Try These 6 Hip Flexor Stretches in Your Next Yoga Practice

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For many people, tight hip flexors rank proper up there with back and knee pain on the subject of on a regular basis aches and pains. The proof? Hip flexor stretches are among the many most requested strikes in yoga courses.

Way of life has so much to do with it—sitting for lengthy durations leaves your hip flexors in extended contraction, which tightens your hip flexors and weakens your glutes. Over time, that tightness can result in a reduced range of motion in your hips.

What Are Hip Flexors?

“Hip flexors” is the umbrella time period for a gaggle of muscle mass surrounding your hip joints. They embrace the iliacus, psoas, pectineus, rectus femoris, and sartorius.

Many yoga poses act as hip flexor stretches to lengthen your hip muscles and forestall pesky muscle stiffness. Practising hip flexor stretches may also scale back decrease again ache and improve hip mobility. Plus, these yoga poses simply really feel good.

6 Hip Flexor Stretches to Add to Your Yoga Observe

1. Bridge Pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)

This pose not solely stretches your hip flexor muscle mass, nevertheless it builds strength in your core. For a extra restorative model of Bridge Pose, relaxation your sacrum (the flat, triangular-shaped bone on the base of your backbone) on a block, bolster, or some stacked pillows as you pause for a number of breaths.

Find out how to:

1. Lie in your again along with your knees bent and toes on the mat, heels as near your sitting bones as potential. Relaxation your arms alongside your physique, palms going through down.
2. Exhale and press your toes and arms into the mat as you raise your hips till your thighs are about parallel to the ground or till you are feeling a stretch in your hips. Maintain your thighs and toes parallel. In case you like, clasp your fingers beneath your again, press your pinkie fingers into the mat, and shimmy your higher arms beneath you.
3. Push your knees ahead whereas lengthening your tailbone towards the backs of your knees.
4. Carry your chin barely. Proceed to push into your toes and arms to assist raise your hips and chest.
5. On an exhalation, slowly decrease your self onto the mat, beginning along with your higher again.

2. Lord of the Dance Pose (Natarajasana)

Often known as Dancer Pose, Lord of the Dance Pose targets just a few totally different muscle teams without delay. Your hip flexor and shoulder muscle mass expertise a stretch, which will be modulated relying on the place of your leg. Plus, Lord of the Dance Pose practices your balancing abilities.

Find out how to:

1. Stand in Mountain Pose (Tadasana). Shift your weight onto your proper foot. Bend your left knee and raise your left heel towards your left buttock.
2. Maintain your gaze targeted straight forward as you attain your left hand behind you and grasp your outer left foot or ankle. Press your foot away from you towards the wall behind you. In case you can’t attain your foot, use a strap.
3. Attain your proper arm ahead, maintaining it parallel to the ground. For a extra intense stretch, you may raise your leg larger and push your foot away farther For a gentler stretch, hold your left thigh low along with your knee pointing down towards the mat.
4. If you’re able to launch, come out of the pose as slowly and steadily as you got here into it. Change sides.

3. Bow Pose (Dhanurasana)

This pose stretches your hip muscle mass as you open the entrance of your physique. Bow Pose may also improve your posture, which could alleviate tightness in your hip flexors.

Find out how to:

1. Lie in your stomach along with your legs hip-width aside and your palms on the mat beneath your shoulders. Press your fingers into the mat to raise your head and chest. Roll your shoulders again.
2. Bend your knees and produce your heels towards your buttocks. Reaching again with each arms on the identical time, snatch your outer ankles. Maintain drawing your shoulders again. In case you can’t attain your ankles, use a strap. Press your toes into your fingers towards the wall behind you. Breathe right here. Change sides.

Variation: For a much less intense stretch, come into Half Bow Pose by maintaining your left leg straight and your left hand pressed into the mat. Bend your proper leg into your buttock and attain again along with your proper arm to clasp your proper ankle. If it’s extra comfy, you may hold your proper thigh urgent into the mat as a substitute of lifting it. Change sides.

4. Camel Pose (Ustrasana)

Along with stretching your hip flexors, Camel Pose stretches your stomach, chest, shoulders, and thighs. It’s additionally a strengthening exercise in your low again and glutes, which will help enhance hip stability.

Find out how to:

1. Kneel in your mat with knees hip-width aside and your hips instantly over your knees. Press your shins and the tops of your toes into the mat.
2. Place your fingers in your hips, along with your thumbs in your sacrum. Internally rotate your thighs by making an attempt to show your interior thighs towards one another.
3. Inhale and attain your tailbone towards your knees, raise your sternum, and draw your elbows towards one another.
4. Attain your fingers behind you and attempt to relaxation your fingertips in your heels. For a much less intense stretch, tuck your toes to raise your heels  or hold your fingers in your low again and increase your rib cage.
5. You possibly can hold your chin barely tucked or, if it’s comfy, let your head dangle again.
6. Push your thighs ahead towards the wall in entrance of you. Breathe right here.
7. To exit the posture, deliver your fingers to your hips and press down by way of your shins as you slowly raise your chest.

5. Low Lunge (Anjaneyasana)

Your thighs and the hip muscle mass in your again leg expertise a stretch in Low Lunge , whereas the glutes in your entrance leg contract and build strength. Sturdy glute muscle mass assist stabilize your decrease physique and take stress off your hip flexors.

Find out how to:

1. From fingers and knees or Downward-Facing Dog, step your proper foot ahead between your fingers. Decrease your left knee to the mat.
2. Slide your left foot again till you are feeling a cushty stretch alongside the entrance of your thigh. Untuck your again toes.
3. Inhale and raise your arms alongside your ears. Draw your tailbone down towards the mat as you raise your chest away out of your hips to create lengthening alongside your again. Breathe right here.
4. Convey your fingers to the mat and change sides.

6. Lizard Pose (Utthan Pristhasana)

This pose stretches your outer hip (adductor) muscle mass, your hamstrings, in addition to your hip flexors. Lizard Pose may also assist relieve low again ache for these with situations like sciatica, or for many who merely have low again tightness on account of sitting.

Find out how to:

2. Come into Low Lunge along with your left foot ahead. Place each fingers on the mat to the within of your left foot.
3. Tuck your proper toes, raise your proper knee, and attain your proper heel towards the again wall. For a extra intense stretch, decrease your forearms onto the mat.
4. Press your entrance knee into your shoulder and press your shoulder into your knee. Breathe right here. To launch, merely decrease your lifted knee to the mat and return to Low Lunge. Change sides.

This text has been up to date. Initially printed Could 1, 2o21.