Leg Strength And The Hip                                                                                                

A type of cartilage that runs along the rim and surrounds the socket of the hip joint is called the labrum.  The labrum helps provide stability of the socket while allowing for flexibility and motion. It holds the ball like head of the femer at the top of your thighbone in place.  A hip labral tear involves this ring of soft elastic tissue.

In a recent study submitted to the American Journal of Sports Medicine, MRI’s were performed on 39 collegiate and professional hockey players.  The athletes were asymptomatic, that is, not experiencing any adverse symptoms related to pelvic or hip disorders.  Seventy seven percent of these hockey players demonstrated MRI findings of hip or groin pathologic abnormalities.  Gabe Harrington the Strength and Conditioning Coach of Colgate University addresses the issue:

Intercollegiate hockey players entering universities to play their sport are usually already in their twenties and have played the sport since their youth, some have already had labral surgery.  As a coach keeping a watchful eye you will notice that many hockey players have much more difficulty squatting to appropriate depths than the incoming athletes participating in other sports.  Groin and hip disorders in hockey have become commonplace.

I address the issue by looking at their leg strength using a 5 second beeper test on the leg press.  In my program I utilize the Pendulum Seated Squat.  This exercise does not bother the commonly affected hip and groin area and I am able to get an excellent reliable measure of their leg strength.  Training on the leg press and modifying their squatting motion much improves leg strength and keeps our players on the ice.

  Get Strong on the Seated Squat