I have always had a bad habit of sleeping in a fetal position. My massage therapist used to tell me with a finger wag, “Don’t do that!” Well, she was right, but it is the only way I can sleep comfortably. One reason why it’s not a good idea to sleep in a fetal position is that it tightens your hip flexor muscle groups, which can then affect your lower back and posture.
About two times a week, I wake up with tight hip flexors, which resonates to my quadriceps, and affects my back. The hip flexors are several muscle groups that connect your pelvis and abdomen to your thigh bone. They help raise your knees and lower your abdomen. Sprinters put a lot of strain on these muscle groups when they rapidly pull their knees to their abdomens, and soccer (or futbol) players do the same when they powerfully kick the ball. But the most common person that may suffer from tight hip flexors is the desk jockey who sits in a chair for eight hours a day. When you have tight hip flexors, it pulls in your abdomen towards your quadriceps, which then pulls in your lower back towards your abdomen. This can cause lower back pain and loss of free mobility.
By Beth ohara – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=545389
Foam rolling the hip flexors is a very effective way to alleviate the tightness. When I wake up with tightness in this area, I use the Honeycomb Foam Roller to roll out the multiple muscle groups, and I honestly can say it feels heavenly. Here’s how to do it:
After loosening up the muscle groups using the foam roller, it is a good idea to stretch them out. This stretch is called the runners lunge. Here’s how to do it:
You should feel a nice stretch on your hip flexors. Moving your bent knee forward will increase the stretch, and raising the heel of your back leg also helps to increase the stretch on the hip flexors.
Use these exercises to relax your tight hip flexors when they are causing discomfort. Remember, to help keep the discomfort away, foam roll and stretch regularly. This will keep the muscles relaxed, keep the fascia free of restrictions, and increase the flow of blood, oxygen, and nutrients to your muscle fibers.
Check out my article Case Study: Stretching vs Foam Rolling – Relaxing Tight Hamstrings, Specifically the Semimembranosus and Semitendinosus Groups to get some practical insights on hamstring pain and injuries.
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