NOTE: Research Articles are informative and fun to read. However, they can have varied results so you must learn what works best for you
HIP FLEXION & LATERAL FLEXION: ILIOPSOAS
- Hip Flexors – Strength & Mobility. Keeley Physio
- Muscle Anatomy – Iliopsoas – Psoas Major & Minor + the Iliacus
- MRI Study – Strength for the Psoas Major.
- Hip Flexors – 1 . Kaitlyn – Physio
1️⃣ Bench Lift-offs: foot on bench; knee angle 90º; lift foot up
2️⃣ Bench Lift-offs with band on Foot: foot on bench; knee angle 90º; lift foot up
3️⃣ Sitting on Floor Straight Legs: lift-over obstacle side to side
4️⃣ Single Leg Standing Lift-overs: step over hurdle; toe touch return; plant leg doesn’t move - Hip Flexors – 2 . Kaitlyn – Physio
1️⃣ Slide Board: stand beside slide board: backward split squat on slide board; follow through to high knee lift (Sprinter)
2️⃣ 1-Leg Banded Straight Leg Flexion: from standing position band attached to post directly behind you
3️⃣Banded Plank Hip Flexor March: band around foot attached to post directly behind you
4️⃣ Back-Lying Banded Hip Flexor March: band around foot attached to post - Hip Flexors – 3 . Kaitlyn – Physio
1️⃣ Back Lying Banded Psoas March: band around feet
2️⃣ Standing Banded Hip Flexor March: band around one foot
3️⃣ Hanging Banded Hip Flexor March: hanging from Ab-Slings
4️⃣ Dynamic A-Skips: Track Drill
- Hip Flexor Strength Exercises . Harden – Chiro
(1) Back Lying Isometric Hip Flexed: push against lifted knee; hold for pain relief
(2) Back-Lying Banded March: band around feet
(3) Standing Dumbbell Hip Flexion: hold DB on knee; lift knee to 90º
(4) Standing Kettlebell Hip Flexion: KB on foot; lift knee to 90º - Hip Flexor Strength Exercise . Harden – Chiro
(1) Seated Banded Knee Raise
- Knee-ups.
- Reverse Sit-ups.
- Pike on a TRX or Big Ball or Big Ab Wheel .
- Rollouts .
- EMG Studies – Knee-ups, Reverse Sit-ups, Pikes & Rollouts.
Abdominal Muscles as Proximal Stabilizers for the Hip Flexors – Healthy Street .
Function
– The hip flexors advance the leg when walking or running and lift the leg when going up steps
– Efficient execution is highly dependent on the stabilizing forces provided by the abdominal muscles
Straight Leg Raise
– Fig A shows two primary hip flexor muscles generating a force to lift a fully extended lower extremity
– The relatively long extended leg places very large force demands on the hip flexor muscles that likely exceeds 10x the weight of the leg
– With weakened ab muscles, attempts at flexing the leg often result in an unwanted anterior pelvic tilt and associated excessive lumbar lordosis (Fig. B).
– The unstable pelvis and lumbar spine are pulled toward the anterior femur—into an anterior pelvic tilt—because the pelvis and the lumbar spine are more free to move than the leg.
– To prevent this, the abdominal muscles produce a posterior tilting force that stabilizes the pelvis (Fig. A).
– As is shown in Fig. B, the unwanted anterior tilt of the pelvis simultaneously increases the lordosis in the lumbar spine.
– For this reason, excessive lumbar lordosis is often a clinical sign of weak abdominal muscles.
Sit-up
– The iliopsoas (and all other hip flexors) and the abdominal muscles share the responsibility of performing a basic sit-up
– For a person with weak abdominal muscles the hip flexors immediately take over the action—most notably by the exaggerated anterior pelvic tilt and increased lumbar lordosis—as the pelvis and trunk are rotated forward and upward.
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