9 Best Hip Flexor Stretches with How-To-Do Guide!

Due to heavy workload and busy schedule, one finds oneself confined to a single place for a long time. This may lead to tightening of muscles of hips, glutes as well as back. We hear people complaining about tight hips that occur due to sitting in a place for a long time. For this reason, we have mentioned 9 Best Hip Flexor Stretches!

The set of hip flexor exercises will work on your flexors and few other muscles. This would lead to their relaxation and improved mobility. The stretches are specifically chosen to target mainly the hip flexors. This assures you that doing them will be definitely worth your time & energy!

Before directly going into the hip flexor stretches, let us first see what are these hip flexors and where they are located.

Muscles in Hip Flexors-

Hip flexors are a group of muscles located in the hip region and thigh region. They are responsible for the flexion of the lower limb.

The muscles included under hip flexors are

• Iliopsoas
• Rectus femoris
• Sartorius
• Tensor Fascia Latae(TFL)
• Adductor longus & Adductor Brevis
• Pectineus
• Gracilis. For a more detailed view on flexors of the hip and thigh visit Wikipedia.

Now jumping on to the 9 Best Hip Flexor Stretches for loosening of Tight Hips.

9 Best Hip Flexor Stretches-

1. Seated Butterfly Stretch–

How-To-Do-

1. Sit down on the floor with the base of both feet touching each other.
2. Make sure your back is straight and the hips are stabilized.
3. Drive your legs onto the ground such that they are making a minimum angle with the floor.
4. Let them go down as far as possible and then reverse the motion.
5. Repeat the seated butterfly stretch for getting better hip flexors.
6. Remember that this is the best hip flexor stretches exercise.

2. Hip Flexors Lunges Stretch-

How-To-Do-

1. Lunges are much easy to perform, but here we will be focusing more on the hip flexors.
2. Get into the lunge position( Stretch your legs such that the front leg makes 90 degrees at the knee and the floor. The leg at the back should be straight at the knee joint.)
3. Your body must be lowered up to half your height.
4. Now pressurize the hip muscles by staying in a lunge position for at least 10 seconds.
5. Now shuffle to another leg and maintain that stance again for about 10 to 20 seconds.
6. Repeat Hip Flexors Lunges Stretch 10 to 15 times in a set of 2.

3. Bridges Stretch-

How-To-Do-

1. Lay down on to the floor such that your legs make an angle of 45 with your thighs.
2. Make sure your back is flat touching the floor. This marks the starting position.
3. Now elevate your lower region such that your knees, hips, and shoulder are in a line.
4. Hold this position for 3-5 seconds and then lower your body to the normal starting position.
5. Now repeat the bridges 12 to 15 times in a set of 3.

4. Standing Stretch-

How-To-Do-

1. Stand straight with a shoulder-width distance in your legs.
2. Now elevate any one of your legs so that the knee touches the chest.
3. Hold this position for 20 to 30 seconds.
4. Standing stretch is similar to that of the knee to chest stretch but the only difference is that of the body posture.
5. Repeat the standing stretch for another leg too.
6. Do this exercise 15 to 20 times in a set of 2.

5. Straight Leg Raises-

How-To-Do-

1. Lay down on the floor similar to that of the sleeping position.
2. Now uplift your leg to almost a right angle with the floor.
3. Hold it for 10 seconds or more and then turn on to another leg.
4. Do the same steps mentioned above for another leg.
5. Make 5 to 10 repetitions for a set of 2.

6. Sliding Mountain Climbers-

How-To-Do-

1. Get into the position where you are at the starting position of push-ups.
2. Now make sure that your glutes are neither too high nor too low. They should be making a straight line.
3. Since we have to focus on the hip flexors we have to do Sliding Mountain climbers and not only mountain climbers.
4. Slide your leg such that it approaches the chest and then reverse the motion after a brief hold of almost 10 seconds.
5. Now repeat the above steps with another leg too.
6. Repetitions should be almost 20 in a set of 2 to 3.

7. Single Knee to Chest Stretch-

How-To-Do-

1. Get flat on the floor with a 45-degree angle between your legs and thighs.
2. Now elevate one of the legs to a 90-degree angle with the floor and the previous angle too.
3. Stretch your leg such that your knees touch your chest. (Note- This is not compulsion at all if you feel discomforting or pain immediately discontinue the exercise.)
4. Repeat the above steps with another leg.
5. Do 10 to 15 repetitions in a set of 2 or 3.

8. Wall psoas hold-

How-To-Do-

1. Stand upright with no gap in your legs and no support at the back.
2. Now uplift any of the legs and grab it with your hands such that it touches the chest or almost approaches near to the chest.
3. Hold this psoas hold for 20 to 30 seconds and then relax this leg to the normal position.
4. Elevate the other leg and grab it again and hold for few seconds.
5. Repeat this exercise 10 to 15 times in a set of 2.
6. Wall psoas hold is one of the best hip flexors stretches as it stretches the flexors a lot.

9. Squats-

How-To-Do-

1. Stand in an upright position with your knees bent and your back should be straight.
2. Now lower your body down so that it makes a meter of distance from the ground.
3. Up rose again to the normal position. Repeat it 10 to 15 times in a set of 3-5.

FAQ’s on Hip Flexors-

Thanks for Reading!

Also, Read our other Amazing Articles-