A Pain-Relieving, Solo Hip Flexor Stretch You’ll Really Love

A Pain-Relieving, Solo Hip Flexor Stretch You’ll Really Love

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Whether you run long distance, sit in a chair all day, or find yourself somewhere in between those extremes, today I’m going to show you a key stretch that is going to make you feel fantastic!

Our challenging modern lifestyle pretty much guarantees we’ll need to stretch our hip flexors if we want to relieve pain and avoid creating chronic issues in our backs and legs.

Symptoms of Hip Flexor Issues

The hip flexors work in concert to move your leg when walking or running and are responsible for moving your leg up toward your chest.

You might imagine that your hip flexors get tight from overuse, and while that is true, your hip flexors can actually get so tight from underuse that they actually stop other muscles in your body from working.

You can tell you might have tight hip flexors if you feel discomfort in the front of the hip that feels worse when moving the leg toward your chest, or if you have difficulty taking your leg behind your body and feel your low back working in order to do so.

Underdoing It is Just as Bad as Overdoing It

Chronic sitting makes the muscles in the crease of your hips, your hip flexors, short and tight. When your hip flexors get too tight, it changes your posture by pulling your body forward, or pulling the top of your hip bones forward, which increases the curve in your low back. Tight hip flexors can even stop your deep glutes from activating when you walk!

If this happens, not only can your bottom become flat and flabby, but back pain and or discomfort generally follow.

Attention, desk jockeys, you’re making your hip flexors tight by sitting for such long periods of time without a stretch and today’s video is definitely for you!

The most effective hip flexor stretches are done with a partner. But, since it’s not always convenient to have a partner help you with a stretch, this video will show you the most effective solo hip flexor stretch I know.

Check it out!

And if you follow along with the video above and try this exercise, I’d love to hear how it goes. Or if you have a favorite hip flexor stretch that’s different from this one, I’d love to hear that too! Let’s talk about it in the comments below…

See you in the studio,

Sydney

Anatomy images courtesy of Visible Body

Original article and pictures take www.pilatestonic.com site