Mid-Week Mobility: Hip Flexors

Weakness in the Hip Flexors usually results from a problem that plagues most of the working world: sitting all day. When you are squatting, this can show up in a couple of different ways depending on the person:

• Hip pain
• Forward trunk lean
• General Tightness in the Anterior Hip area down to the Quadriceps area

So, how do you fix this? Below we cover a Yoga pose, a mobility technique, and a strengthening exercise to help mobilize and strengthen the area so you can put some more weight on the bar!

Yoga Pose: Reclining Hero (Supta Virasana)

Starting with your knees slightly wider than hip width, place your palms behind you (as depicted above) and begin to recline back at hips (back stays flat and structured). Depending on your level of hip tightness, you can recline onto a ball (as shown above), back onto your elbows, or even further onto the crown of your head (however, if you can do this, hip discomfort probably is not something you are plagued by). I general hold this position for about 20 seconds and relax for 20 seconds, repeating this 4-5 times.

Mobility: Foam roller hip mash

Start with the foam roller right below one of your hips (the other leg will be splayed out in a spider man style fashion), and roll down to right above the knee-joint. Notice that my foot is turned slightly out so that I am rolling over the major problem area (refer to the first picture in this post and notice the area we are mobilizing runs down the medial side of the leg). I usually give about 15-20 rolls per leg, paying extra attention to any tender areas.

Strengthening: Hanging Knee Raises

Pick a bar that you can be fully extended and off the ground. In a controlled manner, lift your knee as far up and into your chest as you can, squeeze, and slowly lower them back down to the starting position. This exercise can be added at  the end of any workout and can be done for 15-20 repetitions, by 3-4 sets.

Try adding one or all of these into your daily routine and see if this helps alleviate some of your hip dysfunction!