Ive been statically stretching my hip flexors twice a day for about 3 weeks now because i believe they are tight and restricting my hip extension. Havent seen much improvement so far and there is significant pain whilst stretching.
Whats the best action to take from here?
Thanks
Too much volume???
ICE inflammation???
Trigger Point Therapy (Illiopsoas + TFL + Rectus femoris) there is about 100% chance you have soft tissues problem in those areas…
You can also try PNF(nervous stretching that wil last couples of hours)
and then microstretching (for more long lasting effect 24-48h) but require more work
http://mortworld.com/images/stretchtowin1.gif
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From the good book: Stretch to Win
http://www.stretchtowin.com/store
http://www.zipidee.com/zipidPreview.aspx?vid=1e922fa7-213e-4615-bdd0-dcbb945c68bd
Stretch to Win is a great book, after i read it, i gained a lot of flexibility and so did my athletes. I definatly say read it and understand the science behind stretching.
Could you post a few key points from the book which helped you the most.
thanks.
Is there any pinching of your hip in any other activities? hip flexion? deep squating? What’s your internal rotation like at 90 degrees of hip flexion?
If none of questions above bring up red flags Stretch to Win is a great book and they’re are some good recommendations in this thread. Hip flexors (both one and two-joint) tend to respond well to EQI interventions. One joint would be a nice tall pelvis split squat hold for 30-1min and as you fatigue you’ll sink into a deeper stretch. Two joint would be set up like a bulgarian split squat and preceed the same way. You want to lightly try to scissor you legs together or pull the ground together once you start the hold. This is something in the Schroeder etc… end of the world, but the holds aren’t as long and he certainily didn’t invent EQIs. Resisted stretching, EQI’s, etc… all tend to work pretty well for long shortened muscles.
Well for me a couple of things either reinforced or added to what I had already knew/learned
I wont say to much as I think i wont be able to do the book and the people who produced it justice, and it would be nice for us to support the people who put out good material like this website.
1)breathing - slow deep breathing is important as it helps slow and relax the nervous system
2)intensity - dont stretch to hard or feel sharp pain when stretching it should be easy and relaxing
3)assessment - they go over how to assess ones own or another flexibility. When you know what is tight, and most are suprised where they think they are flexible they are not
4)sling - it talks about the fascial sling and a brief overview of anatomy trains (another good book)
5)sport specific stretches - the book has sections for different sports and has a map showing which sports require which areas of flexibility.
The best concept out of the book that I could say is that and this relates to the beginning of this thread. Is that the body is connected and if your hips are tight it might not be due to having tight hips, it may be due to postural alignment or other surrounding and connecting muscle that are tight. And when those are corrected youll find youre hips to release.
Yeah, that was my thoughts. Im thinking the hip flexors are tight and restricting extension- i run with low hips
Well if you have been stretching youre hip flexors and are not seeing much results I would look at other connecting muscles. How are your quad, glute, and abdominal flexibility?
Running with low hips can be a sign of tight hips but again there might be more to it. Im assuming that you dont have the means or money to see a chiro or massage therapist to get it checked out?
More than likely it’s your daily lifestyle that’s causing your tightness.
Stretching twice a day for a couple minutes (if that) isn’t going to correct the other 18 or so hours you’re awake tightening your hip flexors (are you even sure it’s all your hip flexors? it’s doubtful) back up.
I may go and see a physical therapist. Quad and abd flexibility has always been good. Will check the glutes as well