Stop Stretching Your Hip Flexors! (HERE'S WHY)

The hip flexors are one of the first areas we rush to stretch since they tend to feel tight more often than any other muscle group. The problem is, tightness can often be confused for weakness and when you stretch a weak muscle you are only making the problem worse. In this video, I’m going to show you how to determine if your hip flexors are tight or weak and the appropriate approach depending on those findings.

First we need to talk a little bit about anatomy however. If you have ever had low back pain while doing ab exercises, then you know why the hip flexors are so important. They originate on the lumbar vertebrae and can pull on your lower back when they get tight. They can also wreak havoc elsewhere when weak. Determining whether or not you are dealing with a tight or a weak hip flexor is crucial.

To start however, you have to understand that the hip flexors are not a single muscle group. Instead, there are 5 muscles that contribute to the act of lifting the hip into flexion. Three of these (TFL, rectus femoris, and sartorius) originate at the level of the hip and the iliac crest which means that they are at a mechanical advantage to lift the knee to the level of the hip but are at a disadvantage to lift them any higher. Two other muscles however (the psoas and iliac) are found at a higher origin and are capable of lifting the hip past ninety degrees.

Knowing the difference between these muscles is a crucial step in determining the right course of action once you do your tests. Speaking of the tests, the first thing you want to do is see if you have a true tightness caused by muscle shortening. To do this, you are going to perform what is called a Thomas Test. Start by sitting at the edge of a bench or box with your legs halfway over the edge. Lean back and pull both legs into your chest and be sure to flatten the lower back against the surface.

From here, slowly drop one leg while tightly hugging the other to your chest. You want to observe two things about the down leg. First, is the thigh capable of making contact with the bench and second is the knee able to bend and hang freely at 80 or 90 degrees of flexion. If you find that either of these is not happening then you will want to straighten your knee and see what happens. If upon straightening you find that the thigh goes down to the surface, then your tight rectus femoris was what was keeping the leg up and you’d want to stretch that. If the leg didn’t drop down even after straightening the leg then you are dealing with a tight psoas or iliacus that could benefit from stretching.

The key is however, many times the Thomas Test is normal but the hip still feels as if it should be stretched. This is usually due to fatigue caused by having a weak hip flexor. In this case, you want to proceed to testing your strength. You can do this by either hugging one knee to your chest while standing tall and then releasing it. If you can hold it above 90 degrees but feel a cramp in the outer hip, then you likely have a high hip flexor weakness in the iliacus or psoas. If you can’t hold it there and the first place you can gain control of the thigh is at 90 degrees or lower, then once again you likely have a weakness.

Alternatively you can place your foot on a flat surface high enough to place your knee at a starting level above the hip. From here, lift the foot while standing upright and see if you can hold it off the box for at least 15 seconds without the cramping discussed earlier. If weak, you can use this as the exercise to strengthen it and can add resistance by placing a band around your foot or ankle.

[ksheelshetty]

Me: Exists

Jeff: That's absolutely wrong, and let me tell you why

[Vmh]

I swear every athlean x video just makes me feel like I have a new set of homework that I really don’t feel like doing

[themanfromearth]

Wow, I almost teared when you said “getting temporary relief after stretching. And then getting worse an hr later” that’s been me for years. Thanks man. Really.

[Yakushii]

You think you're boring us with the anatomy lesson, but personally it's the main reason I watch this channel. Learning the anatomy answers the hows and whys of each exercise. It's golden knowledge!

[chethanchandrashekar]

@1:40 check weakness vs tightness of hip flexors
@4:00 second check for hip muscle group
@6:00 exercise to strengthen weak hip flexors...

[larrybird]

jeff lost his voice because of he was trying avoid internal rotation of his vocal cords

[ierikk]

As usual, I realize I’ve been fucking something up when I thought I was fixing it.

[n.n.]

Me: doing anything
Jeff: That's killing your gains

[pepetiredofursht]

Me: I-
Jeff: Wrong, here's why-

[npackard]

.. I’m starting to realize I have weakness pretty much everywhere now 😂

[shivankchopra]

Warm water + honey + ginger will be good for sour throat! Respect for bringing quality content even when you're not well!

[MajorMovesB-ball]

Someone get Jeff the lifetime achievement award for awesomeness... I've been watching for almost a decade, haven't learned more from any other channel than Jeff's.

[kristinapodobnik]

I really enjoy the videos in which Jeff explains how things work in the body in regards to anatomy. Not only is it really helpful and informative, it is also extremely interesting! I've learned so much about the kinetic chain just by watching Jeff's videos!

[cruzanist]

I am a physician and this is the best explanation for testing whether 1.) the tightness is iliacus/psoas or leg flexors or 2.) whether which of the 2 groups is weak. The distinction is crucial for proper treatment. The iliacus/psoas combination is the only connection between the upper and lower body. Thanks for presenting this so elegantly. Even with my knowledge of anatomy, some of this material in your video was new to me.

[RemnTheteth]

I've been rehabilitating really bad muscle imbalances in my legs for the better part of a year now. And while I've gained a lot of fundamental strength back, I'm still having nagging issues with my hip flexor feeling bad all of the time. This video helped me realize that I need to address some acute hip issues due to weakness before I can make more progress. You've probably saved me months of problems, so thank you.

Super informative video.

[thorpe]

This channel is amazing. I have struggled with different aches and pains for yours and been extremely frustrated. The tools you teach are excellent and actually give me hope that I can deal with some of these issues. Thank you.

[taco]

Well... time to find out another thing I’m doing wrong in the gym. 😂😂😂

[privateconfessions]

Don't worry Jeff's just sore from yesterday's throat workout

[Mustaches]

This video was so necessary! Thank you. I'm a cross country runner who was always told my hip flexors were tight. It took several years/seasons to realize they were wrong. It's weakness. That's why it was recurring each season despite focusing on strething.

[aolsen]

ALWAYS the best and most informative videos out there when it comes to training and anatomy, taking several scenarios into consideration which makes me see the whole picture and addressing the problem without leaving questions behind. Thanks again!