Hello all,
I’m looking for some good PNF stretches particularly for the hip flexors. I did a search and couldn’t find any…
i dont know how to explain it in words on how to do it.
on one of Cf’s dvds CF is shown doing a PNF on a hip flexor (i think GPP DVD??)
GPP essentials has a prone hip flexor stretch .Accelerating for Speed also shows one.
You can also do pretty good hip flexor PNF out of the thomas test position. This does require a table or something to lay off of, but affords many good options for stretching the different hip flexors in a position that’s a little easier on the coach (particularly if it’s a very large and strong athlete)
Hmm…I understand how the Thomas Test stretches the hip flexor of the straight leg…but how could you possibly perform PNF on the hip flexor if the contracting/resisting muscles are from the bent leg?
position hips at edge of table… have athlete hug one knee to chest (and then lean against that foot or apply light pressure against that leg with hand so they don’t have to work hard to hold that position)
That’s a modified thomas test position for both one and two joint hip flexors. One joint staticly tight=thigh lift with knee still at approx 90, rectus tight=knee extends, thigh abducts, knee extends/thigh abducts =TFL etc…
So for PNF the procedure is now the same except the athlete is lifting the thigh against resistance (instead of pulling down in GPP stretch). The coach can also use his body/legs to ensure the desired position/track of the stretch leg to emphasize PNF for the desired result.
Damn…I thought maybe pnf stretching would finally put my hip flexors at ease. Nope…I was wrong. Once again, stretching has put my hips in more pain…
Stretching the hip flexors must lock up my hips even more cause I feel more pain and less flexible afterstretching. The actual stretch doesn’t hurt as much as the aftermath of the stretch…
I’m def goin to get checked out and MRIs but any input on why stretching would only cause me more pain? I can’t do the butterfly stretch at all either (I reach a point and then I hit a huge wall and a very sharp pain)…and I feel a bunch of grinding in my right hip when I rotate inwards especially with the foot propped up on a bench. Also if I bend forward at the hips while rotating inwards, I get a veryy sharp pain in the hip right at the very top interior
Yes, it’s in there
That a good way. i use that too. Make sure the knee is to the chest before the down leg drops much or the back can get irritated.
I might be able to help you here Unlimited Steel. I’ve been having numerous problems with hipflexor tightness this year. No matter how much stretching or massage gets done it was still painful. I finally got to see a top physio here. Now what he told me was, the reason i’m getting all the pain in the hip flexors was because my pelvis was locked and glute on the left wasn’t firing. In addition to this my whole lower back was extremely tight causing a massive amount of tightness in the quads and working its way downwards through the posterior chain - i also started to get Achilles pain which he said would be the result of what i was going through. He didnt touch my quads during the treatment (with the exception of some deep TFL work) but managed to release my tight hipflexors with work on the back and some dynamic work with a seat belt type device and drop out testing to check range.
What was causing the pain/tightness in hipflexors was me ‘hip hitching’ again causing the slack to be taken in the back and the hip flexors were being battered as a result.
Towards the end of the treatment he ‘re-aligned’ my spine with some Osteopathic movements and gave me some hip flexor stretches to do - the key component was glute/pelvis activation before the actual stretch as well as some other specific exercises to stop this happening so often.
I’d suggest that you see a specialist and get them to work on your back,piriformis and TFL
I hope this helps.
Over the years I have discovered that my hip flexors almost fain injury, I think it’s a nerve thing.
Basically I was always straining them (so I thought) anyway I so happened to go swimming one time and the pain miraculously disappeared! Anyway it’s happened lots of times since and every time I swim it just goes. It’s quite extraordinary!
I do breast stroke BTW, seems to manipulate the hips well.
If you try it get back to me because I’d like to know if it’s the same with anyone else??
unlimited steel:
You need to find a highly qualified sports manual therapist with experience evaluating and dealing with hip injuries.
Do you feel a pinching like sensation in deep squat like positions? Is there a feeling of irritation deep in the groin? What’s your internal and external rotation at the hip approaching 90 degrees of flexion?
From the very little bit I’ve read in this thread it sounds like you may have some hip impingement and capsular issues in the hip. The bitch of it is that inflammation isn’t a totally localized process. Thus when the capsule/impinging tissues become irritated other surrounding tissues (muscles, ligaments, capsular tissues) also recieve the inflammatory response. Further stretching of the involved tissues (hip flexors, adductors, etc…) further irritates them and can further irritate the capsule as the range of motion may not be limited by muscle flexibility, but by capsular restrictions, which modulate an increased tonus of the local musculature (if the joint doesn’t function correctly, the muscles won’t function correctly (vice versa is also true).
A qualified manual therapist (a therapist who’s capable of laying hands on you and applying joint and/or soft tissue releases/treatments/mobilizations as needed) is likely your best bet for resolution.
Where do you live? I might be able to hook you up with a decent therapist who can get you pointed in the right direction.
Well the pain started as an injury in my right hip…and then I developed pain in my left hip…albeit much less severe. Compensation maybe?
What exactly do you mean by pinching sensation? Like…the grinding and snapping that I feel? Not really in the squat(only that sharp pain if I try to rotate inwards)…and as long as I don’t rotate inwards it’s not so bad. In general the grinding/snapping happens the most when my knee is extended past 90 degrees…like maybe 120-135 and then I rotate inwards
From what I can feel…the actual pain isn’t deep…but the snapping and grinding in my right hip is pretty deep inside the hip. (its actually somewhere deep in the very upper region of my leg). The left hip just developed pretty much as tightness and pain at the very top of the leg in the butterfly stretch.
I can rotate inwards almost normally in my left hip, but the right hip won’t rotate inwards much because of a huge amount of pain (like for ex, if the rotation starts from a neutral position, maybe only a few inches inwards of rotation, probably a few inches less than my left hip can do) External rotation has a pain in generally the same area but it feels different for some reason. still sharp though.
I’m on Long Island, NY.