What Are Hip Flexors?
Basically, the hip flexors are a set of muscles
that
pass through the pelvis.
One of them, the Iliopsoas
is made up of two muscles, the Iliacus
and the Psoas
Major, located at the front of the hip.
Together these muscles functions in bringing the thigh up
toward the
abdomen.
Although the two muscles begin in different
places...
the Iliacus
originates from the hip bone,
the Psoas Major,
the longer of the two originates at the spine,
...both muscles end at the same place, at the
upper
thigh bone. It is at this point where a hip flexor injury is
most likely to occur.
The Rectus Femoris
is one of the Quadriceps
muscles, but the only one that crosses the hip joint. This
muscle acts not only as a hip flexor but straightens the knee, as well.
How Important is Hip Flexor Exercise?
If the hip flexor muscles become tightened they
will likely cause discomfort or pain in your pelvic area as well as
your lower back and legs. This happens as a result of the
tightened muscles exerting forward pull on the lower back and pelvis,
and pulling the abdominal muscles forward, which in turn causes
weakened stomach muscles.
As the saying goes, the best offense is a good
defense. In
this case your defense is hip
exercise.
Doing something as
simple
as incorporating more walking
into you day will help.
However, for greater benefit you should routinely include
some hip flexor stretch
exercise. This will increase the
blood flow to your hip joint, thus making it less prone to injury and
degenerative disease such as arthritis.
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