Your Poor Hip Internal Rotation is WRECKING Your Knees

Neglected hip internal rotators can be easily remedied instead of damaging your knees. These three hip internal rotation exercises will get those hip muscles activated and strong to combat our modern lifestyle.

If your hips aren’t rotating properly, your knees are the backup. They’ll absorb all of the force your hips should have, which builds more wear and tear since your knees are hinge joints, not ball and socket joints. In short, poor internal rotation turns into knee pain.

A couple of cues for the exercises:

First, you should feel these exercises in the muscles on the front and upper sides of your hips. Those are the muscles you’re trying to work. If you aren’t feeling anything there, check your form against the video.

Second, if you feel cramping, that’s normal. It happens because your muscles are in the shortened range of motion and don’t yet know what to do about it. Breathe into the muscle and slowly do the exercises. Your muscles are relearning what they’re supposed to do in that range, and the cramping should stop after a couple of sessions.

Keep it up!

If your hips and knees felt better after these exercises, tap the like, subscribe, and notify buttons to keep up to date with new near-weekly videos on how to keep moving freely and without pain!

IN THIS VIDEO

00:00 - Intro
00:50 - Causes
01:40 - Anatomy details
03:20 - The method & study

THE EXERCISES

04:40 - Hip Axial Rotations: 3 positions
07:03 - 90/90 Liftoffs: 90° of flexion
10:05 - Cable Hip Internal Rotation

12:50 - Next steps

RESOURCES AND LINKS MENTIONED

Medical Disclaimer
The medical information on any/all of our content is provided as an information resource only, and is not to be used or relied on for any diagnostic or treatment purposes. This information does not create any patient-physician relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. Please consult your health care provider before making any health care decisions or for guidance about a specific medical condition.

[martingray]

So it’s been 12 days and I can honestly say this has helped me in so many ways. The morning tightness in my lower back has reduced dramatically. The exercise I find the most helpful is the knee against the wall and go until the muscle fails. (Yea I like pain lol) but yes if you’re having issues with this area give it a go, go hard. All the best

[karenagopian]

My right knee has been clicking every time I go up the steps for several months. The other day I was doing a hike and took a spill and that right knee and hip made a strong internal rotation. I was fine shook it off kept going on the hike. When I got home and I went up the stairs, I noticed the clicking was gone. After extensive googling, I found this YouTube video and the 9090 lift off Simulated my fall. Now whenever that clicking kicks in again, I jump right into the 9090 lift off and instantly it stops clicking. I am so grateful for this information.

[aeriegrove]

This is the most sensible PT channel I've found to date, and somehow you have videos on all my particular ailments. Keep it up!

[cozyprose]

Words cannot explain how invaluable your videos are to me. You are teaching me that yes the pain is manageable, yes we can exercise control over and manage the pain. Thank you so much, from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

[martingray]

Just tried 1 set in my weak side and man does it work it like no other experience I’ve tried doing. I’ll give you another update in a week or 2. Thank you again so much 😊

[elajean]

That first exercise helped my HIP PAIN tremendously. I do it daily now and stopped doing the “soft tissue work” recommended by my PT and my hips are pretty much fixed, I’m squatting again and feeling stronger and more stable in split squats and lunges. 🙏

[gretajane]

Eric, thank you so much for all your fantastic work! Your explanations and exercises are helping me with all my pain issues.

[sumguy]

I love how you explain what muscles you're using and where you should be feeling it. I have hip and shoulder/upper back imbalances and in my experience just being told, do this exercise isn't always good enough because when compensating you might be still using the wrong muscles for the job. Always important to know what your doing and why and I feel you do an excellent job of explaining these. Thank you for what you do, it is greatly appreciated.

[subzeropubg]

Man your the best keep teaching us all this we need more people like you. Have a blessed Friday man

[jamestoole]

Thanks. Doing the Hip Mobility Course and it is great. Much appreciated. 🙏

[hoffsale]

Great video, this is exactly what I’m needing. Life long tennis player & golfer with chronic knee issues. Ty I’ll keep you posted.

[Klabouterman]

Thank you sir, time to start doing these and keep those who experience the same pain, updated

[andrewpershouse]

Thanks Eric for clear and concise treatment for hip rotation. I recently experienced pain in my right knee and hip during running. Doing these exercises I noticed there is a lot of tightness in my left hip rotation. Looking forward to pain free runs again. Thanks heaps

[JS-fmhm]

Thank you for addressing this oft neglected piece of a puzzle for those who have had knee surgery and have used external rotation to avoid pain.

[marc-jannikmonikes]

Yo! I dont know how the algorithm knew that i needed this video, but this just changed my life! I always had trouble with my knees but my biggest problem was the pain i had while i was sitting. At work i was constantly moving aorund in my chair because i couldnt handle the uncomfortable feeling. I was never able to pin down the problem until just now...After the second excercise i had an ecstasy like feeling in my legs, hip and lower back. I feel like a ton of weight got lifted of my shoulders! Thank you so much! I will keep doing the excercises and keep you posted.

[eddiepugmire]

Anytime I suspect something for a chronic injury through my own movement research, I discover that you’ve already made a video that goes into depth on why that is and how to fix it. You are always ahead of the curve in your PT content - appreciate everything. Wish you had an office in NYC!

[LikeVercetti]

You just helped me detect the reason for my knee pain of the last three years! After surgery and countless physical therapists thank you so much man I’m about to get to work

[lonniedesorcy]

Excellent exercises. I don’t currently have knee issues but I’ve known of a definite asymmetry between left and right when it comes to internal/external rotation and I am so happy to have these ingenious, mindful movements with which to work. Thank you. Generous of you to offer them here.

[mostfrozenburrito]

When I was a preteen, I went to physical therapy because I have knee valgus. My knees almost completely straightened out after going there for a while! It was incredible but I didn’t keep up with my exercises because I was a kid and didn’t realize the importance. So as an adult my knees are wacked out again and they hurt sometimes and my hips hurt sometimes and I know I need to actually do something about it so this video is extremely helpful! I want to have my full range of motion in my hips. I’m 23. I shouldn’t have to live like this

[mindstuff]

100% spot on and love the scientific data. I was having some issue on my left knee and noticed it lacked the same internal rotation as my right leg. Another symptom was my right leg's adductor/groin started to feel pain after playing soccer. After doing some mobility (what you called 90degree liftoff) both problems seem to resolve. It's interesting how just getting the joint to move into full range can fix downstream and opposite side issues.