This is an advanced stretch technique for stretching hip flexors, front hip joint and quadriceps muscle. Opens up the front hip joint, stretching iliopsoas and quadriceps. Kneeling in this position might not be comfortable for runners with knee injury. Use the standing or Thomas test stretch position for iliopsoas muscles. These muscles tend to be very tight in a lot of people from excessive sitting and lack of regular stretching. Hip flexor strain or injury can often cause micro tears and scarring leading to adhesions, thickening and pain.

Tweetables:

Advanced Stretch Technique for Stretching Hip flexors, Front Hip Joint and Quadriceps  [Click To Tweet]
Hip Stretches: Stretching Exercises Guide [Click To Tweet]
Dynamic Stretching For Runners  [Click To Tweet]

Transcript:

Hey guys, this is Manu Kalia, physical therapist and Ayurveda herbalist. So I’m going to show you another way to do a hip flexor upper quad stretch. This is a bit of a more advanced technique and it really gets the quads if they’re really tight, too, and it can also get your anterior tibialis and front muscles too. So for those of you guys who are runners and athletes really stiff through this whole region, your front of the hip capsule, the iliopsoas or your hip flexors, your rectus femoris and all these guys, it’ll really stretch it out.

So we’re going to use a couch. You can essentially use anything. You can use a chair, too.

So starting on an all-fours position, what you’re going to do is…and I put my foot up here almost to the point that my knee is hanging off so it’s not on the ground. So that right away puts my knee in a good amount of bend through here.

You can see how it starts to open up that front hip, so I’m going to tighten up my glutes. When I tighten up my glutes, the opposing muscle group to your hip flexors, it automatically starts giving me a stretch to the front of the thigh. Now, to protect my spine even further, I’m going to kick in my lower abdominals. So I really tighten up my stomach muscles. I tighten up my glutes. It protects my spine and it really starts to give me a good stretch in that upper part of the quads. So it’s like a high quad as well as hip flexor stretch through here.

So while I’m in that position, if I want to get a stronger stretch, I’m going to start straightening up my upper body a bit. So now that’s going to really start getting this. And if I want to even further stretch that out, I’m going to straighten up more and more. Now I’m really getting a good stretch through here. But you’ve got to make sure you don’t start arching at your back through here. This has got to stay relatively straight and stable through there by kicking in your lower abdominals and your butt muscles.

So as I go further and further, as I straighten out more and more, I’m going to get a stronger and stronger stretch right up through this area and probably in my quads and all the way through that chain. So hold that position. You want to think about—you could even put your hand just above the glute. So what that does is, and if I give a little bit of a push or glide forward with my right hand, I’m really forcing myself to just stretch right at that hip. Plus, it trains me not to arch at my low back. So I put my hand here and I glide it forward lightly so my force is going this way. Don’t do it too hard though. So, nice and easy, I glide forward and I keep my butt tight, and as I straighten up I get a very good stretch through here.

So look for tighter spots, side-bend a little bit, oscillate back and forth to see where you’re stiffer along the chain. Great way to stretch but bit of an advanced technique. And so check out the techniques that I’ve done before to loosen this up before you get into these positions.

So, hope you enjoyed that. Make sure to always do both sides. Remember, you want symmetry, even amount of mobility and strength both sides of the body.

Leave a comment to let me know what you thought about this technique.