Are the front of your hips tight while you run? When you perform core work do you experience tension in your hips and not your core? Is it hard for you to straighten out after sitting or being on the ground for extended time with your kids?
Here is a little information about your hips and why you may be having the tension and some ideas to improve it and keep it from happening in the first place.
What's causing this pain?
Your hip has multiple flexor muscles but the major ones that get really “tight” are the iliopsoas (combo of iliacus and psoas) and the rectus femoris (RF). The psoas muscle attaches to your spine while the RF and the iliacus attach to the pelvis. This being said they can play a role in how your spine or pelvis are positioned or they can do what they are supposed to do by flexing the hip/stabilizing the hip. You will also see the tensor fascia latae (TFL) at the outer front of hip which can also get tight if over used (i.e. abnormally used).
Why does it feel "tight"?
So, why do you have “tightness” in theses muscles. First, let me explain why I keep putting “tight”. When we consider something “tight” on our body we also perceive that it is shortened and therefore needs to be lengthened when in reality it is actually a neurological protective mechanism to protect our spine/hip/knee/you get the point.
The only time your muscles will truly become shortened is if you are positioned in a certain position for an extended time and the muscles and tissue surrounding the muscles adapts to that position.
Try this hip flexor stretch
Why are your hips tight?
They are most likely protecting either your hip or you back/abdomen from excessive stress due to something not working or not strong enough/controlled enough to do its job. Strong/controlled is key as you could have a six pack and have no clue how to control your trunk so that your hip flexors don’t kick on every time you try to perform a squat or when you are running.
If our spine stabilizer muscles do not work or are not controlled something will kick in and that tends to be muscles attached to the spine or the pelvis (which is linked with the spine) in order to keep you moving the way your brain tells you to.
How do I keep this from happening?
I often recommend working on stretching the front of the hip while working on front and back trunk muscle strengthening. Check out the videos for some exercises I will have my patients work on to improve trunk control and stretch their hip.
If you are having these issues and it is affecting your workouts, running, or just getting through your day reach out and find out if physical therapy is right for you with a call from a specialist or a Free Body Diagnostic visit.