what to do for hip flexor pain
How To Get Rid of Hip Flexor Pain
Hip flexor pain is very common… why? Hip flexor pain is common for a few reasons it can be because the hip flexors do a lot of work for us and almost never get a break, and it can be because for most of us we sit A LOT.
I’ll talk about the sitting part first.
Hip flexor pain from sitting
When we sit for a long time our hips are bent (flexed) and that makes them shorter and tighter. So naturally when we go to stand up they are going to be stretched out. This initial little jolt can be painful when we get up from sitting for awhile.
Hip flexors do a lot of work
We strengthen in the direction we go. We go forward like 98% of the time. Our hip flexors need to work to lift our leg up off the ground and bring us forward. We need to use those hip flexors every time we take a step whether we are walking or running.
hip Pain with the first few steps after getting up
So imagine after we have been sitting at our desk at work for 2 hours and go to get up to go to the bathroom. We now are “waking” the “sleeping” hip flexors that have been in a short and tight position for 2 hours and now we are asking them to make us move. It’s like someone coming in and waking you first thing in the morning and making you do some of your hardest work… you’re not exactly ready for it.
So how do I get rid of hip pain from sitting so long?
There are a few things you can do to get rid of hip pain from sitting so long.
Every 20 minutes stand for 20 seconds
Stretch
Strengthen
One way to get rid of hip flexor pain from sitting too long is to not sit so long. I recommend every 20 minutes stand for 20 seconds. This advice works for a multitude of problems, and it’s because after about 20 minutes of sitting we get into poor posture. So getting up will improve upper back and low back pain. And getting up every 20 minutes will make it so those hip flexors don’t stay in a shortened and tight position for too long.
Another way to get rid of hip flexor pain is to stretch regularly
Stretching the hip flexors is good, but really make it an all encompassing whole body stretching routine. Stretch the major muscle groups regularly. I have a post on that for you to check out in the future.
Another way to get rid of hip flexor pain is to strengthen your muscles regularly.
I don’t actually recommend strengthening the hip flexors much when first trying to get rid of hip flexor pain. Those hip flexors are already doing a lot of work. Remember when I said that we strengthen in the direction we go? We go forward almost all of the time. To strengthen the other areas of the hip to offload the hip flexors and give them some rest go backward and sideways. Just walking backward and sideways at the kitchen counter until those muscles are tired are a good way to strengthen them. There are also other exercises lying down or on hands and knees to strengthen the outside and backside of the hips.
Ok to recap: Your hip flexors do a lot of work a lot of the time. They can be in pain from sitting too long and from doing the work to move you forward when you walk and run. To get rid of this pain: every 20 minutes stand for 20 seconds so you don’t sit so long, stretch regularly, that’s a whole body stretch routine, and strengthen other muscles besides the hip flexors to make them support the whole hips better the easiest way to do it is to walk backward and sideways at the kitchen counter until muscles are tired. For more tips and tricks follow along.
If you’re looking for knee pain relief check out this free guide I created just for you
