What Is A Psoas?
Have you ever heard of the psoas muscle? Before I started this program I hadn't either. The psoas is one of your hip flexor muscles, actually its the biggest one and its what connects your upper body to your lower.
I'll get right to it and say that the program worked however there were a couple of the exercises that were difficult to perform.
This is, as I continue to find out, why it's so important to exercise it just as you would any other muscle.
In the video below I am demonstrating one of my favorite stretches from the "Unlock Your Hip Flexors" program, the table hip flexor stretch.
As shown in the video, the stretch is performed on a table top, I have adapted at home by performing this particular stretch on the arm of my couch.
Stretching out my hip flexors has proven to be most beneficial after working. As a delivery driver I spend a lot of time sitting which actually holds your hip flexors in a flexed position for long periods of time. These targeted stretches help relax those tense hip flexor muscles.
Why The Hip Flexors?
The program appealed to me because I’m a PT pizza delivery driver and spend a lot of time sitting, obviously! I was looking for something that could help relieve the lower back pain and muscle tension that I experience as a result from all the time behind the wheel.
Symptoms From Having Tight Hips
There are many problems that can arise from having tight hip flexors, a few of these are:
- Bad posture
- difficulty sleeping
- feeling sluggish
- elevated anxiety
- digestive and circulatory issues...
Benefits Of Stretching Your Hip Flexors
Here are some benefits after going through the sequence of exercises:
- achieve peak performance
- reduce body fat
- gain strength faster
- renewed energy
- better stability
Is It A Program That Works?
Starting the program and after just a few of the initial exercises I could feel that this was going to be beneficial. I could already feel the deep stretch of my psoas muscle targeted by the exercises.
The biggest benefit overall from this program was that it made me aware of my psoas muscle. This was a muscle that before had been never worked or rather never exercised properly. Doing flutter kicks, sit ups, squats, all feel different know that I am aware of this muscle.
I am also aware of when it is tight and needs to be stretched. Especially after driving for a couple of hours, when I finally stand up straight I notice how sore my hamstrings are and know now that it is due to my hip flexors being tight and that I need to stretch them as opposed to my hamstrings first.
But don't get me wrong, that hamstring stretch feels just as good and is still useful after being sedentary for a while.
Here is some helpful information form the Healing Through Movement Facebook page:
You will definitely want to take this slow starting out because the exercises shown could definitely cause injury if not performed correctly.
One stretch that I have begun to add at the very end of the hip flexor routine is borrowed from yoga, a yoga pose called the upward facing dog pose. It provides a stretch that I feel is missing and have found to be helpful with the hip flexors.
Bonus Material
The program also came with a complimentary diet call the “7 day anti-inflammatory diet.” This is a nutrition program you can use to complement the hip flexor program to help kickstart wight loss.
Did you found this review helpful? let me know in the comments below or if you just want to say hello you can do that too! Thank you for reading, take care.