Many people do not tend to pay much attention to their hip flexors because they cannot see them with surrounding muscle. However, when they experience back pain, knee pain and hip stiffness, these symptoms are often caused by tight hip flexors and their surrounding muscles and fascia.
Anatomy
Your hip flexors are made up of several major muscles that produce hip flexion--which is used for bringing your knee up to your ribs, for example--and many minor muscles that assist the movement. The major hip flexor muscles, also called the iliopsoas, include the psoas major, psoas minor and iliacus. This muscle group attaches from the lumbar spine to the greater trochanter of the femur (thigh bone).
Function
Aside from flexing the hip, the hip flexors also eccentrically extend the hip, meaning that they help control deceleration so that the muscles do not get pulled or stretched too far. You can experience this function by slowly lowering your body while doing a lunge.
Your hip flexors are also part of the anterior fascia chain which links with various muscles in the front part of your body to produce movement and maintain posture. The fascia chain is a web-like connective tissue that connects and surrounds all muscles, organs and joints.
Back Pain
According to Anthony Carey of Function First in San Diego, when your hip flexors are tight, they place stress upon their origins in the lumbar spine. When the muscles get tight, they receive a lot of neural stimulation. Therefore, other muscles--such as the stabilizers in your spine and deep abdominal and hip muscles that maintains your posture--receive less neural stimulation, which weakens them.
Prevention/Solution
Strengthen your core muscles and sit less to alleviate tight hip flexors and back pain and stiffness. Take a break every 15 to 20 minutes and stretch and walk for a few minutes before returning to work. When exercising, do not sit on exercise machines to work out because the sitting position does little or nothing to strengthen your core.
Exercise
In the kneeling hip flexor stretch, stretch those muscles and surrounding tissues in three directions: front, side and rotation. This strengthens your buttocks and reduces the tension in the hip flexors. The kneeling positions minimize balance compensation in your legs.
Kneel with your left leg in front of the right with your toes pointing forward. Your left leg and hip should be bent at 90 degrees. Raise your right arm up and tighten your right buttock, shifting your weight forward. Hold the position until you feel tension ease from your right hip flexor.
Then bend laterally to the left with your right arm over your head and place your left arm on your left knee for balance. Twist slowly to your right while maintaining the lean and hip position. Reverse the movement to repeat two to three more times, and do the other side of the hip.
References
- "Pain-Free Program"; Anthony Carey; 2005
- "Principles of Human Anatomy"; Gerard Tortora; 2001
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