If there is just a group of muscles that just cannot be stretched too often in runners, it is the hip flexors. With many of us spending a lot of time sitting at work and at home, our hip flexors are a lot more likely to be too tight than over-flexible. Even if you do not sit at work, any activity that involves bringing or keeping your legs closer to your body (or vice versa) than when standing with good posture can lead to tight hip flexors. You can tell that your hip flexors are extremely tight when your relaxed posture shows an arched lower back and an anterior pelvic tilt.
Here is how tight hip flexors (also called iliopsoas) cause an anterior tilt of the pelvis:
Unfortunately, proper running form and improvements in speed cannot be achieved without normal range of motion in the hip. My training programs always include pre-run and post-run dynamic stretching of the hip flexors. Unfortunately, it can get boring to always do the same stretches and some of my favourite stretches might not work for everyone. So I looked into the dynamic stretching routines of American football players for more ideas of stretches for myself and the athletes I train.
For all these stretches, make sure you do not arch your lower back. Instead, keep your core tight and focus on letting your hips moving forward. Because these are dynamic stretches, they can be both done before or after your workouts, but try to always warm up your muscles before stretching.
While stepping forward, bend your front knee to a 90 degree angle. While doing this movement, reach overhead with your opposite arm to your leg moving forward. Push your hip forward and reach up until you feel the stretch at the top of your back leg and in your hip. Hold the stretch for a maximum of 2-3 seconds before bringing your arms down and stepping forward with your other foot and reaching up with your other arm.
Here is how tight hip flexors (also called iliopsoas) cause an anterior tilt of the pelvis:
With tight hip flexors, the front of the pelvis is pulled down, the lower back is pulled forward and arched, and the belly ends up sticking out.
Unfortunately, proper running form and improvements in speed cannot be achieved without normal range of motion in the hip. My training programs always include pre-run and post-run dynamic stretching of the hip flexors. Unfortunately, it can get boring to always do the same stretches and some of my favourite stretches might not work for everyone. So I looked into the dynamic stretching routines of American football players for more ideas of stretches for myself and the athletes I train.
For all these stretches, make sure you do not arch your lower back. Instead, keep your core tight and focus on letting your hips moving forward. Because these are dynamic stretches, they can be both done before or after your workouts, but try to always warm up your muscles before stretching.
1. Walking Lunges with Alternating Overhead Reach
While stepping forward, bend your front knee to a 90 degree angle. While doing this movement, reach overhead with your opposite arm to your leg moving forward. Push your hip forward and reach up until you feel the stretch at the top of your back leg and in your hip. Hold the stretch for a maximum of 2-3 seconds before bringing your arms down and stepping forward with your other foot and reaching up with your other arm.
2. Reverse Lunges with Lateral Overhead Reach
After stepping forward into a lunge, reach over your head with your arm while pushing your hip forward. You should feel the stretch where the front pocket of jeans would be located.3. Walking Lunges with Rotation
Once into lunge position, rotate your arms across your body towards the leg that is forward. Try to also rotate your torso as much as you can without moving your legs. Be careful to keep your balance and to keep your knee above your ankle when rotating.4. Knee Hug Forward Lunge
- Stand with your feet hip width apart, lift your knee and grab your lower leg to press your thigh against your chest with your foot flat on the ground. Then, go on your tip toe, release your leg, and "fall" into a forward lunge. Be careful to not let your forward knee go past your toe when moving into the lunge. Come up and repeat with your other leg.
5. PNF High Knee to Reverse Lunge Stretch
Standing with your feet hip width apart, lift one knee up with until your thigh is parallel to the ground, push your thigh down with one hand or two, hold for a few seconds, then relax and go into a reverse lunge. Push your hip forward until you feel a stretch in the front of your hip.