Type 2 Diabetes frequently leads to distal, symmetric polyneuropathy, which adversely affects balance, alters gait parameters, and increases individuals' fall risk. The absence of clearly efficient treatment to restore nerve health in those with age- and diabetes-related declining peripheral nerve function encouraged us to search for innovative, compensatory strategies that could enable patients to maintain safe mobility. It was hypothesized that the hip might be able to compensate for the distal neuromuscular deficits found in diabetic patients. Together, the studies suggest that good proximal frontal muscle performance characteristics might be able to compensate for distal neuromuscular deficits such as those presented by patients with diabetes-related distal symmetric polyneuropathy. This notion is of marked clinical significance, given the inability to restore peripheral nerve function to normal in older people with distal symmetric polyneuropathy, which contrasts with the possibility of still developing hip strength in these patients.