While not everyone can have hips as agile as Shakira’s, we can all benefit from stretching and strengthening the muscles that support these ball-and-socket joints.
Our hips aren’t just responsible for the rocking dance moves we bust out on occasion. They’re a vital joint for runners, bikers, and nonathletes alike, because they are essential for mobility and movement.
You may have heard of your hip flexor muscles and them being tight – but what are they? The hip flexors are a group of pliable muscles that let you move with ease, more efficiently. Connecting the femur to the back, groin and hips, these muscles help coordinate the top and lower portions of your body, playing a key role in bending down and lifting your legs. Tightness and weakness of the hip flexors can cause lower back pain, hip pain, and injury.
Hip flexors include:
· The iliopsoas – two muscles designed to support your lower back
· The rectus femoris – connects the pelvis to the knee
· The Sartoris – helps increase flexible movement in your legs
· The pectineus – helps with thigh movement
Our hip flexors are often tight and shortened due to overuse during everything from walking to sitting. In fact, we use our hip flexors as we take each step - for those of us who sit for long periods throughout the day, we are constantly putting the hip flexors in a shortened position. Unfortunately, a shortened muscle is a compromised muscle and is unable to work efficiently.
Reformer Pilates incorporates many exercises that aim to stretch and strengthen these important hip flexor muscles - allowing them to become more lengthened and work more efficiently to support all the other structures surrounding.
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