Hip Flexor Problems

Try this exercise for lower back:

http://www.rice.edu/~jenky/sports/back.extension.html

This one worked for me.

I have just started getting active release (ART) treatments and I am hoping that they solve the hip, back, and now knee problems that I have had for years. It was back in the 80's when I got heavily into triathlons that these problems started. The ART specialist, after watching me run, wondered if I ever did triathlons because he was tracing my problems to the Psoas (hip flexor) muscle. He said that this is common in triathletes when you go from biking to the running hard. It causes scar tissue that can't be stretched. After the first ART session my back felt better than it has in years. He is continuing to work on the psoas and the muscle underneath that is rotating my hip in. It seems to be going very well, I just hope that is long lasting. You might want to check into ART treatments. Besides helping you in the present, it could help you keep away from future problems.

Jim

This will sound so stupid... so take it with a grain of salt (whatever that means).

I don't know how many times (well Ok, I do, like 3 or 4) that I have had some sort of lingering injury that I've tried to stretch the heck out of, but the way that I intuitively thought was the right way to stretch was, in fact, the exact opposite stretch of what I should be doing (learned after going to an PT). So, try stretching in the opposite manner of what you've been doing. For example, I had this aggravation in my right glute (thought for sure it was periformis syndrome), so I kept doing these peri syn stretches and kept lying down to pull my knee to chest, etc. when it turned out my hip flexors were tight and I needed to stretch them (for the thing in my glute). Week later this thing that was going on months was gone.

Also, you have to be careful with this... but a lot of times, if you just run some more mileage, things have a way of working themselves out. Obviously, I am no expert, but these have worked for me.

What exactly are ART treatments? After I finished my collegiate eligibility, I began cycling and competing in duathlons. My hip flexors & IT bands are much more inflexible than ever before and the basic stretches don't seem to really loosen them much...

I am not a triathlete, but I recently did quite a bit

of cross-training (mostly swimming and some biking) while

recovering from an injury which limited my running. I had

a problem develop with one of my hip flexors, and it still

bothers whenever I try to swim regularly while I am running,

but if I just run, it's fine. It's kind of a bummer,

because the swimming is great for recovering from running.

I think the hip flexors are a real tough spot for

triathletes because they are one of the few places that

get hit hard by all three sports. You might try just

running for a while and see if that helps, then gradually

mix in biking and then swimming.

Also, when running, watch your form - make sure you are

getting your knees up. If you let the hip flexor problem

impact your running form, you will have all sorts of other

problems to deal with. If it hurts too much to run with

good form, don't run. I actually found that with the

hip-flexor injury, it was slow running that hurt the

most (especially at the end of the runs when my form was

lagging) - if I kept the pace brisk, and my form tight,

it actually hurt less.

It may sound funny, but have lots of sex, it really helps.