If you’ve come across something known as the IT band, then you will probably have heard a number of different and conflicting terms used to define both what it is and its purpose.
If you’ve never heard of it then great, as the below is all you need know!
Firstly, let me tell you what it isn’t!
The IT band isn’t:
• anything to do with IT, and provides no use whatsoever for computing or electronics
• the latest pop or rock band to hit the UK charts
• nor is it a type of radio frequency
So what do people think it is?
Well, the IT band, or “ITB”, refers to the Iliotibial Band. Now most people in the fitness industry will tell you the ITB is “a ligament that runs down the outside of the thigh, from the hip to the shin.” You may also hear trainers refer to it as “a muscle”, however, both statements are false.
For starters, ligaments are used to connect bone to bone, and if you know anything about the IT band and where it originates, you’ll know it doesn’t attach itself directly onto a bone.
It’s also important to note the IT band isn’t a muscle, but based on the way personal trainers talk about stretching it and rolling it, you could be forgiven for thinking it is. Whether other personal trainers realise it or not, the IT band is neither a ligament nor a muscle.
But what is it really?
The IT band is made up of fascia tissue, and multiple muscles insert onto IT (see what I did there). The two major muscles that make up the IT band are the gluteus maximus and the tensor fascia latae (TFL), which make up both the anterior and posterior portion of the band at the hip.
(image from Anatomy Trains by Tom Myers)
The IT band then runs the length of your thigh and inserts onto the lateral aspect of your tibia – a fancy way of saying to connects to the outer part of your shin bone. Down here, the anterior portion of the IT band connects onto the tibialis anterior, while the posterior portion connects onto the peroneus longus.
(image from Anatomy Trains by Tom Myers)
Its function is therefore to make a connection between these muscles, the TFL and the tibialis anterior, and another connection between the gluteus maximus and peroneus longus. This connection helps to transport force from the lower extremity to the upper extremity – i.e. the knee to the hip and vice versa, as well as providing stability at both the hip and the knee.
As you can now see, the TFL, gluteus maximus, tibialis anterior and peroneus longus insert into this band creating one long fascial tendon, which has the same contractile force of steal.
Complaints of having a ‘tight IT band’ are often confused with having tightness in the surrounding muscles. Due to the structure of the IT band, we now know it cannot become ‘tight’.
Due to the makeup and density of the IT band, methods such as foam rolling, stretching and even massage used to help release it are worthless, and will only bring about extreme pain with little to no success.
Instead, focus should be given to the muscles that insert onto the band such as the TFL, which can become extremely tight and overworked if there’s an imbalance between the TFL and tibialis anterior (remember these two muscles are connected on the anterior portion of the IT band).
You’ll find runners tend to have the biggest problems with IT band pain; as Whitey Lowe explains:
“the IT band is under its greatest tension during the first third of the stance phase in running or walking. There is increased tension on the ITB when decelerating the body’s momentum, such as walking or running downhill.”
If a runner over-strides, with the foot striking well in front of the hip, then the heel and leg must act as a braking mechanism before then accelerating off. Over-striding can place unnecessary force through the IT band, and if the glutes are weak or underactive then the TFL will absorb a lot of this force at the hip.
The other muscle to look out for is the vastus lateralis (the outer muscle of your thigh). This muscle lies underneath your IT band and if tight, can place pressure against the IT band, causing discomfort. Resistance training specialist, Michael Goulden, from Integra Training has found that releasing or foam rolling the vastus lateralis helps to relieve many cases of a ‘tight’ IT band.
(image from http://web.duke.edu/)
So, there you have it! You now know the IT band isn’t a ligament, a muscle or a poorly named 80s pop band.
Instead, it’s a band of fascia tissue made up of a number of muscles all inserting into it. We also know that if pain arises in the IT band that it’s not the band itself, but an imbalance between the muscles surrounding the band, namely the TFL and vastus lateralis being too tight, and the glutes max (more than likely) being too weak.
Next week, I’ll be delivering a video on how you can stretch the ‘IT band’ or rather the muscles that make it up to help effectively reduce the symptoms of typical ‘ITB Syndrome’.