Do your hips feel tight? Any cramping or soreness in the hip and upper leg areas? Tight (or “weak”) hip flexors are a signal that your body isn’t working in the way it needs to. Strengthening your core and hips (including your behind!) will help you loosen the flexors up.

There are three main causes of tight hip flexors.

1.Being on that behind all day

Sitting all day isn’t good for anyone.

Many of us sit at a desk all day. That’s in addition to sitting for the commute too. Then, at home, we’re sitting in front of one screen or another.

Strengthening core and glutes helps to stabilize the body. In addition to strength training, there’s another easy solution: spending less time sitting!

Get off your tuchus! But how can you work without sitting? Lift your work surface. You can try a standing desk so you alternate between sitting and standing.

The human body didn’t evolve for us to sit all day. Get yours up and about.

2. Walking/running improperly

Running with the wrong form can tighten your hips too.

When you’re up and about, good posture and gait will help keep you injury-free and hip flexors nice and relaxed. 

The key to hip extension? Strong glutes that balance out the work your hips are doing. Make sure you’re working out that behind. Swimming freestyle (crawl) is also a good exercise for hip extension.

3. Tight hamstrings

If your hammies are a little on the weak side, they’re not doing their job. Your hip flexors have to activate to take over.

There are stretches that will help your hip flexors; see some examples here. 

Summary

Tight hip flexors can cause issues with your core, pelvis, and back. Fortunately there are a number of ways that you can fix the problem!

Do you have issues with your hip flexors? Has anything helped you with them? Let us know in the comments!