The Ilio-Tibial Band

I stole this from somewhere. The "band of connective tissue" is aka a tendon.

What exactly is the iliotibial band? It's not a jazz group whose members tap in time to their music with their tibias. The central feature of the iliotibial band is a key muscle, the tensor fascia lata, which runs down the outside of the thigh just below the hip. Like all muscles, the tensor fascia lata has a band of connective tissue at each end which bind it to bone. The upper band merely ascends vertically a short distance to attach at the top of the hip (thus the name ilio-), but the lower one runs all the way down the side of the thigh before attaching to the lateral side of the tibia, just below the knee (hence the name -tibial).

Overall, the iliotibial band scoots down the outside of the leg from the hip to below the knee, kind of like a broad stripe in one's 'musculo-tendinous uniform'. If you're curious about the muscle's name, the word 'tensor' means 'makes tense', 'fascia' means 'band', and 'lata' signifies 'wide', providing a pretty accurate description of the characteristics of this key muscle.