Lying Hip Abductor muscle stretch which may include muscles that connect to iliotibial band or tract also known as Maissiat's band

Disclaimer : This information is not guaranteed to be accurate and I am not liable if you make any decisions or take any actions, in terms of medical treatment, health decisions, exercise, behavior or anything else based on the information presented.  I am not telling you any decisions to make even if I use terms like "you" but am using the word "you" as part of a writing style to simplify writing.  Any suggestions for what "you" should do are not for you personally to do but what someone might do as part of a exercise or nutrition program which might help some people's health and make other people's health worse.  You should not do any activity that will make your health worse even if "you" should do it according to the program described.  If the information is wrong and you believe it is true, act on it and it causes you problems, I am not responsible because I have warned you the information is not guaranteed to be accurate.

Lying Hip Abductor muscle stretch which may include muscles that connect to iliotibial band or tract also known as Maissiat's band 

Step 1 (Ensure you have the proper equipment)

Start with a sufficiently large and sturdy bed or exercise/therapy/massage table elevated at a sufficient height so that your foot does not touch the floor in step three and that your whole body can fit on the mattress in step 2.  Also having a stopwatch or time measuring device is helpful. 

Step 2 (lie in dandasana sideways to prepare for step 3)

Lie on bed in dandasana sideways with both feet against the wall and knees straight one leg above the other and one foot above the other. 

Your legs, thigh and butt should be approximately 3 to 18 inches away from an edge of the table parrellel to that edge, the closer to the edge without falling off the better.  In most cases 6 to 9 inches will probably be your best target distance from the edge.  (I am assuming typical adult human anthropometry for these distances)

Your torso should be perpendicular to your legs.

Step 3 

Stretching the frontal/coronal plane abductor muscles in your top thigh/leg

All body parts except your top leg/thigh should maintain the same positions as the previous step.  Extend your top thigh/leg at the hip joint so that it is now perpendicular to your bottom leg and parrellel to your torso keeping both knees straight.  Relax the top thigh/ leg and let gravity adduct it in the frontal/coronal plane.  Try not to let your PSIS or Iliac crests shift position as you are not trying to stretch the joints connecting your hip bones to your torso but the joints connecting your hip bones to your femur specifically the muscles that abduct your femur at the femur hip joint in the coronal/frontal plane.  Maintain this position for as long as you wish to stretch those muscle groups.  If the foot of your top thigh/leg touches the floor you might need a higher elevation for the mattress.  Using a timing device can ensure equal time stretching on both sides if you repeat this stretch on the other side later.

Step 4 

How to stretch the transverse plane abductor muscles in your bottom thigh/leg

Start in the position in step three except in this case you do not need a elevated mattress because you are stretching the other leg in fact in this case it maybe better not to have one of your legs hanging in the air.

Try rotating your torso and hips in the transverse plane to attempt to stretch the abductor muscles in your bottom thigh/leg by horizontally adducting the bottom femur at the femur hip joint 

Optional twist

If you want you can also try doing a lying spinal twist at the joint between the torso and the hip to try to shift your weight to encorage the muscles to stretch at the femur hip joint due to body weight pushing the joint into horizontal adduction.

This position can be similar to a lying spinal twist with both knees straight except it is an upside down lying spinal twist, or a lying spinal twist in which your legs switch position or a lying spinal twistt in which your torso is lying prone instead of supine.

Notes regarding the iluotibial band

Skeletal Muscles can change length within a short period of time based on conscious human will or choice to send signals to contract them, ligaments and tendons do not do so therefore if one wishes to develop both active and passive flexibility one's goal should be to stretch the muscles that connect to tendons and ligaments not the tendons or ligaments themselves.  The idea of an ilialtibial band stretch maybe misunderstood but people in the best case scenarios maybe instead unknowingly stretching and or strengthening the muscles connected to the iliotibial band.  So if someone wants to stretch their iliotibial band this stretch is good to direct them to even though they ate hopefully really stretching the muscles connected to the band not the band itself.

Copyright Carl Janssen 2021, 2022