Did you know that a tightened or strained hip flexor can cause lots of complications for us? This post will explain what hip flexors are and why they are important, how weak muscles cause problems, and what the best way to stretch your hip flexors is through simple, guided exercises towards a healthy lifestyle.
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Here we will walk you through the symptoms caused by the incorrect hip flexors, what are the Psoas muscles and Hip Flexors muscles, and what are the exercises and difficulties you will encounter that we can do to loosen the muscles.
And lastly, if needed, a process where you can purchase instructions on how to go about this the easy way.
What Are Some of the Signs and Symptoms of a Tight Hip Flexor?
First, how do the hip flexor muscles get tightened?
If you are a sportsperson or someone who engages in activities that stress the body, your muscles will be tight, resulting in the following issue. This can happen to anyone, regardless of age or gender.
Hiking is an excellent example of producing hip flexor tightness. I’m sure you’ve seen someone struggling to walk with one hand rubbing their back in pain. Because of the tense muscles, this is the case.
Examples of complications are
- Joint pain in the back, hips, knees, and legs.
- Walking with discomfort and it is difficult to pinpoint the root cause.
- Bad posture anywhere from head to toe.
- I’m having difficulty sleeping.
- High anxiety, digestive problems, circulation issues, loss of sexual performance or interest.
- You no longer have the extra performance in sports that you used to have.
You can also stress these muscles if you spend most of your time in a seated position, especially if you have a desk job or drive for a long time. Did you realize that those who frequently sit down have a bulging stomach, back pain, and weak sex drive?
Most of these problems are not realized because of the tight hip flexors, and physicians often treat other factors. They do not solve the root cause.
What Are the Hip Flexors?
The Psoas muscles, which are part of the hip flexors, are hidden survival muscles behind the digestive system and the intestines. This is the only muscle that connects the upper body to the lower body. So it is one of the most vital muscles in our body.
These are the muscles that are the engine through which our body moves, controls balance, and enables us to sit, stand, twist, reach the bend and many others. The muscles originate from the lumbar vertebrae (spine) and form a strip of muscles on both sides of the spine leading to the pubic bone and the femur bones. It also involves the diaphragm with these muscles.
It is vital that the muscles are in a balanced state or else the above symptoms are felt. It affects our posture and helps stabilise the spine, lower back, pelvis, and hips.
The Psoas with the other muscles forms the Hip Flexors (contractors) to provide complete body coordination.
Here is a video that helps explain the location of the hip flexors and all the related muscles. It helps you understand why the muscles’ tightness will cause back pain and how slip-disc occurs. You will see why so many people are having back pain and why it is so important to exercise the hip flexors.
How Do We Correct the Weak Hip Flexors?
The natural way of correcting the hip flexor muscle is always to move, walkabout, and do things that stretch your front and back muscles around your hips. Again, overstretching and doing it wrong will do more harm than actual good.
One reason you need to stretch and warm-up before any sport is to get the hip flexors in order before actual physical activities. But believe us, the stretchers which they teach us to do before a sport is not enough. Actually, there is a sequence of steps taken to reach these hard to get hip flexors, as they are deeply hidden inside and protected by other muscles.
And one of the safest exercises today to counter all these problems is regular yoga. Yoga is one form of exercise to work out all the total muscles in our body. Even swimming is pleasant for back pain.
But the only problem with yoga is that you need to have the interest and the time to regularly work on this. It would help if you found a qualified guru and a center near you, who is well versed in actual yoga. There are lots of fake yoga guru instructors going around for commercial purposes. Not to mention the membership fees you have to pay.
Also, you can find lots of stretching exercises when you Google for this topic. YouTube has lots of examples and guides on how to go about exercising. There are so many guides, and you will not know which is the right one. Picking the right one is one headache, and doing it correctly is another. You might try it for a while and give up and learn to live with the problems you have.
The elliptical, rowing machines, exercise bikes, multi-station home gyms, and other forms will help you with most muscles. You see yourself getting in shape when you work on them, but you need to have additional workouts to target all these ‘unknown’ muscles.
Did you know that there are various kinds of exercises to be totally fit? They categorise some exercises as follows.
Endurance: Aerobic exercises where you breathe heavily, for example, running, doing aerobics, swimming and more.
Strength exercises: This is where you go to the gym to build targeted muscles, do push-ups, hike, etc.
Balance: An exercise that requires you to maintain your balance and work your entire body in coordination.
Exercises to stay flexible: Capable of bending and moving easily and smoothly. Being flexible.
So the topic of hip flexors goes with balance and exercises to stay flexible. Most healthy people work on two or more of these exercises to remain perfect in all aspects of life.
Below is a video of one exercise for the hip flexor. There are many, and some are difficult to do and boring after some time. DO THIS BEFORE SQUATTING.
Loosening the Hip Flexors the Easy Way by Rick Kaselj
Sequential Flow Method by Rick Kaselj, MS, a leading Kinesiologist and Injury Specialist who has come out with the latest training programs to help lots of people with problems. Even fitness professionals seek his advice on how to go about treating their clients with chronic problems.
One program, the Sequential Flow Method, helps people exercise the Psoas and the other muscles in the right way. It not only explains how the techniques are but how to do it in a step-by-step flow sequence to get to these vital muscles, unlock the hip flexors and get all the benefits out of it.
The exercises shown are quickly done with clear and instructional videos and pictures. Anyone can easily do it, and best of all, in the comfort of their own home, with no one watching. You will be amazed by the results seen in a short while. The best part is educational and fun, and you can even teach it to someone you care about.
Who knows, you could be a specialist instructor on this topic or add to the other knowledge you already have to help people have a better life.
His method has helped solve the discomfort which people had and helped athletes excel and do more in their chosen sports.
Try out this program for results you have not seen before.
To Feel Energized Every Day, Exercise The “Hidden Survival Muscle” In Your Body (Note: Affiliate Link)
In Conclusion
All of us go through some discomfort in life, and the action we take is to go to the doctor. The best the doctor can do is refer you to the right specialist or give you some painkillers. At the specialist, you may go through all the scans and checks and end up with a doctor who can not see any problems.
Not only is the root problem not solved, but you may spend money doing all these redundant checks.
Just try out the program, and you have nothing to lose, just a little money and some reading and exercises to try out. You will see changes in yourself for the better. Just do the exercises without fail and a new you will develop.
There are also posts on other equipment. You can click on the links below to read more.
Reliable Home Physical Therapy Aids
Multi-Station Home Gym Equipment
If you have questions or valuable inputs you would like to share, please fill out your inputs below. We are all crazy for better health.