Should You Strength Train If You Have Hip Bursitis?

November 27, 2022

by Cathe Friedrich

Have you ever had bursitis? One of the most frustrating types of bursitis is an inflamed bursa in the hip. Hip bursitis is a condition that can cause a great deal of pain and discomfort. It is important to seek medical attention if you think you may have hip bursitis, as the condition can worsen over time. But you might wonder whether it’s safe to strength train and what role strength training plays in the prevention and healing of this condition. Can and should you weight train with bursitis?

The hip is a large and complex joint. It consists of the three pelvic bones, the pubis, ilium, and ischium, as well as the thighbone or femur. The hip joint is formed by the head of the femur fitting into the acetabulum. The hip joint has several small pockets on its surface, called bursae. They help reduce friction between moving parts in the hip joint. They also contain fluid that acts as a lubricant. Bursitis occurs when there is inflammation in these pockets — this causes friction, swelling, and pain. The inflammation can progress to the point where it’s hard to walk, bend, or rotate your hips.

What Causes Hip Bursitis?

Repetitive activity and overuse are common triggers for hip bursitis. It’s also more likely to develop if you have poor posture, don’t stretch properly before exercising, or participate in high-impact sports like jogging and tennis. The pain of bursitis often starts gradually but can develop suddenly without warning. The pain ranges from mild to severe and may feel better after rest or icing the area. You may have difficulty moving the affected joint if massive swelling develops in the bursa.

Here are the most common risk factors for bursitis:

Joint issues like arthritis
Previous surgery
Direct injury to the hip
Overexercising and overuse
Leg length discrepancies

The most common cause of hip bursitis is injury to the hip, such as falling or damaging your hip while playing sports, but repetitive activity is another common trigger. Hip bursitis can affect people at any age, but its prevalence is highest in young adults who are physically active and older people with arthritis in their hips.

Symptoms of hip bursitis include:

Pain around your hip joint
Tenderness when pressed on
Stiffness in your hip joint
Swelling around your hip area
Difficulty walking or moving due to pain
Wearing high heels for extended periods
A dull ache in your groin region that gets worse when you walk, run, or climb stairs
Pain while sitting down or getting out of bed in the morning

Weight Training with Bursitis

Should you strengthen train with bursitis? Most healthcare providers recommend rest. With bursitis, your bursae are inflamed, and certain exercises can worsen the inflammation. This doesn’t mean you should avoid exercise entirely but it’s safest to avoid weight training during the acute phase of bursitis when you still have significant pain.

As the acute discomfort starts to subside, progress to exercises with light weights and see how you feel. Use pain as your guide as to how much weight to use. If an exercise worsens the pain, don’t do it. During all phases of bursitis, stretching is important.

Certain exercises you should avoid or approach with caution with hip bursitis:

Deadlifts
Hip thrusts
Squats, lunges, and step-ups (unless you can use a bench or chair for support)

If you find that certain exercises hurt your hips, avoid them. Even if you don’t have pain during a training session, lighten up on the weights until you’re consistently pain-free.

Some types of hip bursitis — such as those caused by injury — may require rest and physical therapy. But others are less severe and will respond to gentle exercise and stretching.

Other Therapies for Hip Bursitis

Fortunately, there are things you can do at home to ease the pain of bursitis.

During the acute phase of bursitis, you can get relief by:

Applying an ice pack or bag of frozen vegetables to the area for 10 minutes every hour or two. Cold helps ease the inflammatory response and discomfort.
Stretching and isometric exercises
Avoid high-impact cardio due to the jarring nature of the movements. Stick to low-impact, light cardio.

A Cochrane analysis looked at acupuncture as a treatment for hip osteoarthritis. It found no evidence that acupuncture reduces pain or enhances functionality in people with hip osteoarthritis. However, there are no high-quality studies specifically looking at the effect of acupuncture on hip bursitis symptoms. Anecdotally, some people report benefits.

The Benefit of Isometric Exercises

Isometric exercises are helpful for hip bursitis because they help stabilize the hips and avoid movements that can exacerbate the discomfort. Isometric exercises are those where you contract muscles without moving your body, such as holding a weight stationary for 30 seconds or doing a plank.

Physical therapists often recommend isometric exercises for hip bursitis because they stabilize the muscles around the joint and reduce pain. You can do these exercises at home with no equipment.

Three of the best isometric exercises for bursitis include:

The clamshell exercise
Glute bridges
Glute squeezes

Again, use pain as your guide, and don’t do anything that worsens the discomfort.

Lower Your Risk of Hip Bursitis

The best way to avoid the discomfort of hip bursitis is to prevent it. Modify your exercise program to include a variety of exercises, rather than doing the same exercises over and over, to avoid repetitive stress injuries. Joggers and runners are at higher risk of hip bursitis due to the repetitive nature of the sport. Cross-training will help you get a balanced workout, overstressing your hip joints and bursae. Yet weight training can lower your risk of bursitis by strengthening the muscles that support your hips. So, don’t stop working your muscles against resistance.

If you have a leg length discrepancy, see a sports medicine doctor to document it. They can fit you for an orthotic to correct the difference in leg length and reduce the stress on your hips. If you’re overweight, losing weight will also reduce the stress on your joints and bursae. As you know, it’s always better to prevent injuries than struggle to heal from them. Here’s hoping you never deal with hip bursitis, but if you do, Modify your workouts.

References:

“Bursitis Hip Exercises: For Pain Relief – Healthline.” 20 Aug. 2019, healthline.com/health/fitness-exercise/hip-bursitis-exercises.

“Hip Bursitis: Symptoms, Treatment, & Exercises – familydoctor.org.” 18 Aug. 2022, https://familydoctor.org/condition/bursitis-of-the-hip/.

“Physical Therapy Exercises for Hip Bursitis – Verywell Health.” 27 Sept. 2021, verywellhealth.com/physical-therapy-exercises-for-hip-bursitis-5199259.

Lustenberger DP, Ng VY, Best TM, Ellis TJ. Efficacy of treatment of trochanteric bursitis: a systematic review. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. 2011;21(5):447-453. doi:10.1097/JSM.0b013e318221299c

“Hip Bursitis | Boston Medical Center.” bmc.org/orthopedic-surgery/conditions-we-treat/hip-bursitis.