Home » Anatomy » Explaining How SMRT Works on the Hip
  • Explaining How SMRT Works on the Hip

    After working with my clients, I’m often asked to explain to them what it is I do and how SMRT works. I received this message from one of my clients:

    “I don’t know what you do. I tried to explain it to my physical therapist, but I don’t know how. I ended up telling him it was just magic, no other words can explain it. I told him my hip pain has been gone, simply gone since you worked on me, and it has been 5 days. This is my second round of physical therapy with him and the pain has never gone away. He wants to know what you did, but I don’t know how to tell him. Can you please tell him?” Molly

    Using SMRT on the Hip

    One of the things I did was use SMRT to balance the tension in her gluteus medius and minimus muscles. Molly’s right greater trochanter was sitting in an inferior posterior position. Her left greater trochanter was sitting in a superior anterior position.

    I used SMRT to work the posterior fibers of gluteus medius and minimus on her right side and the anterior fibers of the same muscles on her left side. I played into the inferior/superior pattern of the greater trochanters and, within seconds, both greater trochanters came to a more neutral position. This immediately changed the tension in the muscles.

    But not just the gluteus medius and minimus muscles. The position of the greater trochanters when I began created an odd tension pattern in her piriformis muscles. The left piriformis was shortened by the greater trochanter being in a superior position (this may not have been true if the left iliac crest was also in a superior position, but in this case it was not), but lengthened by the greater trochanter being in an anterior position.

    The right piriformis was lengthened by the greater trochanter being in a inferior position (this may not have been true if the right iliac crest was also in a inferior position, but in this case it was not), but shortened by the greater trochanter being in a posterior position. When the greater trochanters came to a more neutral position, both piriformis muscles reacted to the change. Molly’s tenderness diminished significantly in the 30 seconds I held this one SMRT position.

    Want to Learn More About SMRT?

    I would love to teach you to work the posterior hip with SMRT. Check out my upcoming workshops and our online home study courses.

    Tags: , , , , ,