Tight hip flexors are a common complaint and cause of back pain. When we talk about hip flexors we are looking at the Psoas, Illiacus and the Rectus Femoris. When these muscles get tight back pain can follow. There are two common reasons why you get tight hip flexors. Let’s take a look.
Sitting Down ALL DAY.
Majority of you guys will be sitting down most of the day. When you are in this position, your hip flexors are bent. Your muscles are really pliable and smart. The tighten up, develop trigger points and stay that way.
Terrible Core Stability.
The second common reason your hip flexors can get tight is poor core stability. If you inner ab muscles aren’t working, then your Psoas steps in and works to stabilize your lower back. We’ll talk about this later in the post.
Hip Flexor Stretches And Beyond
Lets take a look at 8 of the best hip flexor stretches.
1. My Stretch
This is my own hip flexor stretch and one I perform before any exercise. I have relatively good core stability, so this is great for me as I stabilize my pelvis well. To perform this correctly you need to squeeze your glute muscle on the side which your knee is on the floor (reciprocal inhibition which we will discuss later in the article). Hold your hips strong while you push forward and bring your other hand back to touch your foot on the floor. Make sure you hold this stretch for at least 30 seconds. If you suffer from back pain during this stretch then you likely struggle with core stability. Stop with this stretch and work more on strength and dynamic exercises that you will see below.
2. Partner Stretch
My Dad showed me this stretch (he’s one of the top Strength and Conditioning coaches in Australia) and hammered me with it when I had really bad back pain. Anyone can help you do it and it is very effective. You need to find a table and someone to help you. Lay with your bum right on the edge of the table, pull one knee to your chest and hold it there. Extend the other leg off the table and let it hang. You partner should then push down for at least 10 seconds while you try to pull the leg upwards. Basically you resist the stretch as strong as you can. After 10 seconds you stop resisting and let your partner stretch you again. You will find that you get more range of motion right away. Repeat three times.
3. Rec Fem Stretch
This is a really good stretch to make sure you hit your Rec Fem (which crosses your hip and knee joint), which is one of the hip flexor muscles that doesn’t usually get hit with standard hip flexor stretches. My hot tip for this exercise is to put a pillow underneath your knee, otherwise it gets really painful!
4. Bridges
One of the ways to stretch your hip flexors is to activate your glutes. There is a phenomenon called reciprocal inhibition and it is heavily at work here. There are several muscle partnerships in your body that work this way. When you glutes are weak, your hip flexors will become tight. When you hip flexors are released, your glutes are free to activate and get strong. We are going to exploit that here with this simple exercise. You will also get a dynamic stretch as you straighten out your body and squeeze your glutes.
You can do this exercise with one or two legs. Start with your bum on the ground. Press up through your heels and straighten out your body.Hold for one or two seconds and lower you body again. Repeat 10-15 times.
5. Overhead Lunges
This is an exercise you should include in your program and is great for stretching out your hip flexors dynamically. Holding something over head will help you stretch out the fascia over your hip flexors as well as stabilizing your core. Hold something overhead and step out. Make sure you step far enough out so your knee doesn’t go too far over your foot. Press back up to a standing position.
6. Split Squat
I use this exercise to dynamically stretch my hip flexors and strengthen my glutes and quads. It is one of my ultimate exercises. If you are a beginner this will be really hard to start as it is putting all your weight on one leg, but you will improve very quickly. Start with one leg behind you on the couch and step out far enough so when you drop down your knee doesn’t go too far over your foot. Drop down until as close to parallel as you can go, this will vary depending on strength and flexibility. You will improve quickly.
7. Overhead Squats
This variation of the squat will ensure that your hips flexors are stretched out during the exercise. As you stand up from the squat your hip flexors will be on stretch. These are not as effective as the two exercises above, but should be included in your warm up for your exercise program. Hold something over head with your arms completely outstretched. Squat down ensuring that you move with your hips first. Go down as far as you can. You will be limited by strength and flexibility at the start, but you’ll find that your mobility improves quickly as you get stronger through the range of motion.
8. Tennis Ball Work
Sometimes stretching isn’t enough. This is a way to really hit the trigger points in you hip flexor muscles and release them on a deeper level. You can’t always get to a massage therapist and its important to be able to do some soft tissue work on yourself. This is where a tennis ball comes in handy. Grab a book and your tennis ball. The book will make sure that you get deep enough into the hip flexor. Place the book on top of the tennis ball and lay down over it. The tennis ball should be 1-2 inches to the left or right of your belly button. Then get up onto your elbows to stretch your hips flexors out. Hold this position for at least 30 seconds at atime, you should feel your hip flexors release. If you want to see ways to release your whole body with a tennis ball, check out this book.
Work Your Core
As mentioned earlier, sometimes tight hip flexors can be caused by a weak core. In this case, you need to do some strength work for your abs. I really like prone holds or planks for this. Everyone can do it and they really get in deep and work your stabilizer muscles. Start on your elbows and keep your body straight. Work on holding this position for as long as you can until your form breaks. You will improve quickly.
Now you have a wide range of hip flexor stretches and exercises to both passively and dynamically stretch your hips. Start implementing them into your warm ups and programs. If you have really tight hip flexors you should do this work every day to ensure you get the release you need. Any questions just leave a comment below and i’ll get back to you ASAP.
If you want to take it a step further, check out this book on tight hip flexors.
John says
Hi Lauren
Great timing. Only last week my masseur told me my hip flexors needed work. Your suggestions are similar to his but with enough variation to add variety!
I’m liking the split squat, already!
Thanks.
John.
Lauren says
Awesome I’m happy to help! Let me know how you feel after doing some of the exercises.
Janet says
I’m so glad I found this list of hip flexor exercises. I’ve had hip pain for months, been to doctors, been to physical therapy (which has helped some and who has shared a couple of these exercises but not all). I’m hoping to get more pain relief from adding these to my workout.
cathy f. says
Hi Lauren, I found your site when I googled ways to help with my hip pain. It has been getting progressively worse and (for a lack of a better word) feels like it is crippling me at this point. I can really feel the pain when I do side kicks (for example swing my left leg out to the left side and vise versa). I am 43 yrs old and quite over weight and i am working on that but this pain is making it very difficult to work out properly. I have been to physiotherapist and nothing has really helped. I do have a job where I sit for a large part of the day (in the car) and at my computer….so these things I can not change….but I would LOVE to get some pain releif and be able to get active again. I sound like an old lady when when I stand up from the sitting position now ;)…not fun :)……any help would be much appreciated…
Cathy
Canada
Lauren says
Honestly Cathy you need to get a diagnosis before I can recommend too much, you might have some wear and tear problems that certain exercises will aggravate. You can test out a few light exercises without weight such as lunges, squats and hip flexor stretches above, just work in the range of motion that you can. But if you feel any pain in your hips, you shouldn’t do them. Let me know what hurts and what doesn’t and I can find some suitable exercises for you. Try to get to someone who can tell you if it’s muscular or there are some problems in the joint, from there I can help you a lot!!
In the meantime, working on your nutrition and losing some weight will ABSOLUTELY help your hips no matter what the diagnosis. I would also start with some tennis ball work on your glutes and all the muscles around your hips. Check out my tennis ball posts for a few more ideas!
Let me know what you think, I want to hear from you and help you get rid of this pain and start to workout again.
Susan says
Thanks for these-one area I need to work on more! I do have a question regarding the Plank pose in the bottom picture. Should the body be straighter than the woman in this pic? I recently had someone tell me that my body wasn’t straight enough-had my rear sticking up apparently-somewhat like the woman in this picture, though more exaggerated. I’ve found it so much harder to try to keep my body straight, and can’t hold it very long, compared to how I had been doing it. What are your thoughts?
Thanks!
Lauren says
Hey Susan, I’m the woman in the pic! Actually if you look my back is completely straight, that’s the part that needs to be straight. Shoulders to back. You shouldn’t pike with your bum in the air, whoever told you that is right.
Hold it as long as you can until your form breaks! You will get better quickly.
donna says
Lauren,my hips are killedng me from steps. I always do the overhead lunges. Added the tennis
Ball stretch today. It felt as though muscle fibers were tearing while doing it. Lots of relief though. Going to do them hourly today. I followed them with planks. Your site is very helpful.
Lauren says
Great! I’m so glad I can help you out!
JB says
This site is awesome! Haven’t had time to read other posts but I’ve seen their titles and I just want to dive it. After uni I’m going on an information binge, booked marked and told my friend (keep up the good posts) 🙂
Ashley says
Hi.
Just wanted to know if it would be worth investing in a foam roller just to help with relaxing the hips? I’ve been feeling really tight around my hips and thighs lately and stretches don’t seem to be really helping as much as I would like it to.
If a foam roller will help, what are your recommendations?
Thanks!
Lauren says
Hi Ashley!
If you have a tennis ball you can do some really good soft tissue work without having to invest in anything. I like to have a foam roller lying around to help with my aches and pains, but you can get it done with a tennis ball.
Hope that helps,
Lauren
Ashley says
Thanks for replying so quickly Lauren! (:
Well, I did read about the tennis ball bit as well but decided that since I’m going to have to buy a tennis ball, I might as well spend a little more and get myself a foam roller. I’ve seen exercises that can be done on foam roller as well, which of course made me much more interested in the foam roller.
What foam roller do you use for your aches and pains? Would I be able to use them for minor exercises and stretches as well?
I hope that made sense.
Thanks again!
Lauren says
So I use a theraroll, which is pretty small and won’t really be useful for exercises. I don’t perform any exercises on a foam roller, but if there are some that interest you then its a good option.
In my opinion you don’t need a big name brand, just made sure that the density is high enough that it is durable. Hurts a little more, but works better! Head to amazon and search high density foam roller and you come up with a heap of good options that are actually quite cheap!
Pete says
Hi. Thanks for these tips. I really need to stretch my hip flexors after a long period of illness during which I’ve spent a huge amount of time sitting. I’m doing an hour or two of moderate exercise a week now and am also working on core strength daily but every attempt at lengthening my hip flexors results in pain around my knees (especially the vastus medialis, I believe). I can feel the stretches in the front of my hips, but I can’t even hold the lightest of stretches without pain around my knees. I’m assuming one of the things I need to do is strengthen my knees, but I’m wondering if there is anything else that might occur to you?
Thanks,
pete
Lauren says
I would think that your rec fem is really tight, grab a tennis ball and do some work through the front of your quads! I think this will really help.
Jess says
Hi…I have extremely tight hips. I cannot sit Indian style without my legs coming up off the floor. I see the stretches but for how long and how often should I stretch to see some improvement? I really do hope I can correct this.