How robust is human gait to muscle weakness? Gait Posture 2012 36(1):113-9. Sports Med Arthrosc Rehabil Ther Technol 2012 4(1):1-8. Hip abduction weakness in elite junior footballers is common but easy to correct quickly: a prospective sports team cohort based study. Influence of weak hip abductor muscles on joint contact forces during normal walking: probabilistic modeling analysis. The effect of hip muscle weakness and femoral bony deformities on gait performance. Vandekerckhove I, Wesseling M, Kainz H, Desloovere K, Jonkers I. Experimentally reduced hip-abductor muscle strength and frontal-plane biomechanics during walking. Pohl MB, Kendall KD, Patel C, Wiley JP, Emery C, Ferber R. Individuals with diminished hip abductor muscle strength exhibit altered ankle biomechanics and neuromuscular activation during unipedal balance tasks.
Effect of modified clamshell exercise on gluteus medius, quadratus lumborum and anterior hip flexor in participants with gluteus medius weakness. Jeong SG, Cynn HS, Lee JH, Choi S, Kim D. Different hip rotations influence hip abductor muscles activity during isometric side-lying hip abduction in subjects with gluteus medius weakness. Lee JH, Cynn HS, Kwon OY, Yi CH, Yoon TL, Choi WJ, et al. Fatigue-induced hip abductor weakness and changes in biomechanical risk factors for running-related injuries. Therefore, the related activation of synergistic muscles or compensatory movement should be considered when prescribing Gmed strengthening exercises. Similarly, lateral instability and impaired movements such as lumbar spine lateral flexion or lateral tilt of the pelvis can occur due to compensatory activation of the quadratus lumborum for a weakened Gmed while exercising. Overuse of the tensor fasciae latae (TFL) as a hip abductor due to Gmed weakness can also cause several pathologies such as pain in the lower back and hip and degenerative hip joint pathology, which are associated with dominant TFL. Weakness of the Gmed is associated with many disorders including balance deficit, gait and running disorders, femoroacetabular impingement, snapping hip, gluteal tendinopathy, patellofemoral pain syndrome, osteoarthritis, iliotibial band syndrome, anterior cruciate ligament injury, ankle joint injuries, low back pain, stroke, and nocturia. The Gmed plays an important role in several functional activities as a primary hip abductor by providing pelvic stabilization and controlling hip adduction and internal rotation. The database search used the following terms: (glut* OR medius OR hip abduct*) AND weak*. Papers published between 20 were retrieved from MEDLINE, Google Academic Search, and Research Information Sharing Service. This study aimed to systematically review the literature associated with the anatomy and function of the Gmed, and the prevalence, pathology, and exercise of Gmed weakness. A weak or dysfunctional gluteus medius (Gmed) is related to several pathologies, and individuals with hip abductor weakness have Gmed weakness.