Signs You Have Weak Hip Flexors

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 will you inform whether or not yours are tight or weak? “Hip flexors are, on the whole, extra susceptible to getting stiff than weak, however there are some occasions when the hip flexors can grow to be 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 tissue that flex the hip. They enable you to carry your thigh up nearer in the direction of your chest, like whenever you raise your leg to take a step ahead when working or climbing the steps.

Dr. Sweet particulars three frequent situations that may enhance the danger of getting weak hip flexors:

1. “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 somebody from the aspect: The entrance of the hips press ahead, the decrease again is flat, and the knees are behind the middle of the hip joint.
2. One other risk is {that a} pinched nerve within the higher lumbar backbone could cause a neurological weak spot of the hip flexors, Dr. Sweet says.
3. The ultimate—and most typical—trigger is a muscle imbalance between the completely different hip flexors. Dr. Sweet says that on this case, not all the 4 muscle tissue 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 most typical 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 got tight hip flexors, you’ll be able to normally inform as a result of they may really feel stiff and considerably restrictive, particularly whenever you rise up from a seated place or straighten your leg all the way in which after you’ve been mendacity down for some time.

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Hip flexors weak spot, nonetheless, is commonly much less obvious—which is why it’d go undetected (or mistaken for tightness). Nonetheless, Dr. Sweet says there are three telltale indicators:

1. In case your pure, comfy 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, it is best to solely stretch if the muscle is really quick in size,” says Dr. Sweet. “A bodily therapist can help you in doing size and suppleness checks to find out which muscle tissue are literally quick.”
2. When you’ve got hassle lifting your leg to climb a stair or step into a tub, or in case you really feel like you might be tripping whenever you stroll as a result of your legs really feel “heavy” or onerous to raise up.
3. “If you cannot raise your knee as much as your chest and maintain it there for a number of seconds, you possible 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 here are three workout routines Dr. Sweet recommends.

Seated iliopsoas activation

When you’re coping with a muscle imbalance inside your hip flexors, it is possible that your iliopsoas is the weak hyperlink. “Your iliopsoas muscle tissue connect to your backbone and are a hip flexor and exterior rotator [of the hip],” says Dr. Sweet. This is one strategy to strengthen it:

• Sit upright in a chair or on a weight bench.
• Raise your knee up increased than 90 levels (ideally as near your chest as potential) together with your knee turned outward. Dr. Sweet says the TFL muscle is not a great 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 likely one of the muscle tissue within the quadriceps (the massive muscle group on the entrance of your thighs), and it performs a job 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 raise 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 potential to the beginning place.

Full 15 to twenty reps per leg. You possibly can add an ankle weight as soon as you’ll be able to carry out the train simply.

Iliopsoas straight leg raises

Dr. Sweet says it’s also possible to use mendacity straight leg raises to strengthen your iliopsoas by performing the identical train, however turning your toes outward 45 levels (reasonably 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 determine the basis reason for your hip flexor points and discover an efficient rehab program.