We are all aware that as athletes, keeping our bodies loose and our joints healthy is essential to longevity. Sometimes though, the normal stretching routines that most people do don’t address the deeper muscles that are getting tight, staying tight, and leading to high chances of injury and even discomfort in daily living! One of the biggest muscles in the body that gets neglected are the hip flexors. These muscles are notorious for getting tight. The biggest problem when trying to fix hip flexor tightness is that most people don’t know how to stretch them effectively. This leads to further tightness, and even chronic pain.
Hips in Combat Sports
Knowing how prevalent tight hips are, we need to first understand why this problem can be so devastating for combat sports and athletes of any sports. When we think about basic movement, down to something as simple as walking, the hips are working hard. When we start talking about sports, the issue magnifies based on the amount of use the hips get. Specifically with combat sports like jiu jitsu and wrestling, the most basic movements start and end with the hips. When the problem of tightness occurs, this can hinder the ability to perform at a high level, and worse, lead to injury. Lets talk about some common side effects from tight hip flexors, before we talk about practical ways to help this issue.
Back Pain
The posterior chain is one of the most important parts of the body for athletes. Most of the power and sport movements are initiated with the back of the body. When the hips are tight, it can actually lead to back pain due to what it will do to your posture. Most people with tight hip flexors struggle with Anterior Pelvic Tilt. A condition that is usually rooted to tight hip flexors. This condition is caused when the hip flexors are so tight it posteriorly pulls the pelvis into a tilt which causes the lower back muscles to become extremely tight, and also forces an excessive arch into the lower back. People who have this also typically have weak hamstrings and glutes due to the load being placed heavily on the lower back. This lower back pain can inhibit the ability to perform well in sports.
Tight Hamstrings
People with tight hip flexors also find themselves with very tight hamstrings, and unfortunately, they stretch the hamstrings thinking that they are the main source of the problem, when in reality, the hip flexors are causing the hamstrings to be tight, and by stretching the hamstrings, they are making the hip flexors tighter!
Internal Problems
One thing people dont often know is that tight hip flexors can effect the internal organs and how they function. Many times people with tight hip flexors struggle with digestive issues, trouble sleeping, high anxiety and stress, and even just feeling lethargic constantly. This is not good for anyone, but especially athletes. When competing and training, we need to be performing at 100% constantly, and we cant do that when we have all these underlying problems.
How do I fix this problem?
If you have tight hip flexors and are worried that there is no way out, don’t worry! There is! And a lot of it doesn’t just include stretching them.
Build Stronger Hips
One of the first things you can do to see improvement in your hips is by strengthening the muscles that are often neglected when the hips are tight, namely the glutes and hamstrings. Use hip dominate exercises that will target these muscles, and it will begin to help some of the problem. Below are some of the best exercises for building the glutes and hamstrings. Click on the links below for a detailed breakdown of each exercise.
These exercises will help strengthen the muscles that are often times weak in those with tight hip flexors.
Build Stronger Abs the RIGHT Way
Most people with tight hip flexors also have weak abdominals due to the nature of the way their hips are positioned when tight. Now before you go and start doing more crunches and sit-ups to help strengthen the abs, stop! Exercises that work the abs with spinal flexion also heavily involve the hip flexors, sometimes even more than the abs. And if you have tight hips, it’s only making the problem worse. When working for abs, use exercises like Planks and through compound movements as previously mentioned. These exercises will allow the focus to be on your abs and not your hip flexors.
Stretching
Lastly, but most importantly, you need to stretch. If you are not stretching every day, your problem is likely getting worse every day. Luckily my friends over at Critical Bench have put together a GREAT program to help you with getting rid of tight hip flexors. I have used this program personally with great results. Not only are my hips much healthier now, but my performance in my grappling career has greatly improved too! Click here for more details on this program. It has my strong recommendation.
Closing
Like all things, there is no instant fix to something like tight hip flexors, but there is hope. Through strengthening properly, stretching and living a healthy lifestyle, you can make changes that will help you to live a higher quality of life, and perform at the highest level in sports.