Who knew tight hip flexor can cause so many problems! Do you know those muscles at the front of your hip that make you bring your leg forward? Well, they are called hip flexors. Now you may have heard a lot of people say [especially gym junkies..] that their hip flexors are tight! But what’s causing it? What can be done about it and how to prevent it in future? This is what this article is about. So read on my friend!
Why do hip flexors get tight?
The hip flexors help us to bend our legs from the hip joint. This also means that the muscles actually shorten when this movement happens. So any movement that causes our hips to bend will shorten these muscles. Hence any prolonged movement will eventually lead to tightening or tensing of these muscles.
- This may happen when you are sitting for long periods at a computer without taking frequent breaks.
- In saying that this can also happen due to overuse of hip flexors! Namely the so called high intensity “functional movements” that everyone is crazy about these days.
- A lot of us love to jump around but when it comes to warming up or stretching, we become lazy. Not enough stretching can lead to tightness in the hip flexors as well.
What to do about it?
The best cure is prevention! So basically before it even happens, try to avoid it! Stretch, stretch, stretch! The more intense your workout, the longer your cool down should be. Your cool down should include hip flexor stretches. Atleast spend 5-10 minutes doing a hip flexor exercises at the end of your workout. For the video of a really great stretch, you’ll have to check out one of our videos on Instagram or Facebook!
How can Physio help?
However, if your hip flexors are so tight and causing pain and restricting your movement, you really have to see a Physio. Pain is not normal. Physios are capable of diagnosing exactly where the pain is coming from and giving you appropriate manual therapy treatment. Physios will literally loosen up the joint and release the tight hip flexor muscles, giving you more movement over time. But remember, any good thing takes time. You must have patience and be consistent with your treatment to get 100% results.
