This blog follows on from our “Are My Hip Flexors Tight or Are They Weak?” and looks at other things to try and help out those tight hips! Physio Neil says this is quite a personal blog for him as it’s something he’s experienced in the past, particularly during marathon training. Here are some of his additional tips that have both worked for him, as well as for his patients.
Foam Rolling
This isn’t a magic cure or quick fix but it can give great short-term relief! Foam rolling or applying pressure to the area (self-myofascial release) increases blood flow to the muscles and so supplies them with more oxygen - this can help recovery and reduce delayed onset muscle soreness.
These two quick videos and nice ones to try after a run or if your hips are feeling tight:
Think About Your Feet
If you’ve relatively flat feet like me, this can affect the natural position of your pelvis compared to those people with a higher arch - my flat feet cause my pelvis to tilt slightly forward. And because of this, when I ramp up the mileage, the muscles at the front of my hip tend to do more of the work than the muscles round the back (the glutes)... and my hip flexor can start to give out.
I help manage this with stability/support running shoes and wear an insole (orthotic) in my day to day footwear. A podiatrist (and some physios) can assess your feet to see if footwear or orthotics can help out your hips.
Get Those Hips Moving
As I said above, your pelvis may be naturally tilted forward. This is perfectly normal and nothing to worry about. But these exercises can help to get your pelvis moving and more flexible - you’re subtly tilting your pelvis so it feels like you’re rounding your lower back and tucking your tailbone under your back:
Try and do one of these every day, whichever feels more natural, holding for 10 seconds by 10 repetitions.
Work On Your Glutes
Your hip flexors can get overworked and irritated if the other muscles nearby aren’t doing their bit - your glutes. Talk to your physio who can let you know if it’s an area you need to strengthen, but forward lunges and single leg bridges are two exercises to get you going.
Aim to do 15 repetition, 2-3 sets, 3-4 times a week and when that’s getting easy, try adding more weight (with dumbbells or a weight across your chest) so that you’re getting pretty knackered come the 15th rep. And then, over the coming weeks and months, you can keep gradually increasing the weight so you’re fatiguing at 8-10 reps, doing 3-5 sets.
More With Your Core
Your stomach muscles (abdominals) also help out to bend and flex the hip. So if your hip flexors are tight it could be your abs are not doing enough to help them. There’s lots of exercises out there to help your core but two of my favourite ones are bicycle crunches and stability ball rollouts.
Again, 2-3 sets until fatigue, 3-4 times a week.
Think About Your Training
Our hips often get tight when we increase our training in a short period of time. Common examples are falling behind on a training plan and trying to make up for lost time, or a spiked increase in mileage/intensity/frequency of your running - a little bit of too much, too soon.
Your physio or running coach can come up some tweaks to your individual programme to help settle your hips down. Talk to them about possibly introducing some cross-training as well, such as cycling, swimming, weight training, yoga or Pilates.
Your Hips Don’t Lie
Listen to them! If you often have tight hips, it may be time to do something about them. As you can see there are lots of things you can do to help. So if you’re looking for any guidance about the best way forward, please book in an appointment with one of our Chartered Physiotherapists.