I wanted to show you how to relieve hip flexor pain from squats.
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Exercises To Relieve Hip Flexor Pain
1. Butterfly Stretch
Begin by sitting on the mat and bending your knees. Bring the inside of your feet together and pull your feet closer to your body. Then, drop your knees out to the side and look for a good stretch in the hips and inner thigh area. Afterward, hold that position for 20 seconds.
Butterfly Stretch
Start off with one set of 2 reps. Then, hold the end position for 20 seconds. The intensity is light. We’re focusing on a static stretch.
The purpose of this exercise is to loosen up the hips, stretch out the hips when it comes to rotation, and stretch out the inner thigh. The common reason why people have hip flexor pain when squatting is that they have excess tightness in the hips.
2. Foam Rolling Out The Hamstring
For this hip flexor pain from squats exercise, you don’t need a 3-foot foam roller. You can use the 1-foot foam roller.
Place the foam roller on the floor then sit down on it just below the hip. Roll through the hamstring to just before the knee, and then roll back up.
Foam Rolling Out the Hamstring
FiStart with one set of 5 reps. Perform this exercise in a smooth, controlled movement with a quick stop at the end position. The intensity is moderate. You may want to put as much body weight on the hamstring or foam roller, and it should feel like you are getting a massage. It should be a little bit uncomfortable when you are doing it. If you don’t feel that much, you can rotate the leg in and out, specifically rotating it from the hip. This will target the different parts of the hamstring.
This exercise targets to loosen up the hamstring and the opposite or back part of the hip.
3. Hip Flexor Exercise With A Ball
For this exercise, you can use any ball like a tennis ball, cross ball, softball, baseball, or dog ball. The smaller and the firmer it is, the deeper it will press on the muscles and the deeper the massage will be.
Firstly, start into a kneeling position and lie down on the ball. Secondly, press the ball on the hip flexor area or hip area. Then, move in circles around the ball, do it from one direction five times looking for sensitive and tight areas. Afterward, do another five times in the other direction.
If you find the sensitive area, stop on that spot for a couple of seconds until it subsides a little bit, then continue with the rotation.
Hip Flexor Exercise With a Ball
Start with one set of 5 reps in each direction. Perform this exercise in a smooth, controlled movement with a quick stop. You may want to put a lot of weight onto the ball. It should feel like you are getting a massage. You are looking for extra sensitive areas. Stop on those sensitive areas for a couple of seconds until they subside a little bit, and then continue with your circles throughout the hip.
The purpose of this exercise is to release the hip flexor or the quadriceps muscles to improve the movement in the hip and relieve hip flexor pain when squatting.
4. Hip Flexor Exercise Using A Resistive Band
For this exercise, use a resistive band. Begin in an upright standing position. Then, grab the resistive band, step on it underneath the arches of your feet, and adjust your distance. Feet are hip-width apart or a little bit more. You can put the handles of the band on the hips, or you can bring them up to the shoulder if you want to increase the resistance. Go through the squat movement. Bend your knees and bend through the hips. Maintain proper alignment with the upper body, then return to the start position and repeat the movement.
Hip Flexor Exercise Using a Resistive Band
Start off with one set of 5 reps. Perform this exercise in a smooth, controlled movement with a quick stop at the end position. The intensity can be light to moderate depending on how strong you are in the knees and hips.
The purpose of this exercise is to strengthen the muscles around the knees, specifically the muscles around the hips targeting the glutes and the hamstrings.
Give these four exercises a go to relieve hip flexor pain from squatting.
If you want to decrease and eliminate your back pain, hip pain, and knee pain and protect you from injuries, then check out the Best Gluteus Maximus Exercises program, here!
Take care!
Rick Kaselj, MS