Home practice video week 4 (15 minutes): brief gentle yoga practice that focuses on hip stretches – covering inner thighs, hip flexors and hip extensors
What are the hip ‘muscles’?
When I start my classes, I always ask if there are requests. Without fail, someone will ask for hips and shoulders. Why? They are are 2 major joints, responsible for a lot of movement. All that work can lead to overuse and injuries. Not to mention sitting all day or working on a computer or desk all day, can lead to chronic pain in these joints.
There are many ways the hip ‘muscles’ could be tight. Here are 4 key ways that hip muscle groups move the legs. They flex (bring the leg forward), extend (take the leg back), abduct (take the leg out sideways), and adduct (move the leg inwards from the side).
Knowing which muscle group is tight, helps determine which stretch will benefit. And yes! You could be tight in more than one area.
When you work through the stretches in this video, pay attention to when and where you feel the most intense stretch. Is it the front of thighs (flexors), back of thighs (extensors), inner thighs (abductors) or outer thighs and buttocks (adductors)?
While muscle groups aren’t that isolated in reality, learning to identity your chronic tight spots is a good first step in understanding what causes pain and tension in other parts of your body.
For other ways to stretch hip muscle groups, check out my articles in Wilderness magazine on Quadriceps stretch (front of thighs), intense side stretch and extended side angle pose.
