Move to Alleviate Back Pain

Sitting for a prolonged time causes hip flexors to tighten. This tightness could cause you back pain and your spine to become misaligned.

Your hip flexors are an important muscle group. If they are tight, your spine can become more unstable and painfully misaligned and pressure is added to your lower back as your muscles try to realign your spine.

Prolonged sitting is one of the biggest reasons for short hip flexors and they can tighten up if your core muscles are not working well. Tightness of the hip flexors will make your back arch more and put pressure on the spinal joints. It will also inhibit the core muscles of the stomach that support your spine, making it unstable and vulnerable to injury.

Tight hip flexors can result in a lot of pain and discomfort and it can even make the simplest everyday tasks challenging. Performing simple exercises and stretches every day will help to release tight hip flexors and improve your athletic performance. Here are two effective exercises and stretches to help loosen up your hip flexors and improve your mobility.

Pulse Lunges

• Assume a lunge position and make tiny pulsing movements to activate your hip flexors
• Repeat for 30 seconds on each leg for three sets

Reverse lunges with knee charge

• Stand with your feet shoulder width apart
• Take a step backwards with your right foot and lower into a deep lunge position
• Shift your weight onto your left foot and drive your right knee upwards, until your knee is parallel to the ground
• Repeat this movement for 3 sets of 10 repetitions on each leg

Hip Flexor Stretch

• Lie down on your back on your bed
• Shuffle to the edge so your left leg starts to hang over the side
• Bend the right leg and lift it so you can take hold of your right knee
• Bring it up towards your chest as far as you can and let the left leg fall down as far as you can
• Relax into this position and hold for 30 seconds, repeat 3 times on each side.

If you have an underlying knee or hip injury these may be difficult, so ask your chiropractor on how to perform something similar and effective for your condition.

Stretches and exercises that have been designed to relax, lengthen and strengthen your hip flexors are one important part in helping you protect your joints and improve your mobility. Improved mobility will ultimately prevent injuries from occurring.