Hip Flexors- evidently a weak link for me

[mtwarden]

I just got back from a rather arduous three day mule deer hunt- pretty heavy pack, big miles and lots of gain/descent. While my legs overall were sore they still had some decent life in them. My hip flexors however (not sure exactly which one (or ones)- right at the very top/middle of the front thigh), did not. Just lifting my leg over shorter blowdown was difficult (and pretty painful).

I have had this same scenario play out when I do the Bob Marshall open in the Spring, by day two I'm often having to grab the fabric of my pants to help lift my leg over deadfall.

Soooooo... with that said, is there a good way to condition these muscles? This is definitely a weak link for me.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

It’s very old, dated, and cheesy as can be… But the old P90X Abdominal workout video is excellent for mobility and lots of hip flexor focus in there. Do that routine twice a week and you will notice a big difference!

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Here’s a guy who remade it at home using their same routine. Try it out!

 

[manitou1]

After grueling hunts and packing out animals I can get "charlie horses" (cramps) in my hip flexors for a week or two.

First time this has happened for me this year.

 

[V2Pnutrition]

I just got back from a rather arduous three day mule deer hunt- pretty heavy pack, big miles and lots of gain/descent. While my legs overall were sore they still had some decent life in them. My hip flexors however (not sure exactly which one (or ones)- right at the very top/middle of the front thigh), did not. Just lifting my leg over shorter blowdown was difficult (and pretty painful).

I have had this same scenario play out when I do the Bob Marshall open in the Spring, by day two I'm often having to grab the fabric of my pants to help lift my leg over deadfall.

Soooooo... with that said, is there a good way to condition these muscles? This is definitely a weak link for me.

You don’t think the culprit could be those bad boys being tired from logging 2023 miles this year, do you? ;-)

I’ve found two things to be incredibly helpful for me on this front: strengthening the hip flexors with some band/mobility work (see below) + strengthening my rear glutes (opposing side).

Hip Flexors
Lay on your back with a band (I liked the tubes version more than the flat, streamer-like PT bands) wrapped around both feet. Keep on foot straight while pulling your knee to your chest with the other. Repeat the other side. (Check out the images. Your feet do not need to be elevated. My floor is just messy, haha!).

When I first start, I can maybe knock out 5-6 of these depending on the resistance of the band. I’ll increase a rep each week until I get 10 on both. It’s maintenance from then out.

I also do single leg “kicks” by tying one end of a band (the same style) around around my squat rack and the other end around my foot. Count for reps and switch sides.

 

[mtwarden]

Thanks everyone!

Kyle- I'll give those a try, my wife has several different bands I can try.

I think the opposing muscles- glutes- are in pretty decent condition (hiking steep up/squats/lunges).

The front flexors probably aren't in terrible shape, but they are the ones that always raise their ugly head (fortunately it's only on high mile days)

 

[hefledthescene]

If you sit a lot in your day to day life, it might not be just weakness of your hip flexors but a combination of weak/contracted tight hip flexors, a weak abs, and a tight lower back.

All that stuff plays together to create anterior pelvic tilt, where your back is compensating for weakness in the core. I'm only chipping in because that was something I dealt with pretty severely after 90ish minutes of commuting every day on top of a desk job.

the simplest solution I found for long term relief was to train

-couch stretch
-split squat, modified until you can do full length.

This video covers the combination of weaknesses really well.

 

[cjdewese]

Definitely a weak area of flexibility for me too.

 

[sierracharlie338]

Stretching would be my suggestion. I had hip flexor issues years ago and found that a good routine of stretching before every work out really helped loosen them up. Speaking of which I need to get back into that routine.

 

[*zap*]

I thought you were the man of steel?



Hope you get it fixed.

 

[mtbraun]

You sure it isn't related to hip/glute weakness? Seems odd, with your training load, for the hip flexors to be weak or strained.

For example, a few years ago in my mileage ramp up, overworked and eventually strained my TFL. Not exactly the hip flexor, but close and used in activation during leg lift. Focused on strengthening the hips and glutes and have not had any issues since.

 

[mtwarden]

I was thinking hip flexors as it is the inability to eventually not be able to lift my leg/knee up very high. Usually (always?) brought on by high miles and negotiating a lot of blowdown.

My “fix” is to grab a handful of material in my pants and lift the leg high enough to clear the log

 

[The_Jim]

If you do a lot of running I bet it could be related to your core.

The mind pump podcast has changed how I work out, they are total Gym bros but their advice has really changed fitness for myself- they have an AI site that gives basic answers to questions and then cites podcast episodes that they discuss those topics. Might be worth a shot! They do put timestamps on the episodes so you can get right to what you want to hear.

Mind Pump AI

dexa.ai

 

[mtbraun]

I was thinking hip flexors as it is the inability to eventually not be able to lift my leg/knee up very high. Usually (always?) brought on by high miles and negotiating a lot of blowdown.

My “fix” is to grab a handful of material in my pants and lift the leg high enough to clear the log

Give hip/glute work a try. In my experience there’s no real need to strengthen the hip flexor, especially if you already have a high training load. They could be tight though, especially if you spend a lot of time sitting.

 

[mtbraun]

Give hip/glute work a try. In my experience there’s no real need to strengthen the hip flexor, especially if you already have a high training load. They could be tight though, especially if you spend a lot of time sitting.

Forgot to add that if you have anterior pelvic tilt it will only exacerbate the hip flexor issues. APT is corrected by hip and glute work.

 

[Alaska92]

Vernon Griffith with GBRS has some excellent hip strengthening and stretching exercises.