Tight hip flexors?

Have you been struggling with tight hip flexors at the moment? Have you been working from home and sitting at your desk in a forward flex position for a long period of time? Or have you found yourself exercising more during this time, resulting in a tight hip area?

What are hip flexors?

These are a group of five muscles (Psoas Major, Psoas Minor, Iliacus, Pectineus and Rectus Femoris) that are found at the front of the hip and connects the to of your leg to the hip.

These muscles help you to bend at the waist and to raise your leg up. They can become shorter, tight, and weak when you sit in a forward flexed position or from overuse. So, many people who work from a desk or athletes can also struggle with tight hips.

Exercises to help decrease tightness to this area...

Three simple exercises to reduce tightness:

• London twist. You bring one leg forward and place your hands just next to your foot. Your back leg needs to be extended straight and stay like this throughout the whole stretch. Your inside arm will then come above your head. And you can time your stretch for 30 to 40 seconds. You should feel the pull in the front of your hip, in your straight leg, and also nice and deep into your leg. Do that for both sides for 30 to 40 seconds.

• Hip flexor stretch. You come into a lunge position with your back leg kept on the floor. If you have tightness on the right side, have your left leg in front and imagine tucking your pelvis under and doing a short push forwards. If the tightness is on the left side, do the same movement but with your right leg in front. You shouldn’t need to go too far forward before you start to feel it in the front of your hip on that side. Again, holding this for 30 to 40 seconds. Repeat on the other side, if you need to.

• Foam rolling. This can be done with a foam roller, a tennis ball, a golf ball, whatever it is you have at home, you can use. Place the ball on your mat on the floor, position your hip over the ball, and really work to find that tight area. Once you find a particular area, you can hold it on that area, or you can move around and really try to break down those tight lesions. Again, repeating that on both sides if you need to.

To see the exercises demonstrated please watch the video below.

If you need further advice or think it may be more than just tightness. Book a session with a therapist today for an assessment and treatment!