The hip flexor is one of the large hip muscles responsible for significant leg movement, including lifting the thigh. When we tighten these hip muscles, they could crack, causing pain, or they could rupture, causing severe pain and movement problems. Various sports can lead to these types of injuries, from soccer to running. However, you can heal these tight muscles if you have patience with your body and use common sense.
Strains of the hip flexor muscles cause pain in the front of the hip as well as near the hip bone if you injured your tendon. These injuries can also cause muscle cramps, swelling, bruising, and stiffness after a period of inactivity, such as in the morning.
A common sports injury, hip flexor tension causes pain in the muscle group in the front of the hip or groin. Hip flexors help you lift your knees and bend your waist. A strain results from micro tears due to overuse or a sudden contraction during stretching, running, or kicking exercises. To relieve pain, perform hip flexion exercises three times a day, as long as the exercises do not cause any more tension.
3 key stretches for hip flexor
Quadriceps stretch
Stretch your quads, muscle in the front of the thigh and hip flexor at the same time with a quad stretch. There are two ways to do this stretch, standing or sitting.
For the standing stretch, hold onto a table or chair. Bend your knee and hold the top of your ankle with your hand on the same side and pull your foot toward your buttocks until you feel a stretch in your quads. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and release. Repeat three times on both sides.
To perform the seated stretch , place yourself on a bench with one foot forward on the floor and the other leg bent back with the front of the thigh flat on the bench. Hold the top of the ankle of the foot that is flat on the bench behind you and pull the foot toward the back. Hold for 30 seconds and repeat three times on each side.
Hip flexor stretch
To specifically stretch the hip flexor, kneel down and place one foot in front of you with one knee bent and your foot flat on the floor. Press your hip forward and try to push your pelvis to the floor while pushing your shoulders back in the other direction. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and then release it. Repeat three times.
Hip flexion with resistance
Hip flexion with resistance strengthens the muscles. It can be done in two ways, with a band or with the hands. If you have a band on hand, tie it around your ankle. Tie a knot at the other end and close the knot on a door near the bottom. Stand far enough away from the door so there is no slack in the sash. Bring the leg forward, keeping the knee straight, until the band has stretched and feel the resistance in the leg and hip.
To do this exercise only with your body, lie down on the floor. Bring one knee up to you, using your hands to push it away. Hold for 30 seconds, then release. Repeat three times.
