Let me introduce you to your filet mignon muscle, your psoas. And you'll also meet his kid brother,
iliacus. Before we get into that, let me ask you a question. When you're in a lunge,
do you feel tightness on the top of your back leg? When you're in upward facing dog, do you
feel compression in your lower back? And lastly, do you suffer from excessive anterior pelvic tilt?
If so, this video is for you. We'll start off by looking at the anatomy and the biomechanics
of these two unique muscles. Then we'll look at three poses to stretch them out,
using principles of the Science of Stretching. Let's start off with the anatomy. The psoas
muscle, it's your filet mignon, your tenderloin, your flank muscle. It's very unique in that it's
the only muscle in our bodies that starts at your spine, crosses your pelvis, and then attaches
on the inside of your femur, your leg bone, your lesser trochanter. It actually starts way up here
at thoracic vertebrae number 12, and it also connects to lumbar one,
two, three, and four vertebrae, before crossing the pelvis and connecting to your leg bone.
This gives it a very unique role. Every time we crunch, every time we lift our knee,
so many different movements, our psoas is involved. So why is it that we're including
his kid brother along with the conversation? Well iliacus is another important hip flexor
and it starts on the inside of the elephant ears of your pelvis, here on your iliac fossa,
and then it scoops down and also attaches on the inside of your femur, on that lesser trochanter.
And the two muscles really become one. They're actually wrapped in the same piece of fascia,
called your iliac fascia. So we can't really talk, or work, or strengthen, or lengthen your psoas,
without inadvertently working on your iliacus as well. In fact, they're often referred to
collectively as your iliopsoas muscles. The combination of the two. So why is it that
these hip flexors get so tight? There are two main reasons. The first and biggest reason is because
we spend so much time sitting. When you're sitting down your hip flexors are shortened and your body
adapts over time to that restricted range of motion and both your psoas and iliacus shorten
up. The other reason, that's often overlooked, is that most of us have been wearing heeled shoes for
decades, and I don't necessarily mean high-heeled shoes, I mean Nike running shoes, I mean work
boots, I mean just about any type of shoe you might buy at the store has an elevated heel which
puffs your chest out, sticks your bum backwards, tilts your pelvis forward, and again shortens
both of these two important hip flexors. It should be noted that your psoas and your iliacus,
they're not the only muscles that flex your hip, but they are the biggest and most important. So
that's where we'll put our focus. Let's first take a look at the biomechanics of these hips
and then we'll take a look at some stretches to open them up. When your psoas and iliacus contract
it flexes your hip, meaning your leg bone moves up towards your chest. When they contract, your leg
lifts. You could think of crunches, you could think of running, you could think of walking,
so many different movements. Iliopsoas muscles are also involved in lateral rotation of your leg
bone at your hip. Lateral rotation meaning your hip opening to the side. Now that we understand
where they are, now we understand what they do, and now that we understand the problem of why
they get so tight, let's take a look at three poses with progressive levels of challenge,
to systematically lengthen and loosen up these important hip flexors. The first pose we'll take
a look at is called a standing hip flexor stretch. You can see that I have a table here, but you
could use a desk, a kitchen countertop, or even a kitchen table. The ideal height is somewhere
between your knee and your waistline. I've put a yoga mat on top for cushioning. If you don't have
a yoga mat, it doesn't matter, just put something soft for your back knee. I'll stand next to the
table, I'll lift up my right leg and place my leg on top of the table. Option number one, flat
down on your belly. Option number two is lift up onto your forearms, drop your head. Option number
three is begin to straighten your arms. And option number four would be to straighten your arms up,
have your foot right underneath your knee, or maybe even a little bit in front,
drop your head and relax. While we're here in this pose I'd like to remind you if you take
two fingers and poke around on the back of your right hip we are stretching that psoas muscle,
your filet mignon muscle, and also your iliacus, your iliopsoas muscles,
your primary hip flexors back there. When we do Science of Stretching practices there are
three principles you need to keep in mind. The first principle is called wet noodle. What this
principle teaches us is that muscles, our iliacus, our psoas, and the fascia that surrounds them,
they're going to stretch best when fully relaxed. So do your best to wet noodle,
relax into the pose. Second principle is breathe to relax, and what this principle
states is that when we breathe a specific way it stimulates our parasympathetic nervous system.
It reduces our stretch reflex, our body's nervous system's tendency to fight us in the pose, and it
really helps us to go deeper naturally. Here's how it works. Inhale through your nose for four.
Exhale through your mouth for eight.
Keep breathing like that throughout the pose. Then the final principle of practice is time under
passive tension. I'm setting a timer for three minutes. With all of our Science of Stretching
poses we use between two to five minutes. We never go longer than five minutes, but we never
go shorter than two minutes, or you just won't see changes. Do three minutes here on the right side.
After that timer goes off, I'll switch and I'll do three minutes on the other side. This next
pose is a little bit more intense. Let's give it a try. We'll need a stool, and you will need a
cushion for your back knee. Let's start off on our hands and knees, like a child crawling. Take that
cushion and place it underneath your left knee, just for padding. Step your right foot in front of
your right hand on the outside, and we'll use this stool in front to rest your arms as your hips move
forward and down. The reason we have the stool, and you can place it right next to your knee,
is so that I can take most of the pressure onto my back leg. Why? Let's take two fingers and
poke around back there. Remember that psoas muscle and your iliacus, there they are getting a really
nice stretch. Hit my timer and I'll come back to my three principles of practice. Number one,
wet noodle. Relax as much as you can. Principle number two, breathe to relax. I'll inhale for
four. Exhale for eight.
And principle number three, my timer is going. I'll do
three minutes on either side. This pose is called blaster.
This final pose is quite intense, but I think you'll be surprised,
with modification most of you will be able to practice this. It's the full split. Before you
freak out, get a whole bunch of pillows. I've got four, you might even use eight, different pillows,
bed pillows, couch pillows, they all work great. Here's what I'll do. I'll straddle
the pillows, so the pillows are right underneath my pelvis. Shoot your front leg forward, position
those pillows right underneath your groin, you might have a couple of blocks or books on the
side of you for support, and now relax into the pose. See how I'm bending this front leg?
I'm doing that so that the majority of the stretch goes back here under those hip flexors,
my psoas and my iliacus muscles, that's why it can be helpful to have these cushions
and it can be helpful to have these blocks on the side. Here's what's happening in this pose.
My iliopsoas muscles are getting stretched, of course my hamstrings are coming along for the ride
as well, but that's just fine. Let's come back to our three principles. Principle number one,
wet noodle, means I relax into the pose. Principle number two, I breathe in for four.
Breathe out for eight.
And principle number three, timer is going and I'll do three minutes on either side.
The splits can be a really great pose for those hip flexors, just like our first two. With all of
these stretches that we've looked at here, it's really important that you're consistent. If you
have problems with tight hip flexors you'd want to focus on doing at least five minutes of hip flexor
poses per day. Thanks so much for tuning in. I hope this video about your psoas, your iliacus,
collectively known as your iliopsoas muscles, both their function, their anatomy, their tightness,
and most importantly how to open them up, hope that's been helpful for you. If you'd like more
science-based yoga videos, please subscribe down below. If you have questions about these
practices or anything else that we've covered, please just drop a note down below as well.