Why You Need To Know
Perhaps you
know your hip flexors or lower back gets tight when you sit a lot or that they
burn when you’re doing an abdominal exercise the wrong way.
This
muscle, also known as the psoas (pronounced so-az), is one of the longest
muscles in the body and the only muscle that connects the upper body and lower
body. All while controlling balance, our ability to sit, stand, twist, reach,
bend, walk and step.
That’s just
scratching the surface, because your hip flexors are also connected to your
emotional well-being.
I want you
to know how to “unlock your hip flexors,” so that you can be strong, active and
energetic for yourself and loved ones.
So-az?
Your psoas
is also a major player in the protection of the spine by stabilising your skeleton.
It can tighten and release independently at any of its joint attachments, which
means it can counterbalance structural imbalances in many ways.
If you
constantly contract the psoas, it will eventually shorten and lose its
flexibility and integrity. Once the original structure of the psoas is changed,
is when the body goes into a path of pain.
When it has
been chronically shortened, a list of unfortunate conditions can surface such
as chronic lower back pain. The hips begin to tilt forward, altering the
distances in certain joints and bony structures, and the femurs are compacted
heavily into the hip sockets. As compensation for this change, the quadriceps muscles
are overdeveloped causing knee and lower back pain.
Sitting Is Killing You
Comfortable chairs,
prolonged ‘sitting too much’ as research has found is more dangerous than
smoking and those who sit are more likely to die at an earlier age than those
who don’t sit as much. If you have a desk job or if your job requires you to
drive a good portion of the day, LISTEN. Action needs to happen in order to
correct the imbalances that have been made. The state and health of our body is
a result of how we live and if you live sitting too much, you’re mindset is
more than likely going to be as active as your bum.
Take Action
Here are
the first five of my top 10 Exercises to correct tight hip flexors. Do this
first thing in the morning to warm up and also as soon as you get out of the
seat. The routine takes about 5 minutes which is about the same time it would
take to wait for a coffee or fill up your rig.
Do each exercise in
order #1 to #5. The next issue will feature more on the benefits of a healthy
back and PART 2 of the top 10 Exercises to correct tight hip flexors.
EXERCISE #1 3-Way Leg Swings
5 times total each leg
EXERCISE #2 Quad Stretch
& Reach Overhead With Your Opposite Arm
2 repetitions with each stretch held for 20 seconds
EXERCISE #3 Kneeling Stretches
2 repetitions with each stretch held for 20 seconds
EXERCISE #4 Table or
Rail Quad Stretch
2 repetitions with each stretch held for 20 seconds
EXERCISE #5 Open Book
In & Out
10 repetitions total (5 repetitions each way) with a 2
second hold
Steve welcomes your questions at srtaurustrainer@gmail.com
You can visit his website www.taurustrainer.com
like
his handle www.facebook.com/TaurusTrainer or follow
him Instagram http://instagram.com/taurustrainer for
fantastic resources, tips and training advice.
About Steve
Steven
Roberts is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Nationally Ranked
Boxer, Holistic Lifestyle Coach, Speaker and owner of Taurus Trainer, a Sports
Training, Fitness Program and On-line service in Brisbane, Australia. He trains
athletes to get stronger and faster and dedicated men and women to achieve fat
loss and HEALTH results using his no bull attitude.
