Causes of IT Band Syndrome

In the first article in this series we covered the basics of what IT Band Syndrome is. Now we’ll dig a bit deeper and take a look at the specific activities that can cause IT issues or exacerbate an existing condition. If you chose to categorize the causes they could fall into any of these three buckets: exercise related, caused by anatomical predispositions, or related to muscle imbalances.

Here’s a list of some activities that can trigger IT issues:

• Week hip abductor muscles, aka the Gluteus Medius and Gluteus Minimus

• Running on a banked (curved) surface such as on the shoulder of a road

• Repeat running on a track. The inside leg tends to bow in on the turns, causing excessive stress on the IT as it rubs against the femur

• Frequent hill running whether up-hill or down-hill

• Inadequate flexibility

• Not properly warming up before a run to ensure the IT Band is ready for exercise

• Running or hiking very long distances or scaling your mileage too quickly

• Over pronation of the foot while running (although this has been disputed)

• Uneven leg length

As a runner you should try to avoid many of the above pitfalls. Obviously, running or hiking long distances is part of training for a marathon or an ultra marathon. However staying away from the banked surface of a road is much more doable.

A good rule of thumb though is to expect that IT Band Syndrome will set in and follow the appropriate prevention and rehabilitation steps to marginalize it’s impact on your running. The next article in this series will show you what you can do to remediate IT Band pain and prevent it from stopping you in your tracks.