We're running through some great hip flexor stretches in this video,
so if you find that you are tight in the hip flexors
and you're looking for some
Hip flexors sit at the front of the hips.
They can get tight from sitting down, that's a surprise. If you're sat a desk for a long time, your
hips are bent and you're gonna feel quite tight at the front.
Not really an issue in itself but it can over time cause problems in the lower back,
hips themselves, or even down into the knees, or ankles so stretching them out
is a very good idea.
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hip flexor stretches, number one we're gonna go through easy
is anything you can do this in standing so you're standing up you're gonna be in
step standing so that means you're gonna get your
right foot in front of you, left foot behind, you're checking that your hips
still face forward. You're going to tuck the
tailbone underneath and push these hips forward and what you're
looking for is a stretch sensation at the front of
that left hip so the leg that's behind. What
you're looking for is that stretch sensation in the hip, you're
gonna hold it there and then you can ease off by stepping
that right foot back and then obviously swapping over and
stretching the other leg. Sometimes when people try this in step standing and
they actually get more of a stretch in their calf than they do in their hip
flexors. If this is the case then try just
lifting your heel up a little bit on that back leg just to take the
pressure off the calf and see if it will get you more of a stretch in the front
of the hip. Having said that, if you're feeling tightness in the
calf it probably means that you're tight in the calf so you need to do your calf
stretches as well. With a lot of stretches and you'll find
that having something cause leverage can actually help.
So number two is your hip flexor stretch with a chair.
So you're gonna get a chair in front of you and you're gonna place your right
knee on the chair and step forward with your left leg.
So if the chair's got back you can hold onto the back for a little bit
of stability. It's that right knee that's on the chair,
it's the hip flexor that you're wanting to feel the stretch in. You're gonna
check your hips are facing forward, tuck the tailbone underneath, push your hips
forward. Look for that stretch at the front of
the hip, that's where you're just going to hold it for
20 seconds. Ease off by stepping that left foot back
and then you can repeat on the other side. Number three
is a stretch you can do lying down on the mat. This one you're going to do
laying down flat so you're on your back, these legs are
out nice and straight. You're going to hug your right knee to
your chest and you're going to try and keep that left leg flat against the mat.
If that left leg or the knee starts to lift away from the mat
then it is telling you that your hip flexors are on the tight side
and it's one that you need to keep persevering with.
If you find this stretch doesn't give you as much of a stretch
as the first two that we went through, that's fine
you can always increase the stretch. Check out the next couple of stretches
that we've got or go back to stretch one or two that we
were going through, just find the one that gives you the you know the stronger
stretch. Number four, another knee hugging stretch.
This time on the edge of a bed, this just helps get you a little bit more leverage
uses gravity just to pull into the stretch.
You are gonna sit on the edge of the bed, you're gonna hug your right knee to your
chest and then you're gonna roll yourself down
so you're laying down on the bed and you're still hugging that
right knee and you're letting that left leg just
relax, let gravity pull the leg and the foot
down and if you're able to, you can bend the knee
to get you a stronger stretch. This is actually going to get you a stretch down
at the front of the hips but also down into the front of the thigh.
Raise yourself back up and then try on the other side, just see if there's a
difference between the right and the left side sometimes there's a little bit,
one's a little bit tighter than the other.
Our fifth hip flexor stretch suggestion is with a
foam roller and it's to get you a little bit more leverage
into hip extension and really just try and stretch
the front of the hip out. Grab your foam roller, you're gonna
lay on it so that it's underneath your hips
so your feet are on the floor and the back of your
your head and the upper back are on the floor and then you're going to hug your
knee towards your chest. It should get you more of a stretch down
that left side front of the hip, hold it for your 20
seconds and then repeat on the other side. All of
these stretches we've gone through you can hold them for 20 seconds.
Ideally, you're repeating four or five times- sometimes that can take a
little bit of time to do especially if you need to do the other side.
Try one of them or try all of them but you need to work on the consistency and
give yourself a good chunk of time to work on these stretches
just to start to see a difference so at least a good four to six weeks if not a
little bit longer. Subscribe to our channel so you can keep
updated with our regular videos we'll be publishing and we'll see
you soon!