When there’s tension around the hip flexors, it makes the hips feel tight. Your lower body’s movement depends heavily on a group of muscles called your hip flexors, which are located around the top of your thighs.
They provide you the ability to walk, kick, bend, and rotate your hips. But if your muscles are too tight or if you move quickly, you can stretch or strengthen your hip flexors.
If you’ve ever dealt with tight hips after running, then it’s time to learn about what’s causing it so you can release it.
WHAT ARE YOUR HIP FLEXORS?
Hip flexors are a group of muscles that go along the front of our upper thigh. These muscles help us move easily by allowing us to bend at the waist and elevate our leg.
They contain the iliacus, the psoas major, the rectus femoris, and the sartorius.
The iliacus and psoas combine to form the iliopsoas, the primary hip flexors. When we walk, run, sit, or stand, they work together to flex and stabilize our hip and bring our thigh and torso together.
Tight hip flexors make it difficult for our pelvis to rotate properly, which can affect various other sections of our body because the hips link the lower back to the legs.
WHAT DO HIP FLEXORS DO WHEN RUNNING?
In conjunction with the quadriceps are the hip flexor muscles which are a group of muscles that connect the pelvis to the quadriceps. They are key in moving us forward and stabilizing our body.
HIP FLEXORS RUN IN TO TWO COMMON ISSUES
Tightness that inhibits the glutes
Weakness that limits leg swing power
So many muscles are worked during running that we often forget the smaller one like hip flexors.
SIGNS OF TIGHT HIP FLEXORS IN RUNNERS
Pain or discomfort in the front of your hip that often grows worse with extended sitting or repetitive hip-flexion exercises like running and cycling are symptoms of tight hip flexors.
Other symptoms of tight hip flexors
Stiffness in the hips, lacking full range of motion
Fatigue in your hips after running. Tight hips are often weak, so they don’t perform as well
Lower back pain while running (or after running)
Groin pain after running from other muscles overcompensating
Weakened glutes
Anterior pelvic tilt leading to knee issues, IT Band syndrome and other common running injuries
WHAT IS AN ANTERIOR PELVIC TILT?
And if we seat too many hours daily this is when our butt is pushed back, curving our spine forward and often the chin then sticks out.
The hips get tighter and pull the lower stomach more forward.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS POOR RUNNING POSTURE?
Tight hip flexors- can’t extend properly which slows us down
Weak abdominals- can’t stabilize the body properly
Tight lower back muscles- can’t stabilize the body, all day soreness
Weak glutes and hamstrings- can’t produce as much power
Basically it’s just not good- to put it technically
HOW TO CORRECT TIGHT HIPS AFTER RUNNING
1. STAND UP MORE OFTEN
First thing: get up throughout the day.
Set a timer for every hour and get out of your chair for a few minutes, and make sure to leave your smartphone on your desk- it’s part of the problem.
2. KEEP HYDRATED
Hydration is so important, often overlooked, essential for optimal function and pain-free movement. Muscles can bend easily, move more freely and maintain their elasticity, which helps you stay mobile.
Recommendation For Good Hydration:
You should drink according to your body weight.
Weight 50kg- Drink 1.8 litres water/day
Weight 70kg- Drink 2.7 litres water/day.
Be mindful of how much coffee, tea and alcohol you drink. Every 177ml of a caffeinated beverage requires approximately 0.355ml of water to rehydrate you.
3. DYNAMIC WARM UP
If you haven’t been doing a dynamic warm up, now is the perfect time to start. Not only will this help to prevent a lot of running injuries, but it’s important to perform some good dynamic warm up movements, which will both loosen tight hips and strengthen weak hips.
Even 5 minutes will go a long way to loosen up muscles and allowing you to run with better overall form.
A few warm ups to get you started:
Side Lunge- Lunging wakes up the hips and provides strength
Sumo Squat- Strengthen the glutes, quadriceps, and hamstrings
Leg Swings- Side to side and forward and back to increase leg mobility
Arm Circle Backward and Forward- Shoulder mobility and blood circulation
4. SPEND TIME FOAM ROLLING TIGHT HIPS
Our tight hips after running aren’t just a result of the hip flexors, so there is a lot of areas to foam roll to help release them. Foam rolling is really designed to tell the muscles and our brain to relax, so we don’t need to overdo it or try to crush the area.
Also, we should use PT ball to get in to our TFL (Tensor Fascia Late), it’s where our front pocket would be. This being tight could feel like it’s our hip flexors.
Work on your glutes big time, remember tight glutes can weaken your hips.
Foam roll your quads and inner thigh as well to make sure nothing is pull on the hips.
Remember to grab it for just 5-10 minutes each night. This recommendation to all athletes will get you ready for the next day workout.
5. DO MORE GLUTE STRENGTH
If your glutes are weak they will pull your pelvis further out of alignment. This is going to create tight hip flexors and tight hips after running.
GLUTE STRENGTH EXERCISES
EASY HIP FLEXOR STRETCHES
Focus On Good Hip Flexors Stretches And Strength Exercises To Avoid Hip And Glutes Pain, To Support Better Nice Runs And Other Training Sessions!
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