Hip Flexor Exercise

The purpose of doing hip flexor exercise and working to keep these muscles strong is because they are important in how we stand, walk, and move all day long.

If the hip flexors are weak it hinders our ability to lift our legs high enough to walk strong and steady and so we shuffle along.

If our flexors are tight it causes us to stoop forward and lose our posture and balance.

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One of the main muscles used in hip flexion is the iliopsoas.

Sounds like the name of some extinct animal don’t you think?

In fact, the iliopsoas is the muscle that evolved over time to allow us humans to stand upright. This muscle group is obviously still tight in apes and other mammals that walk on all fours.

The iliopsoas connects the sides of the lumbar spine to the front of the pelvic bones and to the inner upper leg bones.

When this muscle is tight the trunk cannot stand upright and some people cannot lie flat on their bellies. It can also create lordosis(a curving backward) in the spine when tension is one-sided.

So you can see how hip stretching exercise, strengthening your hip joint, and working on your hip flexor exercise routinely is so important to our posture and our ability to stand upright and walk and move with ease.

Most of these exercises are from a side lying position, which you can do all of these standing as well to help increase your balance and challenge you further.

Listed below are some of my favorite Pilate moves, and I feel the most effective Hip Flexor Exercise:

The Side lying front and back kicks – Position yourself lying on your side with hips and shoulders stacked over each other, legs are angled slightly forward.

Keep your waist long and pelvis stable. Begin swinging your top leg forward and back at hip level keeping it long and extended. Repeat on each side for 10 repetitions.

Single Leg Stretch – Lying on your back with your head and shoulders down or lifted, to get more abdominal work.

Pull one knee in to your chest and extend the other leg long feeling the hip open up. Switch and repeat for about 8-10 repetitions inhaling and exhaling as you switch.

Leg Circles – Lying on your back with one leg extended along the mat, torso and leg anchored, extend the other leg up to the ceiling and just under a 90 degree angle.

Circle the leg (thigh) around in the hip socket keeping the pelvis and hips still and buttocks anchored to the mat. Repeat for 8 circles each direction.