Tight Hips? Tips To Loosen Your Hip Flexors
Pic: Mundoo
What’s long and hard and as stiff as a plank of wood? Get your mind out of the gutter…I’m talking about your hip flexors. Tight Hip Flexors can be a big problem, and so easy to get. In a previous post, Pain At The Desk, we saw how sitting down affects your hip flexors. I know when I sit at the computer too long, I tighten up very quickly, and after a long flight from Down Under to Europe I’m as tight as a drum.
Where Are Your Hip Flexors?
The ‘Hip Flexors’ are a group of muscles that, well, flex the hip. There are quite a few muscles that actually flex the hip, but two that are specifically referred to as hip flexors. The Illiopsoas group consists of the Psoas and the Iliacus.
Pic: fitstep.com
Both attach to the femur. However the psoas attaches to the lower back, whereas the Iliacus attaches to your hipbone. Sitting down puts these muscles in a shortened position, and as a result leaves them pretty tight. The Psoas attaches to the lower back, if it’s tight, it can pull your back forward, and is a common cause of back pain. A tight hip flexor will also go a long way to inhibiting your bum, which means whatever work you are doing for it, you probably aren’t getting the desired results. No bum means you are susceptible to many more injuries, and have a lack of power in simple things such as walking.
What Can I Do To Loosen Them?
Well, there are a couple of ways to get these babies loose again. Massage, Acupuncture, Foam Rolling, Self Massage are all great ways to loosen up your hip flexors. These should always be accompanied with Exercises and Stretches.
Exercises
When you think of loosening a muscle, stretching automatically comes to mind. However, you can also loosen your hip flexors through exercises. It works by taking your muscles through their range of motion dynamically. I’ll outline some of my favourite exercises for loosening your hip flexors, there are a few more, and if you want to add your favourite, please leave a comment.
Overhead Lunges
This is possibly the best exercise you can do for opening up your hip flexors. It is basically a normal lunge, but you hold a medicine ball, or a light plate above your head. Out stretch your arms, keep them straight, directly above your head, and complete the lunges. You have something that is called fascia; it’s basically a sheath that runs over your muscles. Your fascia is a big issue in hip flexor tightness, and often when that is loosened, the muscle is too. Holding something above your head whilst lunging stretches this fascia out, and you get the added hip flexor stretch.
Reverse Lunges
Same as a forward lunge, but done in reverse! See this video of a Reverse Lunge.
When you step back into the reverse lunge, you are recruiting your bum. Recruiting your bum inhibits your hip flexors, meaning they will relax. Stepping back straight away puts the hip flexors on stretch, and as you do the exercise, you take them through a large range of motion.
Overhead Squat
Performing a squat whilst holding a bar overhead, opens up your hip area, and promotes hip flexor range of motion. See this video of an Overhead Squat.
When most people attempt this to start, the lower they get, the more they will want to bend forward. If you picture the hip flexors, they attach from the upper thigh, onto the lower back, if these are tight, as you try to get lower, your hip flexors will pull you forward. By holding the bar above your head, you have to stay up straight, basically lengthening your hip flexors during a dynamic movement.
Stretches
Stretching is an obvious and essential way to loosen those babies. I’ve just taken a picture of my favourite stretch. I’m not sure if I made it up or where I got it from, but for now until someone tells me otherwise, I’ll claim it. I often make up stretches just trying to pin point an area. Basically you get down on one knee, stretch your arms up, then try and touch your opposite hand to opposite foot behind you. Check these pictures to aid my terrible explanation.
There are many variants of this stretch. That one is just my favourite.
Check out these ones too…
If you have tight hip flexors, start adding these exercises and stretches into your workout, and you will see a difference. If you have some favourite exercises for loosening your hips, leave a comment and we’ll discuss them.
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21 Responses to “Tight Hips? Tips To Loosen Your Hip Flexors”
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very informative post.
Keep it up.
Thanks
Kaash, Ash & You
This article and the exercises on hip flexors is very helpful. I especially appreciate that you explained why holding a weight overhead helps, because of stretching the fascia. I didn’t understand that before.
Do you have any tips for range of motion exercises for hip extensors, abductors and adductors? My overall hip function needs attention, what with having iliotibial band friction syndrome, with associated low back pain on the affected side. But the pain is not such that I can’t pretty much do any sort of exercise.
thanks!
Hi Marcia!
Glad this post could be of help to you.
ITB syndrome can be very annoying, although its not stopping you exercising, you can get rid of it, or at least reduce it! It does tend to get right through to your back, you will find once you loosen up a bit and get some more range, your back problem may just disappear.
Start off with a lot of foam rolling on your ITB. It’s an easy way to reduce the tension in it, not quite as good as massage but is something you can do whenever you want. It’s the fascia over your ITB that is causing you trouble and this will loosen it for sure. It’s a hard place to stretch but you can do some active work. Get on your knees, hands just in front on the floor, and try to drop your hip to the side, gold for a second or two and go to the other side. You will feel this probably just above your ITB, its a good warm up, repeat it a few times. OK before I go on I am going to reference you to another site I run, for Volleyball. I have just happened to do a post on how to loosen your hips up in general, and I think it might be perfect for you, plus the pics are better than my terrible exercise explanation!!
http://volleyball-base.com/blog/2008/01/04/hip-mobility-part-2-the-program/
For your hip extensors, well without seeing you it is hard, however as a general rule these need to be strengthened more than stretched. Try getting into a piriformis stretch, its on the site, or simply stretch your bum a bit more after your workouts. However when you have tight ITB and fascia, it is sometimes because of a lack of glute function. Try activating them a little more in your workout, lunges, and glute lifts are good for that, both shown on that site.
The best range of motion exercise for your hip adductor’s is side lunges with windmills. Also side lunges in general!!
Really, check out that post on Volleyball Base, it gives you a whole lot of exercises for exactly what you are asking! With pics…let me know what you think and if you have any more questions.
Lauren,
Thanks for the advice and the referral to your volleyball exercise web site. For some reason, the pyriformis stretch does magical wonders for my lower right back/hip pain. It’s amazing.
I have unusually weak hip abductors - gluteus medialis I believe - despite almost a year of doing specific strengthening cable and machine exercises for them. It’s bilateral and simply due to my genetic physiology I guess. In any case, I am wondering whether strengthening my hip adductors helps or hinders that condition. My adductors are relatively much stronger without specifically working on them much.
Thanks again for all your good insights and advice.
Marcia
Hi Marcia,
I’m glad that stretch helped you! Looking at both your comments your lack of glute function is quite a big problem that is affecting your low back pain and your ITB syndrome. Quite a fair chunk of the population have weak hip abductors, it is a very hard place to activate.
In regards to the hip adductor’s being problem, well, it could be attributing. Like a tight hip flexor will inhibit glute max functioning, there is every possibility that an over active hip adductor is inhibiting your glute med function. Strengthening them means that you are getting them to contract, and shorten, during a session this will work against you when you are trying to activate your hip abductors.
In any case, hip adductor’s very very rarely need work in a straight line motion (ie. the machine) and are much better activated in functional exercises. So, my advice, stop strengthening them, and start stretching them, massage them, and foam roll on them. Let’s try to correct the imbalance.
I don’t want you to give up on strengthening your hip abductors, it can be done! It is hard, but possible. This month I will have an article up about glute function, with a lot of exercises and stretches to help get people to a better place in regards to their hips. But for now, I’m going to email you now with a few great exercises and stretches!
Hi Lauren,
Thanks for the advice. I started working out about 4 months back - both cardio and weight training. While I have lost weight and inches ( all from my upper body), my hips just refuse to reduce. Currently I feel like a skittle or a waddling duck, depending on my mood.
I’d be greatful if you could suggest speciic exercises targeting reducing my hips.
Sudha
Hi Sudha,
Good on you for changing your lifestyle. It’s a tough thing to do and you are succeeding. Unfortunately though, you simply can’t spot reduce. By that I mean, you can’t target fat on any part of your body. Thanks to your genetics, you will store body fat differently in different areas. Basically the stuff around your hips will be the last to come off. Keep doing what you are doing, eat healthy, watch your calorie intake, and keep exercising. You will get the results, it’s just a matter of time.
I know that it’s not the information you were after, but you simply cannot spot reduce body fat.
Of all the sites I have explored regarding addressing a hip flexor injury, yours was the most straightforward and encouraging.
Thank you for empowering me with my own body!
I have had through the years notoriously tight hip flexors from years of running and inline speedskating. I find lunges help a lot as well as sit-up on a GHD (glute-ham developer) making sure I go down far, with knees bend and come up fast, straightening my knees on the way up. Helps with Oly lifting. My favorite though, is kettlebell swings; they have helped me loosen the HF’s and have improved my posture due to the increased flexibility.
Hello
I was getting up from the table 3 weeks ago and pulled my hip flexor - only had it officially diagnosed yesterday as initially doc thought was a hernia. Anyway, the stretch with harms stretched above head has beenone I found was theonly thing that brought me relief and when I explained this to doc and physio they were a bit perplexed - didn’t know why I was doing it but literally spending minutes in this position - saw your article and picture of this and couldn’t believe it! Question now though - after seeng the physio yesterday he deep tissue massaged the hip flexor after ultrasounding it - excessively painful and seems to have re-activated the pain that was barely there anymore - is this just standard and will it promote healing in the long run do you think? I have a linear inch long lump which I think is swelling - have had this lump for 3 weeks with no change now… any thoughts?
Thanks
Zoe
Wait a few day, deep tissue massage can leave you pretty sore afterwards. You are probably right it does sound like swelling…but for three weeks? I am slightly perplexed too. Let me know how it feels in a few days and I will hopefully have some more answers for you then too, we’ll see what the reaction is after it has had some rest.
The next step will be to strengthen it and loosen it…it can be tight and weak!
write back soon.
Thanks for the info very helpful, could tight hip flexors be the reason why my quads are always very tight in activities such as running, and lunges etc?
Could very well be…though I would suggest it may be your rec fem, which attatches onto your hip and acts as a hip flexor as well as a knee extensor…a good stretch..
http://youtube.com/watch?v=s5fSNyKI5wE
Lauren, WOW! You certainly have a gift when it comes to understanding the body and explaining how it functions. I have a problem with spasticity. I have Multiple Sclerosis and often find myself in tears because I become so spastic that I can’t even sit down. These exercises to open the hip flexors look like something I could do. I will admit that I need to strech more often. I am loosing muscle mass and strength quickly now. Could you recommend other exercises to combine with these that would help my gluts, hips, and hamstrings? Also how often and how long should I do them? I am able to walk and occasionally use a cane when I have flexor spams……Thanks so much, Pam
Lauren, I also wanted to know if you would recommend the foam roller for me. I went to T nation and it said it wouldn.t recommend it for fibromyalgia or chronic pain conditions. With my MS that would qualify for a pain condition, I enjoy getting a massage about once a week…it really helps to loosen all the tight muscles. Its like she is plucking the strings of an instrument they are so tight the muscles just roll and pop around. Thanks again, pam
Hey Pam,
Give me a day or so to get a few things together and I will email you with some exercises. I don’t know a lot about MS so I need to do a bit of research.
Lauren, I wanted you to know that today was so much better. My spasms weren’t a major issue keeping me bedridden. I actually went to the grocery store and did some light house work! When I felt a spasm coming on I did the few stretches I know and I was able to continue in my activity. My fatigue level was also manageable. I hope and pray that this is all due to stretching the muscles. Once I get the stretching into a daily habit I would like to work on strengthing my muscles. They are so weak that when I laid down to do the hip flexor exercise where you lay on stomach and lift foot upwards bending knee toward ceiling I could only manage about 5 inchs off of floor without the knee bend. This is the first time I’ve actually been excited about a therapy. I have done stretches and physical Therapy before but, we werent targeting the right muscles. Sorry, hope I’m not overloading you with info. Hubby helped me tonight with the 2 person hip flexor stretch. He liked it also. Talk to you soon. Pam
thats sounds great pam…I’ll have a few exercises for you tomorrow. I’ll email them to you. I think you will be able to do them no problem and build up your strength.
check your email pam, im not back here until Monday so if I don’t answer I will when I get back.
Pam did you get my email?
[…] When you take a step on a treadmill, every step is just a little bit different. You can reduce the range of your steps or increase them if you are jogging/running. It also means that different muscles are being worked and a variety of muscles means better results when compared to a locked position (such as you would find with an elliptical or a bicycle). however, it means that if you are tight in the hips, you might be walking with a reduced range as opposed to an elliptical making you take longer strides which would lengthen out your hips (and so the paradox unfolds). So if you have tight hips I might recommend spending more time on the Elliptical - or to tackle the problem at the source, try doing some hip flexor stretches (this gal does a great job or explaining what your hip flexors are and how to s… […]