"One of the things that quickly became obvious when I began working as an athletic trainer and yoga teacher is that most athletes place a disproportionate emphasis on "opening the hips" by practicing stretches for the hip flexors. But what most everyone overlooks is practicing the equally critical hip flexor strengthening exercises for these overstretched muscles. Research indicates that practicing hip flexor strengthening exercises could reduce the likelihood of injury and improve athletic performance fo r runners."
"When the hip flexors are weak, your body needs to compensate by overworking other supportive muscles. Additionally, weak hip flexors can cause alignment problems in the hips and knees, and change the way your body has to move. These altered mechanics can cause muscle and joint aches, strains, and pain. For example, weak hip flexors have been shown to contribute to back, hip, and knee pain"
Most athletes overemphasize hip flexor stretching while neglecting hip flexor strengthening, creating muscle imbalance. The hip flexors, primarily the psoas major and iliacus (iliopsoas), with assistance from rectus femoris, sartorius, and pectineus, flex the leg at the hip for walking, running, climbing, and everyday movements. Weak hip flexors force compensations by other muscles, alter hip and knee alignment, and change movement mechanics. Altered mechanics increase risk of aches, strains, and pain, and weak hip flexors have been linked to back, hip, and knee pain. Strengthening hip flexors can reduce injury likelihood, improve running performance, and slow mobility decline with aging.
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