Hip flexors - what are they?

By Austyn Hall, osteopath.

You may have heard people talk about the hip flexors but are not sure exactly what is meant by them?

The hip flexors.

Anatomical name being the Psoas muscle which attaches from the lower back/lumbar spine, travelling to the upper inner thigh bone. There is a left and right one and the muscles helps us to lift our leg up, move from lying to sitting but also, very importantly, support our lumbar spine, maintaining good low back posture and reducing the mechanical load on our spinal discs.

Complaints involving the hip flexors present in many ways in clinic:

- a “popping inner groin/hip” sensation which many suffer with, including myself!
- back pain
- groin pain
- deep lower abdominal pain.

During the process of hip Osteoarthritis, the Psoas muscle can become “deactivated” and weakened, which can end up speeding up the process of Hip Arthritis!

Plus in general, insufficient/weak Psoas muscles can lead to compensations up and down the body, causing extra mechanical stress on other areas.

The most common method I see on social media, as guidance for dealing with Psoas complaints, is for stretching out the muscle.
While this may serve as a brief temporary relief, more often than not, it doesn’t solve the root cause!

What if the Psoas muscle was screaming out to be strengthened!?

Please look at my video which shows a series of three basic exercises which can be carried out at home to help aid in the process of strengthening the hip flexor/Psoas muscle.

As with all exercises, start off with lower weight to learn the movement and slowly, overtime, increase the weight/difficulty to allow the body to strengthen and adapt.

Too much too soon can lead to injury!

Personally, I use one of these exercises as a great way to warm up before a heavy leg workout day!

But nowadays, these exercises should be applied to most people, especially as, in modern society, we tend to sit for long periods at a desk for work which can lead to Psoas underuse.