Hip muscle activation and knee frontal plane motion during weight bearing therapeutic exercises.

Purpose/background: Hip abduction strengthening exercises may be critical in the prevention and rehabilitation of both overuse and traumatic injuries where knee frontal plane alignment is considered to be important. The purpose of the current investigation was to examine the muscular activation of the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius during the double-leg squat (DLS), single-leg squat (SLS), or front step-up (FSU), and the same exercises when an added load was used to pull the knee medially.

Methods: Eighteen healthy females (ages 18-26) performed six exercises: DLS, DLS with load, FSU, FSU with load, SLS, and SLS with load.