Your Psoas Isn't Just Tight, It's WEAK [Don't Stretch, Do These Instead]

Summary

The video explains why tightness and achiness in the hip flexors happens and provides 5 exercises to address the root causes. It covers the anatomy of key muscles like the psoas, rectus femoris and pectineus. Sitting incorrectly shortens these muscles causing weakness and tightness over time. Static stretching can make this worse. The 5 exercises - self-myofascial release, standing glute contraction, standing slumpy psoas, side-lying hip extension and front support hip flexion - aim to restore muscle length, strength and control throughout the range of motion. Doing them 2-3 times a week for 4+ weeks can provide lasting relief.

Takeaways

• 😀 The psoas muscle contributes to hip flexion but also to lumbar spine stability. It needs to work properly for good alignment.
• 👉 Sitting too much shortens and weakens the psoas over time. This causes tightness and achiness in the front of the hips.
• 🧘‍♂️ Avoid static stretching for tight hip flexors, as it can make the problems worse. Follow a structured routine instead.
• 💪 Do self-massage first to improve tissue quality. Then activate and strengthen the muscles through their full range of motion.
• 👣 Standing glute contractions co-activate the hip flexors in a neutral spine position to restore proper activation.
• 🤸 The standing slumpy psoas technique strengthens hip flexion with a neutral spine, avoiding compensation.
• 🏋️‍♀️ Progressively add load to hip flexor exercises once technique is solid, to build strength effectively.
• 🦵 The side-lying hip extension drill works on regaining full hip extension range of motion and hip flexor length.
• 🔁 A complete routine should be done 2-3 times per week for at least 4 weeks to retrain movement patterns.
• 😊 Following a program like this can relieve achiness and tightness over time by addressing the root causes.

Q & A

Why does the psoas muscle often get tight and weak?

The psoas often gets tight and weak from too much sitting. When we sit, we are often in a posterior pelvic tilt and lumbar flexion, which shortens the psoas and prevents it from working properly to stabilize the lumbar spine.

Why is static stretching not recommended for tight hip flexors?

Static stretching doesn't address the root issue of weakness and can actually further irritate the joint capsule and ligaments, leading to more pain and tightness over time.

What is the purpose of the self-myofascial release technique?

The self-myofascial release technique helps to break up adhesions and scar tissue in the muscles and improve tissue quality so the muscles can contract through their full range of motion.

How does the standing glute contraction exercise help with tight hip flexors?

Activating and strengthening the glutes helps to balance out overactivity of the hip flexors by co-contracting the muscles around the hip.

What is dissociated movement and why is it important?

Dissociated movement separates out commonly linked patterns to better target specific muscles, like flexing the hip without posteriorly tilting the pelvis to better activate the psoas.

How can you adjust the standing slumpy psoas if the TFL is overactive?

Cues like abducting and externally rotating the hip can help shut off overactivity of the TFL to better target the psoas and iliopsoas.

What is the purpose of the side-lying hip extension technique?

This technique strengthens the hip extensors and flexors through their full range of motion to improve flexibility.

Why use bands for the front support hip flexion?

The bands allow progressive loading to build strength in the hip flexors in an integrated, functional position.

How often should you do this hip flexor routine?

Aim to do the full routine 2-3 times per week for at least 4 weeks to see results. More frequency with just bodyweight, less frequency if adding load.

What other resources are available for hip pain?

There is a full hip pain solution program available that includes more exercises and an easy-to-follow, time efficient programming approach.