And if that is what you are really coping with, no quantity of stretching is definitely going to repair the difficulty. As an alternative, you want devoted hip flexor strengthening workout routines.
So how are you going to inform whether or not yours are tight or weak? “Hip flexors are, typically, extra susceptible to getting stiff than weak, however there are some instances when the hip flexors can develop into weak,” says Dave Candy, DPT, a board-certified specialist in orthopedic bodily remedy and proprietor of More 4 Life PT. Right here, he breaks down the telltale indicators, and what you are able to do about it.
What causes weak hip flexors?
Because the identify implies, hip flexors are muscle groups that flex the hip. They assist you deliver your thigh up nearer in the direction of your chest, like if you elevate your leg to take a step ahead when working or climbing the steps.
Dr. Sweet particulars three frequent eventualities that may enhance the danger of getting weak hip flexors:
- “Individuals who have a ‘flat again’ posture, who stand with their hips prolonged, can develop overly-lengthened and weak hip flexors,” explains Dr. Sweet. You possibly can see this by taking a look at somebody from the facet: The entrance of the hips press ahead, the decrease again is flat, and the knees are behind the middle of the hip joint.
- One other chance is {that a} pinched nerve within the higher lumbar backbone may cause a neurological weak point of the hip flexors, Dr. Sweet says.
- The ultimate—and commonest—trigger is a muscle imbalance between the totally different hip flexors. Dr. Sweet says that on this case, not all the 4 muscle groups that make up the hip flexor group are weak. “As an alternative, one hip flexor muscle could also be weak and one other hip flexor muscle takes over and will get overworked,” he notes. “The commonest instance of that is the place folks overuse their tensor fasciae latae (TFL) and under-use their iliopsoas.”
Indicators that your hip flexors are weak
When you’ve gotten tight hip flexors, you possibly can normally inform as a result of they are going to really feel stiff and considerably restrictive, particularly if you rise up from a seated place or straighten your leg all the best way after you’ve been mendacity down for some time.
Hip flexors weak point, nonetheless, is usually much less obvious—which is why it would go undetected (or mistaken for tightness). Nonetheless, Dr. Sweet says there are three telltale indicators:
- In case your pure, snug standing posture leads to your knees positioned behind your hips (hips and knees hyperextended), you could have overstretched, weakened hip flexors. “Your hip flexors should really feel ‘tight,’ as a result of they’re stretched to their end-length. Nevertheless, you need to solely stretch if the muscle is really brief in size,” says Dr. Sweet. “A bodily therapist can help you in doing size and adaptability exams to find out which muscle groups are literally brief.”
- When you have hassle lifting your leg to climb a stair or step into a bath, or in the event you really feel like you’re tripping if you stroll as a result of your legs really feel “heavy” or arduous to elevate up.
- “If you cannot elevate your knee as much as your chest and maintain it there for a number of seconds, you probably have weak hip flexors,” Dr. Sweet says.
3 workout routines that may assist strengthen your hip flexors
If any of the above indicators sound acquainted, it is time to start strengthening your hip flexors. Listed below are three workout routines Dr. Sweet recommends.
Seated iliopsoas activation
When you’re coping with a muscle imbalance inside your hip flexors, it is probably that your iliopsoas is the weak hyperlink. “Your iliopsoas muscle groups connect to your backbone and are a hip flexor and exterior rotator [of the hip],” says Dr. Sweet. This is one approach to strengthen it:
- Sit upright in a chair or on a weight bench.
- Elevate your knee up increased than 90 levels (ideally as near your chest as attainable) together with your knee turned outward. Dr. Sweet says the TFL muscle is not hip flexor on this place, so turning your knee out isolates the iliopsoas.
Full 12 to fifteen reps per leg. You possibly can add an ankle weight as you get stronger.
Mendacity straight leg raises
The rectus femoris is without doubt one of the muscle groups within the quadriceps (the massive muscle group on the entrance of your thighs), and it performs a task as a hip flexor. To strengthen your it, you are able to do straight leg raises mendacity in your again.
- Lie down in your again and straighten your knee totally, then elevate your leg towards the ceiling, ensuring to maintain your knee totally straight and toes pointed immediately up.
- Maintain for 5 seconds, after which return as slowly as attainable to the beginning place.
Full 15 to twenty reps per leg. You possibly can add an ankle weight as soon as you possibly can carry out the train simply.
Iliopsoas straight leg raises
Dr. Sweet says you too can use mendacity straight leg raises to strengthen your iliopsoas by performing the identical train, however turning your toes outward 45 levels (slightly than having them pointed straight as much as the ceiling). Turning your legs outward this fashion will externally rotate your hip to focus on the iliopsoas muscle.
Start with one set of every of those three workout routines and construct as much as three units. When you expertise vital soreness or if the workout routines appear to be making issues worse, work with a bodily therapist to establish the basis explanation for your hip flexor points and discover an efficient rehab program.
