Ahhh the good old hip flexor – it’s an under-appreciated and frequently “tight” muscle in the bodies of those that love running. Today we’ll explain a little bit about hip flexor anatomy then dig into what causes the tightness you might have felt there. We’ll also show you the best exercises for tight hip flexors, so you can try them yourself!
When an athlete talks about their hip flexor, they usually mean their iliopsoas. The iliopsoas (pronounced illy-oh-so-as) is the merged section of the iliacus and the psoas muscles (hence the combo name) at the front of the hip. This muscle complex is key for runners because it slows down the hip’s forward motion in the late stance and early swing phase of the running stride (learn more about the phases of the running stride here). Without it, running would look a lot more like falling over, so when it feels sore or tight, training can be pretty difficult.
Iliopsoas | Source: 3D Muscle Lab
Why does my hip flexor feel tight?
The main reason your hip flexor feels tight is that you exceeded its ability to handle the training you were doing. It could be that you ran a bit too much, too fast, too much uphill, too much downhill, or simply weren’t rested enough in between sessions. The muscle senses that it is over overworked, so it sends a signal to the brain to let it know. That signal is the “tightness” you feel. The muscle itself actually hasn’t changed length! Thankfully, there’s a simple fix.
What stretches fix tight hip flexors?
Answer: none of them! While it might make intuitive sense that you need to stretch a “tight” muscle, the science actually supports loading and strengthening the muscle as the most likely way to reduce feelings of tightness in the hip flexor and reduce injury risk over the long term. (study)
Loaded exercises increase the iliopsoas muscle’s ability to handle mileage, so in the future you can run more without overworking it. Stretching is a temporary way to lengthen the muscle, but that doesn’t have much relation to why it feels tight now or how to make it not feel tight in the future.
The best exercises for tight hip flexors
Ok, in order of increasing difficulty, here are a few exercises that can help load and strengthen the hip flexor. It may take time to see results, but committing to a strengthening routine 3x per week is the best way to improve the muscle’s capacity and reduce the risk of future tightness, pain, and injury.
Heel Taps
Why it works: This exercise allows an athlete to load the hip flexor without any equipment. Researchers often recommended it for athletes dealing with minor hip flexor issues (study)
Psoas Marches
Why it works: this exercise puts a lot of load through the hip flexor. You can start without any form of resistance then progress to tighter resistance bands or ankle weights.
To get a routine of hip flexor exercises with the appropriate number of sets & reps and additional exercises to help you run healthy, try the Recover Athletics App!
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