifts fromside to side.
And it's not like I'm justmoving my head.
This is all rotational weightshift transfer of energy.
The rope's really cool becauseit gives us timing, it gives us
(32:21):
rhythm, and allows us to kind ofsequence things and be um snappy
through the legs, but to alsofeel things.
What I find is if people doresonate with this exercise,
this drill, just doing it forseveral days to even a few
weeks, if they're consistentwith it, they start to feel a
(32:44):
little different in theirrunning.
And that helps us connect thedots of like what we're looking
for.
We need some of that rotationand weight shift.
So I really like this tool.
It's really powerful, simple.
And um, once you get anunderstanding of the movement
pattern, if you're consistentwith that, it does feel like it
helps open things up because youcan just feel the body move in
(33:07):
the way it should, not feelstiff, kind of just moving
forward and back.
So I really like those drills.
Um the other just quick screensI like to test.
So I always like to test justthe gliding of the pelvis.
So in standing, so I'll peoplecheck like, can we get pelvis to
(33:27):
glide both ways?
Sometimes if I'll see an issueon one side like this, maybe
pretty blocked.
Um in figuring out if if it's aglide issue, if there's
something else.
So we need to see that.
That's one of the motions weneed to see in the pelvis
because that allows you toweight shift onto a side when
you run.
We need that rotation.
(33:47):
So this is one of my tests.
Are we symmetrical and fluidhere?
And then the forward andbackward rotation.
I actually like testing a march.
So I'll test and I'll have mypeople put their hands there and
I can see things move.
But when when you go into amarch, you get relative hip
(34:09):
flexion on this leg, hipextension on this leg, and the
pelvis needs to tilt a littleback, and then this comes a
little relative forward.
And then the same thing as wemarched, can we see this kind of
come down and this kind of goback?
If anything feels like reallystiff through there, and maybe
people perceive that in thehips, the pelvis, the glute,
(34:30):
what have you.
I need to make sure those pelvicmovements can glide just like my
hands there.
So those are kind of me justscreening those planes of motion
just to see like, is there anybig issues there?
Because if there is, we want tostart maybe at least working off
of those pieces to see if thatstarts to help.
SPEAKER_01 (34:48):
Very interesting.
SPEAKER_00 (34:49):
Thank you for demonstrating.
Yeah, hopefully people will takea look at that because I think
uh Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (34:54):
We're gonna I'm gonna clip that, we'll make a
reel out of it so people can seeit.
I think it'd be super sad.
Cool.
Um, I have like a strengthquestion for you.
So like one of the things Istarted doing maybe a few months
ago was like working on justgetting I've always had really
weak hips.
Like I've never had strong hipsat all.
And uh I wanted to change that.
So I Googled like Muay Thaiexercises for like, or like
(35:18):
sorry, uh exercises for likeMuay Thai like kickboxers and
stuff like that.
And dude, I have worked so muchon getting my hips strong, and
it has played like uh such afundamental role in helping me,
I think, engage more muscles andget more just be strong in that
area of my body.
Would you recommend morestrength like that?
Like, I don't have the dexterityto be able to kick somebody in
(35:38):
the face, but I have like decentdexterity.
Um do you think that's likesuper important for runners, or
should runners be a littlestiffer?
Um, I think for me it was moreso working on like, okay, how do
I just get that entire sectionof my body much stronger than it
had been before?
SPEAKER_00 (35:54):
Yeah, I would I kind of agree with both of those
points.
Like, we do want timing-wise,because really when you think
about running propulsion, likehips drive that, of course, and
really that drive down into theground, like the amount of force
we can put into the ground andmeet that and not like collapse,
because like really when ourfoot contacts the ground and
(36:15):
running, all of our tissues andour leg from our hip all the way
to our foot are basically tryingto prevent collapse or like
prevent you from bending orflexing too much of your joints.
So you need to be strong to meetthe demand of the force being
put into the ground.
And if you can meet that demand,then your tendons will stretch
and you'll get this elasticspring-like movement.
(36:37):
Hence, when you see a lot ofreally good runners, like you're
not seeing them bobbing up anddown, they're pretty small
bouncing fluid because they'restrong and elastic.
Now, I do think there's value ofhaving the hips being strong, of
course.
Um, you can strengthen your hipin a lot of ways, but if you
want it to transfer better torunning performance, we want to
(36:59):
meet the demands of the actionswe would see in running.
So, more from like this hipflexion to extension, kind of
split stance scissoring downinto the ground, um, as well as
like making sure you're strongin that like mid-stance phase of
running, because that's whereour body is like overcoming all
of that load.
And then as soon as the bodytransfers over the leg and
(37:19):
standing, we're releasing thaton the backside.
So, really, that front sidemechanic into the ground is
where we want to be strongest ifwe're specific for running.
And a lot of that is hip umglute hamstring action of
driving into the ground.
Um, what I've been playingaround with a lot recently,
because it makes sense, is a lotof heavy isometrics.
(37:43):
So isometrics are um like uhmuscle contractions in like one
position.
So think of like to give asimple example, wall sit.
Most people can conceptualize ormaybe have done that in the
past, where you're you'reagainst a wall and you're just
holding position, quads burn,right?
Where muscles are just workingin one position.
When we run, that's happening.
(38:05):
So our muscles are rather whatwe call quasi-isometric
isometric, where they willstabilize and maybe move a
little bit, but really ifthey're being stable and quick
and strong to then stretch thetendon.
So if we can train heavyisometrics in positions where
they're gonna be more specificto running, we can see massive
(38:28):
performance improvements.
Versus moving slow and heavy,yes, that's gonna help tissue
function.
Like you're gonna you're gonnaget stronger uh muscles and
tendons, but it doesn't alwaystranslate to performance because
we're moving slow and it doesn'treally reflect the demands of
running.
And so I have I like to do Idon't kind of demo again if
(38:50):
that's cool.
Yeah, yeah.
Um people can play with some ofthis stuff.
Yeah.
Well, wall sits will work thequads.
So quads are great.
We want those to be strong,especially for trail runners.
But the the glued hamstringcomplex, that's where all of our
propulsive power comes from,especially if we're running
faster, we're running uphill.
Like we want that to be strongto overcome the ground contact
(39:12):
and not have our body likecollapse or sink into it.
So let me demo um a couplethings.
And I'm not gonna do it withweight because I don't just have
stuff right with me.
But no, it's fine.
Just so you could see.
Um so one thing I like to do tokind of if you think about the
running action, right?
Or to simplify as my leg swingsthrough, I basically am now, I
(39:36):
want to drive this leg down intothe ground, especially as speed
increases and that demand.
This needs to be strong cominginto the ground.
So this muscle action is wherewe want to be strong through the
hip.
So, really simple.
I've most people can do a lungegetting into that lower lunge
position.
(39:56):
So, this kind of is a similaraction to driving down.
What I like to do to not haveany issues here is I'll have
heavy dumbbells on the groundand I'll lower and then come up
like an inch and just hold it.
So now I don't have to lowerinto it and be really sore in
the glutes hamstrings.
I can hold that position.
And if it's pretty heavy, likewe may only get like 10 seconds
(40:18):
here.
But that's really gonnachallenge the system to almost
overcome the collapse.
So I'll get really heavydumbbells hold, and as soon as
I'm done for that time duration,drop them and then stand up and
do the other leg.
So I lower down under just mybody weight, not really much
stress.
I'll hold the weight and I wouldfind a position where I can feel
(40:40):
more hamstring glute rather thanquad because I want to have more
of that propulsive tendon muscleload.
So I might shift a littleforward from the trunk or maybe
turn into that hip a little bitand then hold.
So that's been really powerful.
And the cool thing aboutisometrics is they can be
demanding, but they're not gonnamake you sore and overly fatigue
(41:03):
the next day, which is reallycool for when you're in a heat
of a training block and you justdon't want to have a ton of
muscle tension or soreness thenext day.
Really powerful to have stillperformance benefits with these
movements.
SPEAKER_01 (41:16):
Dude, I feel like I feel like I've got a whole whole
I'm about to go do workoutsright now.
This is amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (41:22):
It's pretty cool.
You'll notice like within justlike a week or two of doing some
of that stuff, if it's the rightdosage, you'll feel snappier and
more powerful in your stride.
Because we're loading it more,you know, that's not a fast
thing, but because we're gettingthat isometric load, it gets
good um tension on the muscletendon units and it's heavy.
(41:43):
And that's kind of a similartranslation we want into
running.
SPEAKER_01 (41:47):
Interesting.
Wow.
Dude, thank you fordemonstrating that.
I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00 (41:50):
I think the and keeping it simple for
application purposes, like mostpeople can do that at any jam or
home.
I mean, having the right weightis good, but like a lunge is a
very a fairly simple movement.
Yeah, yeah.
No, a hundred percent.
SPEAKER_01 (42:04):
And that's like you said, that's something anybody
could do.
Yeah, just kind of hanging out.
It's not that big of a deal.
SPEAKER_00 (42:09):
Let's make the barrier low to entry for some of
these things.
You don't need uh, you know, allthis fancy equipment.
Like you sure that can help attimes, but you can have a really
good program with you knowdumbbells and some simple things
if we're doing it the kind ofthe right way.
Yeah.
unknown (42:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (42:25):
What do you think?
Because I I I went through kindof the list of topics that we
had kind of planned.
Is there anything I didn't getto?
Anything that you want to eitherdemonstrate or a topic that you
want to hit as far as uh likethat grouping between the pelvis
and hips and that area?
SPEAKER_00 (42:42):
I don't think so.
I feel like maybe we indirectlycovered a lot of things.
Um and of course, there's alwayssomething that could come up
with more things, but I feellike the big takeaways are
making sure we have the adequatemobility at the pelvis and the
hips.
Um, we're not gettingcompensation because that's
where we could potentially haveissues in the soft tissue and
(43:03):
and nerve stuff from the back.
Um and if there is an issue, youknow, we can there's things you
can do to screen for that.
There's simple things you can doon your own.
Obviously, you could see someonetoo.
Um and that's part of it.
And then looking at yourrunning.
How what are the mechanics?
Mechanics do matter.
There's a thought that theydon't.
Um, I I would say they do to adegree.
(43:24):
I'm not gonna first always messwith it.
I would like to first look atsome um interventions we could
do movement-wise and just see ifthings start to change in their
running.
But if we exhaust some of thatstuff and we're just not uh
improving with that stuff, thenwe definitely want to look at
running to see if we can makesome changes there, especially
if they're starting to feelbetter.
(43:45):
So, yeah, move movement fluidityis huge in running.
If people are not feeling fluid,they're feeling like oh my hips
and pelvis are always tight,something's wrong there.
We need to change that becausethat's that shouldn't be the
default.
SPEAKER_01 (43:59):
Well, dude, this was a good one.
I think this was our best oneever.
I appreciate that.
Cool.
SPEAKER_00 (44:03):
Yeah, but what which one was this now?
Was this the third or I thinkthis is fourth?
Okay, third or fourth.
I can't remember.
I was trying to look back.
SPEAKER_01 (44:10):
Yeah, I was thinking about before.
I might I gotta update our uh PTseries like thing because it's I
think I could do a better onenow because I've got Canva.
Yeah, shout out to Canva.
SPEAKER_00 (44:20):
Heck yeah.
Well, I appreciate you, man.
SPEAKER_01 (44:23):
Sean, thank you so much.
Uh, for those in the audience,obviously we'll link everything
in the show notes.
But if you are on the frontrange or really any parts of
Colorado, New Mexico, or uh ifyou want to travel from Kansas
or Wyoming, come check out RunPotential PT.
Um I'll link everything in theshow notes so they can contact
you.
And uh yeah, man, appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00 (44:43):
Well, I appreciate that, James.
That's uh very kind.
And yeah, I appreciate youhaving me on.
Um again, I keep saying thiseach time I'm on.
What you're doing's awesome forthe sport.
I'm a huge fan of the podcast,so keep them rolling.
I'm excited uh for what 2026brings for you.
SPEAKER_01 (44:57):
Oh, actually, dude, it's kind of funny.
One thing for new listeners thatmight not know this, you were my
first episode, like back inMarch two years ago.
Isn't that crazy?
SPEAKER_00 (45:05):
Like, that's I still remember even you kind of
talking it through before youeven started the podcast, of
like talking through like ideasand how you want to do it and
all that, and it's just so coolto see it come full circle and
just the progress.
But that comes anything greatcomes with consistency, and
that's something you'vedefinitely been.
So again, keep keep it rollingbecause it's it's pretty
(45:25):
awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (45:26):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, sir.
Yeah, many more to many more.
We'll be doing, and uh, I can'twait to have the next
discussion.
We'll pick a different musclegroup or a different grouping of
uh injuries and stuff like that,and we'll we'll do uh another
round.
So appreciate it, buddy.
Sure, man.
Love love the chat.
Take care.
Oh, dude, that was so good.
That was what'd you guys think?
Oh man, uh, definitely want tothank Sean so much for coming on
(45:48):
the show.
Definitely a fun conversationand just so much value there.
Um, like I said in the intro, II think a lot of I've had a I
mean, I don't even know how Ithink I've had a lot of athletes
on the podcast lately, and we'veall been talking about very
similar injuries, issues withhip rotation, pelvis, nerve, a
lot of nerve stuff.
And uh I definitely think thiswas a very warranted
conversation.
(46:08):
And uh, if you're going throughthis as an athlete, I think
there's a it's kind of a weirdthing, right?
Like you didn't break something,you don't have a tendon tear,
but like nerve stuff, especiallyin that area of the body, is
always a pain in the ass.
And it's something I have dealtwith for years.
Um, and the only thing that hasever helped me has been a lot of
mobility work and strengtheningthat area of the body.
So definitely, and with workingwith Sean.
(46:31):
And uh so it was kind of cool tokind of help tell that story and
hopefully get more to theaudience um so for for the
future.
Guys, if you've been enjoyingthis one um and there's another
uh, I don't know, area of thebody or another subtopic you
want to uh me to have Sean backon for to talk about, maybe the
knees, maybe plant or fasciitis,something in the feet.
(46:53):
I don't know.
If there's anything that youguys want to hear more from Sean
on, let us know.
We'll happily get anotherpodcast going in the new year uh
to talk about this stuff andhopefully provide more value for
you guys as we continue to goalong.
If you've been enjoying thisstuff, uh give us a five-star
rating and review on Apple,Spotify, or YouTube, and uh hit
that subscribe button on YouTubeuh so uh we can get more uh eyes
(47:16):
on that channel as we continueto grow that.
We're at like a whole 89followers now, so we're we're
hitting it, guys.
We're doing it.
Um appreciate you all.
Thank you so much for tuning in,and thank you guys for uh
following along uh the journeyand uh just super thankful for
everyone uh in the new year.
So appreciate it.
Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast.
I'm your host, James L'Orealow.
And today I'm so excited towelcome Sean Rimmer back to the
show.
Sean is the physiotherapist forRun Potential PT based in
Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Yeah, he's my personal PT and agood friend of mine.
And we've had him, he's also thefirst uh guest we've ever had on
(00:23):
the show, which was kind ofcool.
Um so excited to welcome Seanback to the show this time for a
very specific reason.
It's interesting.
I've had uh dealt quite a lot inthe past with hip and um uh more
so hip and SI, pelvis and nerveinjuries, and I've had quite a
few podcasts lately withathletes dealing with similar
(00:44):
injuries.
So I feel like this was a reallyinteresting time to have Sean
back on to talk all things onhips, pelvis, nerve issues, um,
how to get those hips and p howto get those uh rotation, um,
how to get the hips strong andall kinds of fun things.
It was a really goodconversation.
Sean did a lot of demos.
So if you're listening to thison Apple Podcasts, that's
awesome.
But if you want to pan on overto Spotify or YouTube, that
(01:07):
would probably be the most idealbecause the video episode of
this podcast is gonna get youkind of the most value in that
um there's quite a fewopportunities uh that you can
watch Sean doing different typesof strength and mobility
demonstrations.
Um, that would be the mostideal.
So I hope you guys enjoy thisone and get a lot of value out
of it.
Uh Sean is an absolute brain andhas been a miracle worker for me
(01:30):
over the years.
Um I've definitely thrown a lotof athletes his way, um, you
know, that listen to the pods souh they can get some help with
these injuries as well, and it'sbeen quite beneficial for a lot
of them.
So um, like I said, Sean is amiracle worker and an absolute
brain.
So without further ado, I hopeyou guys enjoy this one.
Dr.
Sean Rimmer, uh DPT um of runpotential PT on hips and uh
(01:56):
pelvis and rotation.
(02:58):
Ladies and gentlemen, we Dr.
Sean Rimmer, welcome back to theSame Stuff Podcast.
How's it going, my friend?
SPEAKER_00 (03:11):
Good, dude.
Happy to be back.
It's had a little hiatustogether, but glad to try to
bring some knowledge andawareness today and hopefully
help some people out who arelistening.
SPEAKER_01 (03:21):
Yeah, man.
I'm super excited to have thisconvo.
I've been dude, I've beenstewing on this one for a while
as far as like what can we talkabout to provide value for
people that are might be goingthrough injury right now?
And the one that I feel like I'mI might be a spokesperson for at
this point is hip and pelvicissues, um, notably.
(03:42):
And the amount of athletes Iknow that you probably see on
the regular with hip and pelvisissues is probably pretty
immense.
I know I've referred a couplepeople over to you, uh like
athletes in the space that havehad like nerve and some
different issues.
Um this is something you see alot, right?
SPEAKER_00 (03:59):
Yeah, it is something that's fairly common.
Now, it doesn't always mean thatthis is something that I'll see
coming directly from running,like a running-related injury,
but sometimes it can beexperienced by running and other
things.
And so, really, you know, withanything, as we know, like
having a good history of howlong something's going on for
(04:22):
what's the behavior of whatthey're feeling, um, other
things going on holistically intheir life, their training,
their diet, their stress, allthese things help me to get a
little bit of a lens into likemaybe what we're dealing with.
And then, you know, looking atthe testing from there, kind of
breaking down maybe what what'sthe problem.
If it is truly something of hipspelvis origin or nerve from that
(04:46):
region of the back or pelvis,you know, that's where we can
really dive into the testing andreally isolate what the problem
is.
Um and then again, looking attheir movement too.
I think, you know, everyone allthese everyone runs, and but
people can run differently, andhow they are running on terrain
can and change their mechanicsand things.
(05:06):
So really looking at therunners' mechanics and if that's
even relevant to what's goingon, at least helps also paint a
picture.
So, really what it comes down tois just being holistic with
everything, taking a look at allthese things and really
listening to the person in frontof me talk about what they're
experiencing to help me kind ofput my problem-solving hat on
and try to figure things out.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
Yeah.
No, I love it.
It's it's interesting because Ifeel like that's a very peculiar
section of the body, the hip,the pelvis, the SI joints,
everything kind ofinterconnected.
Can you talk about how thatfunctions as a unit and running?
SPEAKER_00 (05:40):
Yeah.
So if we think about the pelvis,like that's where I think of as
like the true core of the body.
It's literally like the centerof the body.
And just below or the undersideof the pelvis, we have the hip
joint where the femur connectsto the pelvis bones.
And then above that, we have thespine.
So a lot of times we'll perceivesome hip issues or back issues
(06:03):
and nerve issues.
But instead of directing tothose general areas, I typically
have found that the pelvis canbe a link of why those areas are
being irritated.
And so, to answer your questionon how does the pelvis function
and running, if we think of thepelvis, and I'll kind of use my
hands as a little bit of a demo,uh if if we're thinking of the
(06:27):
front of the body where I'mfacing you, the pelvis kind of
has this bowl feature in thelegs would be on the underside.
The pelvis really can move inthree planes of motion, and we
need it to move in three planesof motion.
So if we think of together, thepelvis can forwardly rotate.
(06:48):
So that think of like rotationforward and back, but not like
tilting.
And then we have posterior,anterior forward tilt and
backward tilt.
But more specifically inrunning, it's usually gonna be a
little bit of equal andopposite.
So we're not really gonna havelike this action running because
of the leg action.
We're gonna have some forwardrotation and back and forward
(07:09):
and back.
And then we have some side bendor side glide of the pelvis.
And all of those happen togetherin sequence.
We don't have like isolatedmovements, but we need to have
all that pelvis mobility movingproperly because what that
actually allows for is the hipmuscles to like stabilize as the
(07:35):
pelvis rotates and moves.
So the hip hip muscles canstabilize but also store elastic
energy and produce force.
So if we're not getting thepelvis moving, the hip function
starts to be impaired orimpacted, or just becomes less
optimal compared to when thepelvis is moving fully.
So to sum things up with that,the pelvis needs to move, and we
(07:58):
need to make sure all of thosemovements are there, and that's
where I do my testing on.
Do we have all access to allthat?
Because sometimes we'll find wedon't.
And then if we do have access toit where I check movement
passively or isolate it, do theyuse the pelvis when they run?
Do they have their motorpatterns connect the dots where
(08:19):
we have that movement, or isthere something off with their
coordination and timing andrhythm that's causing things to
not move as well when we look attheir running or movement
patterns?
And so hopefully, I mean that'sit can be a little complex
trying to simplify it, but thekey is it needs it needs to move
because everything around thatabove and below is dependent on
movement through that area.
SPEAKER_01 (08:41):
Well, that rotation is so important.
Can can you I don't want todeviate too much into this
topic, but this is something youand I have talked about in the
past.
I feel like it's it's a reallyinteresting tagline and it's
it's a gone viral.
I see this on PT accounts allthe time, um, where these
influencers are trying to talkabout anterior pelvic tilt.
And I find it to be a verycommon thing in people where
(09:01):
that pelvis almost like the hipflexors gets so tight, pulls the
pelvis forward.
I deal with it all the time.
And for me, when I like I have aton of different stretches I do
to really get more length in myhip flexors and stretch
everything out, and it makes itgo away almost instantly.
Um, I don't want to say anteriorpelvic hilt, but like enough to
where it's tilted to where itcauses lower back pain at times.
(09:23):
And I don't know if that's fromsitting a ton, and I feel like a
lot of athletes deal with that.
Um, maybe talk about likeanterior pelvic tilt and why
that's such a common thing now.
SPEAKER_00 (09:33):
Yeah, it is relatively common, and I think
it comes down to a couplethings.
Like, of course, looking attheir running and what's going
on there, because there's areason why maybe we see that
more in runners, but also justthe nature of humanity nowadays,
and there is so much sitting,and that kind of does tighten a
little bit more of the frontside of things.
(09:53):
Now, I'll still see people whoare sitting a lot during the day
who have really good mobilitythrough there.
So there's we have to kind ofconnect all the dots there.
What I will say is if the pelvisis tilted forward and and kind
of more stiff in that direction,typically that may mean that the
muscles in the front of the legsmaybe are tighter as well.
(10:15):
If we think about like themuscle pole.
Um and so tension there couldobviously be creating that, but
typically it's again coming downto how we move.
So if we think of the hipflexors, even the long quad,
some of the big players in thefront, if we're moving in in our
running when we have rotation,we tend to get better movement
(10:36):
through those tissues, like thehip flexor.
Most people think the hipflexor, of course, flexes the
hip and it's more of thissagittal plane of action, but a
huge component to that hipflexor is internal and external
rotation.
And so if we're not touching onthose pieces when we run, if
we're not having that pelvisrotation to wind that tissue up,
(10:57):
it's gonna become short andstiff.
So I think this is a coolopportunity to kind of show you
an example in the video.
Now, of course, you know, peoplelistening they can always look
at the recording to see thisbecause I think the
demonstration helps.
But I'm gonna demo um like thatstride position and running and
show kind of how the hip flexormobility should present with the
(11:18):
rotation.
SPEAKER_01 (11:22):
And so this is why I love doing the video.
I can totally demo.
SPEAKER_00 (11:26):
Yeah, is obviously benefits.
So when most people think, like,and I'll show from the side of
you, like the hip flexortechnically flex helps to flex
the hip.
And then as we go in alengthened position, there is a
stretch, period.
Now that's part of the story.
If we go from the front side,when that leg is back, the hip
(11:47):
flexor that attaches inside ofthe pelvis and the back of the
spine attaches to the inside ofthe femur.
And so if the attachment's hereand here, as we the leg goes
back, there's some stretch, butif the leg rotates or if we
rotate into the pelvis, thatactually winds it up more.
(12:08):
And when we run, we need some ofthat rotation and weight shift
to help facilitate that stretchand then that recoil as the leg
swings through.
So in the hip flexor, when weload it and push off behind us,
or when that we're in thatterminal position, this is under
good stretch to then help theleg swing through with flexion
(12:31):
and external rotation to thencome down.
So if we're not getting to thatpoint, especially at faster
speeds, this can get reallyfeeling like it's pulling and
getting angry and getting tight.
So when people are reallydominant tilted forward, I find
that some of that can bemissing, as well as they're
(12:51):
using a lot more of the quad tohelp push because things are
getting tighter in the front.
So that I I put a post on this alittle while ago, like tissue
tension in the body kind oftells a story.
And I think we can stretchthings and mobilize things, and
of course, that can buy us somemovement and freedom, but it's
(13:12):
figuring out why that keepscoming back and is present.
And if we can understand theroot issue of like where the
problem is with the mechanicsand movement coordination, we
can tend to find where we canget things moving more fluidly
with movement based practice andum coordination work to help
integrate into your running.
SPEAKER_01 (13:31):
Makes sense.
How would you here's the thing?
Like people um I know when I hadthis issue, I went to you and I
was like, oh my god, I have aherniated disc.
That doesn't sound like that.
Um, but I think the biggerquestion here lens it, and I
think for athletes listening tothis, how would you know if you
have a hip or a pelvis problem?
Like, how do you be able todistinguish either of the two?
SPEAKER_00 (13:53):
Yeah, that's also a really good point.
I think that comes down to, likeI said, a little bit of what
people are experiencing.
Um, and I'll give an example ina moment, but also the testing.
And so that helps me kind ofpoint an area what's what the
problem is.
So, you know, for a lot ofpeople, they may experience like
a nerve issue in their leg, youknow, it could be in the hip,
(14:15):
could be in the thigh, could beeven lower than that.
Um, and a lot of times thatcould be coming from somewhere
upstream, somewhere near thepelvis, low back, um, or lumbar
spine interface.
And so I always tend to startfrom the pelvis and spine just
to make sure, again, do we havethat adequate mobility?
And if we don't, is thatcontributing to triggering that
(14:38):
nerve-related symptom into theleg?
Um, so you know, even if thereis potentially a herniated disc,
right?
If we can get things to changevia changes in how we move or
getting more mobility in areas,like, you know, who cares if
there is a herniated disc?
There's been enough studies toshow that people with
(15:00):
asymptomatic MRIs have herniateddisks.
And so, regardless of thefinding there, if we can get
people to move better and feelbetter, you know, that's what we
want to work off of versus beingscared of a diagnosis that may
not even be relevant or aconcern.
And so I always like to look atat least the movement to see
(15:21):
what where the problem is, andthen maybe why certain tissue is
irritated.
So again, if there is nerve ornot, if we get the movement
better and we retest something,is it improved?
And if it is, we want to workoff that.
You know, that test retest modelis very helpful in this field.
If we can find a movement orposition that doesn't feel good,
do some sort of interventions ormovement practice and then
(15:44):
retest.
And if things are improved, likethat's a great sign we want to
start working off of that.
If things are worse, if ifsymptoms got more intense or
there's more irritation, that'salso helpful information telling
us maybe we want to not go inthat type of movement direction
for now and kind of figure outwhere more the problem is.
So I find that super helpful intrying to like isolate problems
(16:08):
and figure it out.
And then that allows me toeducate, you know, the people I
work with to like, here's wherethe direction we really want to
work towards and integrate intoour overall movement practice or
movement patterns like running.
SPEAKER_01 (16:21):
On the nerve topic, I find this to be so interesting
because I've seen you over theyears where I've come to you
with adductor pain, or I've cometo you with stuff outside uh on
the outside of the hip thatfeels kind of funky.
And generally it's always beennerve-related pain.
Can you talk about therelationship with the nerve and
the fascia and why somesomething's obviously not
(16:43):
gliding correctly, orsomething's obviously I guess
irritated tissue, and that'swhat will cause that.
Can you talk about how the nervegets irritated and maybe
sometimes poor movement cancause that?
SPEAKER_00 (16:56):
Yeah, it's and it's hard to fully like say, like,
this is definitely what'shappening, just because we don't
have enough information on that.
But typically, if I if I were totake a step back for a second,
when I see nerve issues, mostpeople think if they've felt
nerve pain, which this can be apattern of nerve pain, it's it's
this sharp shooting pain or orburning or numbness or tingling.
(17:18):
You know, that that can be whatyou feel with nerve pain, but
um, and it and it's where it'sthis like radiating from the
spine or in this whole likelength nerve pathway from your
butt all the way down, you'relike, and sure, that's something
I'll definitely see and we see.
But it can also be like thisvague pain that's in a specific
(17:39):
area that sometimes is there,sometimes is not, or is
sometimes just always there andconstant.
And it can be an ache, it can besharp, it can vary.
I think that's a really commonpredictor of nerve-related pain
versus soft tissue pain, evenpotentially bone pain.
It's more consistent in the typeof pain.
(18:01):
And the other thing is withnerves, things can move around.
So you may feel it in the lowerpart of the adductor one time,
and then we do some sort ofmovement or change, and it and
it shifts to radiate higher up,or it shifts to lower in the leg
or up in the hip.
So things can move around.
And if we if I typically hearthat from folks, that's kind of
like ringing a radar in my brainof like, okay, like there may be
(18:24):
a possible bit possibility thisis going on.
Now, most of the time I'll seenerve-related pain stemming from
the again, the region of thespine and the pelvis.
And so that's where I alwayswant to start looking at motion
and how people are movingthrough there.
Because again, typically I'llsee if there is a problem, there
is a movement limitation throughthere.
(18:45):
And if we start to improve themovement through there, people
can actually integrate that intoactive movement.
I'll typically see things startto improve.
Now, if they don't, we want tofurther explore.
Sometimes it's just not ascommon.
We'll see some type ofnerve-related entrapment where
the nerve can get potentially alittle adhered in the tissue
(19:07):
within the peripheral system.
And we want to work through thatarea.
So nerve-related mobilizations,neural flossing, neural tension
or slatters, those can beeffective interventions to
getting the neural system just alittle bit more mobile through
the tissue.
Um, because the nerve does movethrough muscle, moves through
fascia, it kind of interconnectsthrough all those things.
(19:29):
The other times I may see itperipherally or like in the leg
in areas and not stemming fromlike the back or the pelvis
region.
There could be a muscle that'sreally tight.
Um, for example, I just sawsomeone who had a ton of tension
in their peronial, which is likethe lower leg outer side.
(19:51):
And how they were running, theywere loading a lot more on the
outside of the foot, and thatarea was just getting
overworked.
And after so many steps or somuch time of running.
They would start to getnerve-related symptoms in that
lower leg.
And so, yes, it's a nerve issue,but likely for that individual,
we needed to work on some of thechanges with his mechanics to
(20:11):
get him to load through the fullfoot and not overload that
tissue so we could get thatnerve less irritated.
And so again, it's figuring outthe whole story of like why it's
getting irritated and where it'sstemming from and looking at
their movement.
If we can connect all of thosepieces, we can kind of problem
solve and figure out the problemand hopefully start to move in
the right direction.
SPEAKER_01 (20:32):
I think you hit a very valuable thing there where
a lot of times it's down thechain.
Something with the foot,something with your steps,
something with your movement.
How would you know like if it isa nerve issue, whether it's
around maybe the pelvis or thelike if it's presenting issues
in that area, it might not bedirectly related to that.
How would you know, like be ableto like dissect that?
SPEAKER_00 (20:53):
Yeah.
So again, coming down to justlike isolating all those areas.
So like I'll look at the footmanually and I'll do some
specific movement test to like,do we have adequate movement
through there and control?
And if so, at least I can checkthat box of like, all right, I
feel good about like this maybenot being a problem, but like
let's still like make sure wekeep it on the radar.
(21:14):
And then check spinal mobilityand pelvis and hip mobility.
And if things are like reallyfluid and symmetrical and
strong, I feel better that maybethings aren't coming from there.
And again, these are justisolated things that we can
test.
Looking at the movement, though,is the important thing.
So if it's triggered withrunning, I want to look at
running.
I need to figure out like what'sgo when does it come on?
(21:36):
Does it come on if you'recontacting in that initial
loading phase?
Is it come on more when you'rein swing phase, when you're
pushing off?
The body is in a differentposition and things are under
different loads and tensions anddifferent points in the gate
cycle.
So that might help paint apicture and tell the story as
well.
As well as loading cycles.
Like, does nerve pain come onafter running two miles?
(21:59):
Right?
How are they running and maybeare they overloading and certain
tissues and things are gettingirritated?
So to break it down, I'llisolate things and I'll look at
their movement.
And if there's any othermovements they feel it with, I
want to look at those too.
Because again, I want to try tounderstand the whole picture of
where the problem's coming fromand not just guessing, but like
really trying to be a littlemore specific about where the
(22:22):
issues are so we can try to makesome change.
SPEAKER_01 (22:26):
How would you like treat some of the maybe you
could show I I don't know, youkind of broke it down as well.
I just want to better get anunderstanding of like treating
some of the hipper nerveproblems.
Like I know you and I haveworked together many, many times
over working through differentstuff like this, and a lot of
different movements help.
And yeah, now now I feel like Idon't want to say I'm in
remission, but like I feel likewith the tools I gained from you
(22:50):
and then with different strengthwork, um, like I I haven't had
an issue in a really long time,knock on wood.
And it's been which is great.
Great.
Yeah, yeah.
All because of you.
Um well you're putting in thework, so yeah.
Rotation is key.
It's so nuts not to like go intothe weeds on this, but like once
I've actually figured out how tolike use my glutes and my ass,
(23:12):
my running is completelydifferent.
Like, I have full rotation now.
Oh, I feel like a completelydifferent runner where I was
just so overloaded in the quadsbefore.
SPEAKER_00 (23:20):
Yeah.
It's hard.
I mean, I think it's easier.
Obviously, you're doing andyou're doing mixing it up now,
from what I'm hearing.
Like you're doing like roadstuff, track stuff, you know,
trail.
I think it's in general on thetrails, there's a lot more
variance uphill.
It's sometimes harder at timesto get in the rhythm.
And I think on like a track,treadmill, um, something
(23:41):
flatter, you can really get alittle more in tune with the
rhythm of your running mechanicsbecause it's like more
consistent.
Um, but you may have, you know,you other people may sometimes
they don't feel certain tissueactivation because of, again,
how they're moving.
Do they have rotation?
Do they have weight shift?
Are there ground contact timesand initial point of contact in
(24:02):
a good position, setting upeverything in further stance?
So all those pieces ofbiomechanics do matter and
setting up to how the tissue inthe joints function.
And so if you're, you know,realistically, if you're running
flat, if you're running uphill,like most of the activation
should be from posterior chain.
(24:24):
So flute, hamstring, calfcomplex, chilles, and more so um
like tendon elasticity, right?
Like muscles are turning onquick to almost stabilize to
have the tendons be able tostretch and recoil.
That's why we don't want a tonof joint excursion at the knee,
at the ankle, at the hip when werun during stance phase.
(24:47):
We want to be rather stiff sothat muscle can stabilize, and
then we get this elastic storageand release of energy from the
hip all the way down through thefoot.
And if everything's sequencedwell, it's very fluid because we
have the motion, we have thesequencing of how everything
activates, and then we have thisstiff tendon release, and things
(25:08):
feel very good.
Now, if pieces of those are off,our body's gonna shift to how
we're moving, and you know,things can change.
And so making sure people haveaccess to movements the first
part, because coordination isalso part of it, but people need
to have mobility to feel certainthings engage.
And so the the story of that isit can it could be the chicken
(25:31):
or the egg.
Do you have the mobility to haveaccess or do you not know how to
access it so you lose themobility?
So typically I like to work onboth some mechanics and mobility
pieces, if that's the issue, tosee if we can just kind of
bridge that gap.
So, you know, either way, ifwe're wrong, we're at least
going in the right directionwith both pieces.
SPEAKER_01 (25:48):
If you're an athlete listening to this, you're
probably wondering, like, okay,what can I do as preventative
measures to not like not have todeal with hip pain or not have
to deal with like pelvisimmobility and things like that?
What are some things?
Because I don't want to talkabout like what I did or what
you showed me to be the wrongthing, but like what are some
(26:10):
things that like you would mayberecommend to athletes for better
rotation, for better mobility,to pay better attention to their
mechanics so that way they aregetting good rotation.
SPEAKER_00 (26:19):
Yeah, I think that's a really good thought.
I've just found that I havethese different ideas and
exercises and drills that work.
Everyone's a little different inwhat they experience with
exercise.
So there's some people who havemaybe the same issue presenting,
but one responds really well tothis type of exercise, and one
(26:41):
responds really well to that.
And I usually can get that trendif I'm teaching someone this,
and it just as much as I try towork with them to get it and
it's just frustrating and um notfeeling good, then I try to use
my knowledge and mind's head totry to find something else that
we can connect the dots.
But I find if people can feelthings differently via exercise
or drill, that can actuallytranslate better to them feeling
(27:05):
better in their running, betterthan me just cueing things and
running.
Because if you don't know whatto feel, and I'm telling you, do
you feel this or feel this or dothat?
It doesn't connect.
So I'll go over a couple thingshere on the video and I'll
describe it a little bit too ofjust some general mobility
pieces or exercises that I'vefound impactful for myself, I've
(27:29):
found impactful for otherpeople, and they're relatively
um simple to do, doesn't meanit's easy or feels fluid right
away, especially if you'rehaving some rotation um tension
in the hips and pelvis.
And so let me pop up here andI'll kind of demo a few things.
(27:49):
And this will be available in4K.
This this video better get a tonof hits.
The first one demoingeverything.
That's right.
All right.
So this kind of feeds off ofwhat I was demoing a little bit
before.
And let me just make sure youhave full site.
So I like to do this in a walkpattern forward and back.
(28:10):
Um, as long as you have space todo it, you could do it 30, 40
feet forward and 30, 40 feetbackwards and just rep that.
Um, really to teach the movementof the pelvis and read the hips.
So I like to have hands onpelvis so you at least have that
feedback of feeling the bones soyou don't feel like you're just
twisting with the spine orcondensating with the spine.
(28:32):
So I'm using people take a stepforward, not too far, but where
you can be in a staggered stanceposition with the front knee
bent, hip bent, back leg, kneerelatively straight, maybe a
soft bend in it, and then heeldown.
From here, if you are balanced,you're gonna wind pelvis into
(28:54):
front thigh.
Now, if I just rep this a fewtimes, like this should feel
pretty elastic and springybecause both hip function and
pelvis function are mobile andwe get this elastic recoil.
A lot of times when I test thisfor folks, this feels blocked or
really stiff, and it does notfeel like that.
(29:14):
So that's a sign that we maybewant to work through this.
The other thing about this is asI rotate my pelvis and my hips,
I get this good rotation,especially in the back leg
through the knee, through thefoot and ankle.
So the whole system needs to beelastic and stringy.
Super important for running.
Okay.
So I'll take a step, rotate,make sure I can feel good end,
(29:35):
feel I'm stable, and then steptwo, and then that leg that was
back, I'll step forward, and nowI'm doing the same thing.
So basically, I'll repeat thisforward for a period of time and
then go backwards.
Now, the cool thing aboutbackwards is it tends to just
feel a little bit more open tothe hip than moving forward, and
(29:57):
it just gives you a littledifferent feel, even though it's
the same movement pattern.
And I find typically that peoplewho do this for several days,
several weeks, if they're reallylocked up in here and they're
consistent with this Uberpattern, things start to open up
a little bit more.
And when you have a little bitmore motion through here and
access, we can start to helptranslate that into our running
(30:22):
where we can rotate and weightshift.
Super important if you watch anyhigh-level runner, especially
from the back, they're notstaying in midline.
There's always some rotationalweight shift as they contact,
their head's gonna be over theirfoot.
As they load and drive off,they're driving off that leg,
and they're gonna see some headshift over each leg.
(30:42):
That a lot of is the storage andrelease of energy with that
rotational full wind up.
If you feel someone's just stiffin the middle and they're moving
their legs, we're missing thatrotational piece there.
So that's one simple one you cando.
Um, the other one I like to dois the, and again, you know of
this, the flow rope.
Okay.
(31:03):
It's again, I'll do it now andI'll demo it.
It's rather, again, simple,simple concept, but people have
people struggle with it rightaway.
There's definitely acoordination practice component.
So if you this is something youtry, there's plenty of videos
out there on this, and there'sall different things, but let me
show you it and then we'll kindof talk through why it's
important.
SPEAKER_01 (31:23):
I feel like I need to get like an Amazon affiliate
code before we post this podcastso that way we can make some
money off these ropes.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (31:31):
I'm sure I've made a if I had a code, I'm sure I
would have made some money offthat.
SPEAKER_01 (31:36):
Oh dear.
You've posted some great videoson these.
SPEAKER_00 (31:40):
Yeah.
So um basically it's just asimple rope.
Um, this one has a little weightto it.
I feel like having some weightto it allows you to feel things
like momentum-wise better.
But the pattern is thisunderhand figure eight.
So I'll start swinging it on oneside and then I transfer to the
other.
(32:00):
Now, if you're watching this,what you'll notice is looking at
my head, my head shifts fromside to side.
And it's not like I'm justmoving my head.
This is all rotational weightshift transfer of energy.
The rope's really cool becauseit gives us timing, it gives us
(32:21):
rhythm, and allows us to kind ofsequence things and be um snappy
through the legs, but to alsofeel things.
What I find is if people doresonate with this exercise,
this drill, just doing it forseveral days to even a few
weeks, if they're consistentwith it, they start to feel a
(32:44):
little different in theirrunning.
And that helps us connect thedots of like what we're looking
for.
We need some of that rotationand weight shift.
So I really like this tool.
It's really powerful, simple.
And um, once you get anunderstanding of the movement
pattern, if you're consistentwith that, it does feel like it
helps open things up because youcan just feel the body move in
(33:07):
the way it should, not feelstiff, kind of just moving
forward and back.
So I really like those drills.
Um the other just quick screensI like to test.
So I always like to test justthe gliding of the pelvis.
So in standing, so I'll peoplecheck like, can we get pelvis to
(33:27):
glide both ways?
Sometimes if I'll see an issueon one side like this, maybe
pretty blocked.
Um in figuring out if if it's aglide issue, if there's
something else.
So we need to see that.
That's one of the motions weneed to see in the pelvis
because that allows you toweight shift onto a side when
you run.
We need that rotation.
(33:47):
So this is one of my tests.
Are we symmetrical and fluidhere?
And then the forward andbackward rotation.
I actually like testing a march.
So I'll test and I'll have mypeople put their hands there and
I can see things move.
But when when you go into amarch, you get relative hip
(34:09):
flexion on this leg, hipextension on this leg, and the
pelvis needs to tilt a littleback, and then this comes a
little relative forward.
And then the same thing as wemarched, can we see this kind of
come down and this kind of goback?
If anything feels like reallystiff through there, and maybe
people perceive that in thehips, the pelvis, the glute,
(34:30):
what have you.
I need to make sure those pelvicmovements can glide just like my
hands there.
So those are kind of me justscreening those planes of motion
just to see like, is there anybig issues there?
Because if there is, we want tostart maybe at least working off
of those pieces to see if thatstarts to help.
SPEAKER_01 (34:48):
Very interesting.
SPEAKER_00 (34:49):
Thank you for demonstrating.
Yeah, hopefully people will takea look at that because I think
uh Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (34:54):
We're gonna I'm gonna clip that, we'll make a
reel out of it so people can seeit.
I think it'd be super sad.
Cool.
Um, I have like a strengthquestion for you.
So like one of the things Istarted doing maybe a few months
ago was like working on justgetting I've always had really
weak hips.
Like I've never had strong hipsat all.
And uh I wanted to change that.
So I Googled like Muay Thaiexercises for like, or like
(35:18):
sorry, uh exercises for likeMuay Thai like kickboxers and
stuff like that.
And dude, I have worked so muchon getting my hips strong, and
it has played like uh such afundamental role in helping me,
I think, engage more muscles andget more just be strong in that
area of my body.
Would you recommend morestrength like that?
Like, I don't have the dexterityto be able to kick somebody in
(35:38):
the face, but I have like decentdexterity.
Um do you think that's likesuper important for runners, or
should runners be a littlestiffer?
Um, I think for me it was moreso working on like, okay, how do
I just get that entire sectionof my body much stronger than it
had been before?
SPEAKER_00 (35:54):
Yeah, I would I kind of agree with both of those
points.
Like, we do want timing-wise,because really when you think
about running propulsion, likehips drive that, of course, and
really that drive down into theground, like the amount of force
we can put into the ground andmeet that and not like collapse,
because like really when ourfoot contacts the ground and
(36:15):
running, all of our tissues andour leg from our hip all the way
to our foot are basically tryingto prevent collapse or like
prevent you from bending orflexing too much of your joints.
So you need to be strong to meetthe demand of the force being
put into the ground.
And if you can meet that demand,then your tendons will stretch
and you'll get this elasticspring-like movement.
(36:37):
Hence, when you see a lot ofreally good runners, like you're
not seeing them bobbing up anddown, they're pretty small
bouncing fluid because they'restrong and elastic.
Now, I do think there's value ofhaving the hips being strong, of
course.
Um, you can strengthen your hipin a lot of ways, but if you
want it to transfer better torunning performance, we want to
(36:59):
meet the demands of the actionswe would see in running.
So, more from like this hipflexion to extension, kind of
split stance scissoring downinto the ground, um, as well as
like making sure you're strongin that like mid-stance phase of
running, because that's whereour body is like overcoming all
of that load.
And then as soon as the bodytransfers over the leg and
(37:19):
standing, we're releasing thaton the backside.
So, really, that front sidemechanic into the ground is
where we want to be strongest ifwe're specific for running.
And a lot of that is hip umglute hamstring action of
driving into the ground.
Um, what I've been playingaround with a lot recently,
because it makes sense, is a lotof heavy isometrics.
(37:43):
So isometrics are um like uhmuscle contractions in like one
position.
So think of like to give asimple example, wall sit.
Most people can conceptualize ormaybe have done that in the
past, where you're you'reagainst a wall and you're just
holding position, quads burn,right?
Where muscles are just workingin one position.
When we run, that's happening.
(38:05):
So our muscles are rather whatwe call quasi-isometric
isometric, where they willstabilize and maybe move a
little bit, but really ifthey're being stable and quick
and strong to then stretch thetendon.
So if we can train heavyisometrics in positions where
they're gonna be more specificto running, we can see massive
(38:28):
performance improvements.
Versus moving slow and heavy,yes, that's gonna help tissue
function.
Like you're gonna you're gonnaget stronger uh muscles and
tendons, but it doesn't alwaystranslate to performance because
we're moving slow and it doesn'treally reflect the demands of
running.
And so I have I like to do Idon't kind of demo again if
(38:50):
that's cool.
Yeah, yeah.
Um people can play with some ofthis stuff.
Yeah.
Well, wall sits will work thequads.
So quads are great.
We want those to be strong,especially for trail runners.
But the the glued hamstringcomplex, that's where all of our
propulsive power comes from,especially if we're running
faster, we're running uphill.
Like we want that to be strongto overcome the ground contact
(39:12):
and not have our body likecollapse or sink into it.
So let me demo um a couplethings.
And I'm not gonna do it withweight because I don't just have
stuff right with me.
But no, it's fine.
Just so you could see.
Um so one thing I like to do tokind of if you think about the
running action, right?
Or to simplify as my leg swingsthrough, I basically am now, I
(39:36):
want to drive this leg down intothe ground, especially as speed
increases and that demand.
This needs to be strong cominginto the ground.
So this muscle action is wherewe want to be strong through the
hip.
So, really simple.
I've most people can do a lungegetting into that lower lunge
position.
(39:56):
So, this kind of is a similaraction to driving down.
What I like to do to not haveany issues here is I'll have
heavy dumbbells on the groundand I'll lower and then come up
like an inch and just hold it.
So now I don't have to lowerinto it and be really sore in
the glutes hamstrings.
I can hold that position.
And if it's pretty heavy, likewe may only get like 10 seconds
(40:18):
here.
But that's really gonnachallenge the system to almost
overcome the collapse.
So I'll get really heavydumbbells hold, and as soon as
I'm done for that time duration,drop them and then stand up and
do the other leg.
So I lower down under just mybody weight, not really much
stress.
I'll hold the weight and I wouldfind a position where I can feel
(40:40):
more hamstring glute rather thanquad because I want to have more
of that propulsive tendon muscleload.
So I might shift a littleforward from the trunk or maybe
turn into that hip a little bitand then hold.
So that's been really powerful.
And the cool thing aboutisometrics is they can be
demanding, but they're not gonnamake you sore and overly fatigue
(41:03):
the next day, which is reallycool for when you're in a heat
of a training block and you justdon't want to have a ton of
muscle tension or soreness thenext day.
Really powerful to have stillperformance benefits with these
movements.
SPEAKER_01 (41:16):
Dude, I feel like I feel like I've got a whole whole
I'm about to go do workoutsright now.
This is amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (41:22):
It's pretty cool.
You'll notice like within justlike a week or two of doing some
of that stuff, if it's the rightdosage, you'll feel snappier and
more powerful in your stride.
Because we're loading it more,you know, that's not a fast
thing, but because we're gettingthat isometric load, it gets
good um tension on the muscletendon units and it's heavy.
(41:43):
And that's kind of a similartranslation we want into
running.
SPEAKER_01 (41:47):
Interesting.
Wow.
Dude, thank you fordemonstrating that.
I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00 (41:50):
I think the and keeping it simple for
application purposes, like mostpeople can do that at any jam or
home.
I mean, having the right weightis good, but like a lunge is a
very a fairly simple movement.
Yeah, yeah.
No, a hundred percent.
SPEAKER_01 (42:04):
And that's like you said, that's something anybody
could do.
Yeah, just kind of hanging out.
It's not that big of a deal.
SPEAKER_00 (42:09):
Let's make the barrier low to entry for some of
these things.
You don't need uh, you know, allthis fancy equipment.
Like you sure that can help attimes, but you can have a really
good program with you knowdumbbells and some simple things
if we're doing it the kind ofthe right way.
Yeah.
unknown (42:24):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (42:25):
What do you think?
Because I I I went through kindof the list of topics that we
had kind of planned.
Is there anything I didn't getto?
Anything that you want to eitherdemonstrate or a topic that you
want to hit as far as uh likethat grouping between the pelvis
and hips and that area?
SPEAKER_00 (42:42):
I don't think so.
I feel like maybe we indirectlycovered a lot of things.
Um and of course, there's alwayssomething that could come up
with more things, but I feellike the big takeaways are
making sure we have the adequatemobility at the pelvis and the
hips.
Um, we're not gettingcompensation because that's
where we could potentially haveissues in the soft tissue and
(43:03):
and nerve stuff from the back.
Um and if there is an issue, youknow, we can there's things you
can do to screen for that.
There's simple things you can doon your own.
Obviously, you could see someonetoo.
Um and that's part of it.
And then looking at yourrunning.
How what are the mechanics?
Mechanics do matter.
There's a thought that theydon't.
Um, I I would say they do to adegree.
(43:24):
I'm not gonna first always messwith it.
I would like to first look atsome um interventions we could
do movement-wise and just see ifthings start to change in their
running.
But if we exhaust some of thatstuff and we're just not uh
improving with that stuff, thenwe definitely want to look at
running to see if we can makesome changes there, especially
if they're starting to feelbetter.
(43:45):
So, yeah, move movement fluidityis huge in running.
If people are not feeling fluid,they're feeling like oh my hips
and pelvis are always tight,something's wrong there.
We need to change that becausethat's that shouldn't be the
default.
SPEAKER_01 (43:59):
Well, dude, this was a good one.
I think this was our best oneever.
I appreciate that.
Cool.
SPEAKER_00 (44:03):
Yeah, but what which one was this now?
Was this the third or I thinkthis is fourth?
Okay, third or fourth.
I can't remember.
I was trying to look back.
SPEAKER_01 (44:10):
Yeah, I was thinking about before.
I might I gotta update our uh PTseries like thing because it's I
think I could do a better onenow because I've got Canva.
Yeah, shout out to Canva.
SPEAKER_00 (44:20):
Heck yeah.
Well, I appreciate you, man.
SPEAKER_01 (44:23):
Sean, thank you so much.
Uh, for those in the audience,obviously we'll link everything
in the show notes.
But if you are on the frontrange or really any parts of
Colorado, New Mexico, or uh ifyou want to travel from Kansas
or Wyoming, come check out RunPotential PT.
Um I'll link everything in theshow notes so they can contact
you.
And uh yeah, man, appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00 (44:43):
Well, I appreciate that, James.
That's uh very kind.
And yeah, I appreciate youhaving me on.
Um again, I keep saying thiseach time I'm on.
What you're doing's awesome forthe sport.
I'm a huge fan of the podcast,so keep them rolling.
I'm excited uh for what 2026brings for you.
SPEAKER_01 (44:57):
Oh, actually, dude, it's kind of funny.
One thing for new listeners thatmight not know this, you were my
first episode, like back inMarch two years ago.
Isn't that crazy?
SPEAKER_00 (45:05):
Like, that's I still remember even you kind of
talking it through before youeven started the podcast, of
like talking through like ideasand how you want to do it and
all that, and it's just so coolto see it come full circle and
just the progress.
But that comes anything greatcomes with consistency, and
that's something you'vedefinitely been.
So again, keep keep it rollingbecause it's it's pretty
(45:25):
awesome.
SPEAKER_01 (45:26):
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, sir.
Yeah, many more to many more.
We'll be doing, and uh, I can'twait to have the next
discussion.
We'll pick a different musclegroup or a different grouping of
uh injuries and stuff like that,and we'll we'll do uh another
round.
So appreciate it, buddy.
Sure, man.
Love love the chat.
Take care.
Oh, dude, that was so good.
That was what'd you guys think?
Oh man, uh, definitely want tothank Sean so much for coming on
(45:48):
the show.
Definitely a fun conversationand just so much value there.
Um, like I said in the intro, II think a lot of I've had a I
mean, I don't even know how Ithink I've had a lot of athletes
on the podcast lately, and we'veall been talking about very
similar injuries, issues withhip rotation, pelvis, nerve, a
lot of nerve stuff.
And uh I definitely think thiswas a very warranted
conversation.
(46:08):
And uh, if you're going throughthis as an athlete, I think
there's a it's kind of a weirdthing, right?
Like you didn't break something,you don't have a tendon tear,
but like nerve stuff, especiallyin that area of the body, is
always a pain in the ass.
And it's something I have dealtwith for years.
Um, and the only thing that hasever helped me has been a lot of
mobility work and strengtheningthat area of the body.
So definitely, and with workingwith Sean.
(46:31):
And uh so it was kind of cool tokind of help tell that story and
hopefully get more to theaudience um so for for the
future.
Guys, if you've been enjoyingthis one um and there's another
uh, I don't know, area of thebody or another subtopic you
want to uh me to have Sean backon for to talk about, maybe the
knees, maybe plant or fasciitis,something in the feet.
(46:53):
I don't know.
If there's anything that youguys want to hear more from Sean
on, let us know.
We'll happily get anotherpodcast going in the new year uh
to talk about this stuff andhopefully provide more value for
you guys as we continue to goalong.
If you've been enjoying thisstuff, uh give us a five-star
rating and review on Apple,Spotify, or YouTube, and uh hit
that subscribe button on YouTubeuh so uh we can get more uh eyes
(47:16):
on that channel as we continueto grow that.
We're at like a whole 89followers now, so we're we're
hitting it, guys.
We're doing it.
Um appreciate you all.
Thank you so much for tuning in,and thank you guys for uh
following along uh the journeyand uh just super thankful for
everyone uh in the new year.
So appreciate it.
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