Hip flexors is the group of muscle that help you to move or flex your knees and legs, allowing your body to do movements such as kicking, sprinting, weightlifting and changing direction while moving.
It is very important to pay attention to your hip flexors because the mobility of those joints make a significant impact in your life in many ways. It affects your speed and power when running and weightlifting, and more importantly, those everyday activities, like picking up groceries or your child from the floor. The more unlocked and healthy your hip flexors are through daily stretching, the less your body relies on your lower back, which can lead to back soreness and injury.
In order to help loosen your hip flexors, here are some tips to unlock your hip flexors:
Tip Number 1: Achieve Mobility and Maintain Routinely
It is very important to maintain the mobility of your hip flexors and joints through regular stretching and mobility exercises. Even if it's 10-15 minutes as a warm up or post-workout, you should incorporate mobility exercises into your daily routine, until it becomes a habit that you simply maintain. The benefits of daily mobility will go a long way in positively impacting your daily mobility and power and speed as an athlete.
Tip Number 2: Foam Roll your Iliotibial (IT) Band and Hamstrings
Your IT band runs along the outside of the upper thighs. Grab a foam roller or lacrosse ball, and while lying on the ground stomach down, roll back and forth from your hip to above your knee. While it can be uncomfortable especially if your muscles are sore from workouts, like squats, pause where you feel tightness. Flip your body and then do the same routine for your hamstring. Do it for 15 reps in each of your legs.
Tip Number 3: Stretch while watching TV
If you don't have a foam roller at home, this is a great stretch to do at home at the gym. Using a wall, take one foot against the wall with the other stabilizes you at a 90 degree angle. While doing this, maintain a tight midline and upright chest. Do not compromise the position of your chest by getting your knee closer to the wall; you want to avoid arching your back as that is a terrible position. The point is not to get your knee as close to the wall, but to really stretch your hip flexor muscles and quads so if you can't maintain a tight core, bring your knee away from the wall slightly. Hold 2 minutes each side.
As you can see, incorporating hip flexor stretches can easily be done inside or outside the gym. Though it may be uncomfortable at first, the time that you dedicate to mobilizing and stretch your hip flexors goes a long way in maintaining healthy joints to ultimately avoid lower back pain and injury. For many, the trouble is in knowing the different types of stretches to do to best mobilize the muscle groups around the hip. The details of the system I recommend can be found by clicking
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