Assessing for Femoroacetabluar Impingement
I wrote a little bit in the past how some hip restrictions can come from a structural problem rather than from just a lack of mobility in soft-tissue. Femoroacetabular impingement (commonly known as CAM and Pincer impingement) can restrict hip flexion range of motion as well as abduction and external rotation.
These structural differences are only present in a very limited number of individual, but it’s really important to assess athletes and clients who present with a lack of mobility and clear out those potential problems before hammering on the soft-tissue and flexibility work. Trying to force someone in full hip flexion in the presence of a femoroacetabular impingement can have some pretty bad consequences.
Here is a simple test you can use to clear out a femoroacetabular impingement. The quadruped rock test is very helpful in helping determine if we might or might not be dealing with one of these problems. Put your client/athlete on all fours and ask him to rock back while maintaining neutral spine. With a normal hip, no matter the stiffness, the range of motion should improve as the client/athlete rocks back multiple times. If your client/athlete gets stuck at the exact same spot, even after rocking 15-20 consecutive times, chances are that you might be dealing with a femoroacetabular impingement.
If this is the case and your client/athlete’s quadruped rock doesn’t improve, you should refer them out to a medical professional to have them confirm or clear out the problem. This type of impingement is not very well known in the strength and conditioning community and it’s definitely something we need to be aware of as coaches.
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[...] 6. Shirley Sahrmann. How to identify a possible Femoroacetabular impingement. [...]
[...] 2. Assess assess assess. Femoral Anteversion, where the posterior acetubular rim protrudes more than the anterior rim, and Femoral Retroversion, where the anterior acetabular rim protrudes more than the posterior rim, also plays into FAI and movement restrictions. Again, if you/your athletes has this, don’t beat up your hips/lumbar by trying to squat below parallel! If you want to learn how to assess for these, check out David Lasnier’s post on the topic: http://davidlasnier.com/2011/assessing-for-femoroacetabluar-impingement [...]
[...] of your athlete or client not being able to achieve full range of motion on a lower body lift. I wrote not too long ago how you can use a simple test to help you point in the direction of FAI, but don’t use only that test by any means to diagnose yourself or your athletes with such a [...]