16 Best Hip Flexor Stretches

If you’re sitting at a desk for most of the day, you’ve likely felt tightness in your hips at some point or another. And unlike tension in your neck and shoulders (which also comes from sitting too long), hips are one of those areas you don’t always realize is tight right away. That is, until one day you get up and hear a sudden crack or pull a muscle. As it turns out, hip issues aren’t limited to people who are older in age. In fact, studies show hip replacements are on the rise, most commonly seen in adults in early middle age. “When people experience ongoing hip flexor tightness, the natural instinct is to stretch the tight muscles,” says Jenni Tarma, a ERYT500, aYoga Medicine® Therapeutic Specialist, and a lifelong athlete.“While this can alleviate the sensation of tension in the short run, it doesn’t provide much long-term relief. In fact, strengthening the muscles through their entire range of motion, and making sure they’re able to engage in a wide variety of joint positions is what will mitigate chronic tightness.” Tarma suggests thinking about it this way: while a quick stretch will certainly give a little more range of motion right away, you really want to take ownership of that range in order to keep it, and turn it into something you can functionally use. Which is where the strengthening comes in!

Best hip flexor stretches

Supine hip flexor exercise

From Tarma: How to do it:

Lie on your back and place a yoga block under the back of your pelvis- the lowest height setting works great, and if you don’t have a yoga block, use a folded blanket to give you a couple of inches of height instead. Loosely hug your knees towards your chest, and notice how your low back naturally rounded and slightly dropped as part of the action: your task will be to keep the lumbar spine in this slightly flexed position, and not allow it to lift away from the floor.Keep hold of one leg, and slowly begin to extend the other out in front of you while keeping the low back fixed in place. You’ll pause with the leg either parallel to the floor, OR when you start to feel a light tug in the front hip crease, whichever happens first. This is your signal that the hip flexors are now under a little bit of tension! To train function near this end range, do a small, controlled pulse up and down of the leg. Just a couple of inches in both directions is perfect, and the slower you go, the better: you don’t want to bounce or swing the leg.Take a passive release by letting the leg release all the way down to the floor. Here, you can let the low back arch a little, as long as there’s no uncomfortable compression. If the low back does feel crunchy here, just bend the knee to find a more manageable sensation of stretch instead. Repeat on the second side, and notice if there are discrepancies in range of motion or muscle endurance!

Hip flexor and quad strength lunge

“This one is surprisingly challenging, and as a bonus, it also targets the quadriceps,” Tarma explains. How to do it:

Set up in a shallow low lunge: the knee and ankle of the front leg are stacked on top of each other, and the knee and hip of the back leg are stacked up too. Untuck your back toes so the top of your foot is resting flat against the floor. Slightly tuck your tailbone so your low back lengthens/ rounds a little: your job is to maintain this position throughout, and not allow the low back to arch. You might already feel a little productive tension in the hip crease of the back leg! Next, start to actively press the back foot down into the floor as though you’re attempting to lift the knee off the floor. If you’re successfully maintaining the tuck of the tailbone and the position of the low back, this should feel fairly challenging! The front of the back hip and thigh should feel very active here. You can either stay and maintain this action for as long as you can tolerate it, or if it feels manageable, try to briefly hover the back knee off the floor. To release, come into a passive lunge: let the hips drop forward and down and the legs relax before repeating on the second side.

High lunge

From Tara Stiles, wellness expert, bestselling author, and the founder of Strala Yoga How to do it:

Start standing with your feet hip-width apart. Gently step one leg back and a little out to the side so you are stable. Put a little bend in your knees. Take a big inhale and lift your arms and whole body upward. Exhale and settle right in your center. Hang here for 5 long, deep breaths. Go for the other side.