Hip Flexor Stretch Positions – 3 Best Poses for Flexibility

Article by Lucas Rockwood

What happens if you have tight hip flexors?

From a standing position, take a big step forward into a lunge and hold your body upright while you stretch your hip flexor. Those same muscles on your back leg need to relax and extend to make hip extension possible. Your ability, or lack thereof, to lunge into the hip flexor stretch, will be determined by the health and mobility of those same five muscles. In a deep lunge, it’s easy to see and feel the limitations of tight hip flexors to extend, but less obvious is how those tight muscles might affect your standing posture, walking, and running gaits.

Tight hip flexors are a common cause of exaggerated anterior pelvic tilt, side swing gate, back, hip, and knee pain that can impact the entire body.

Why are my hip flexors so tight?

Since we spend most of our day sitting, in a shorted hip flexor position, your muscles naturally shorten and tighten over time. In a world without furniture and cars, we would get up and down off the ground hundreds of times a day, constantly extending our hips and stretching those muscles. In developed societies, people might go days or even weeks without any significant hip extension movements at all, which can have serious impacts on their health.

3 Best Hip Flexor Stretches

To stretch your hip flexors, you need to extend your hip, relax completely, and hold the stretch for 2-5 minutes. If you’re familiar with the Science of Stretching approach to flexibility, you’ll know the Three Principles of Practice: (1) Wet Noodle, muscles stretch best when relaxed, (2) Breathe to Relax, inhale through your nose for four counts and out through your mouth with a “ha” sound for an eight count, (3) Time Under Passive Tension, spend 2-5 minutes in each pose when training mobility. Practicing hip flexor stretching everyday helps maintain a healthy body.

Standing Hip Flexor Stretch

• Pad up a tabletop, desk, or countertop
• Extend your back leg
• Choose the option that gives you the best stretch with no pinch in your lower back

Blaster Pose

• Place a pad on the floor under your left knee
• Lunge your right foot forward outside your hands
• Allow your hips to move forward and down
• Choose the position from the options above to give you the best stretch without any back pain

Full Stretch Splits

• Straddle a pile of pillows
• Point your back toes
• Stack your shoulders over your hips
• Choose the option above that gives you a 7/10 intensity (not higher)

Hip Flexor Stretch for Back Pain

Your psoas muscle starts at your lower back, crosses your pelvic, and attaches on the lesser trochanter on the inside of your femur. Because this unique muscle connects the upper and lower body, a tight psoas can contribute to an exaggerated lumbar spinal curve and excessive anterior pelvic tilt. This “butt out” posture can put extra load on the lower back during all movements and potentially lead to back pain.

For these reasons, the best hip flexor stretches to stay fit and exercise your hips are the three reviewed above. People can do the stretches on a mat, on the floor, or standing on your feet for a true hip flexor stretch. Making time to stretch will help get exercise and improve the overall health of your body.

Hip Flexor Exercises & Pain

Like all muscles, your hip flexor muscles can become sore and even strained from overuse or over-stretching. Overuse of hip flexors make matters worse and might occur from excessive strength training whereas over-stretching might occur from over-extending the muscles in a lunge or dynamic movement. While painful, an overused muscle can often heal relatively quickly if you rest and try gentle exercise during recovery. If you get a hip flexor strain, hold off on more strenuous exercise, get some self care, and prioritize nutrition until your hips fully heal.