Being a RMT, I often get asked for advice by my teaching colleagues about how to solve soft tissue problems, most specifically muscle pain. Recently I was approached by Melissa inquiring about hip flexor pain and tightness that she had been receiving treatment for with little resolve. Her left hip flexor, primarily her tensor fascia lata (TFL) was the muscle that she was having treated. She had numerous visits with her physiotherapist and couldn’t shake the muscle spasm. Recognizing that other muscles may be contributing to the problem we had a brief conversation about stretching and what other muscles she could work on to help give her some relief. Naturally, the conversation started with “Lazy Stretching” as I call it. I showed her how to stretch her quadriceps (thighs), hamstrings and adductor (groin) muscles. Interestingly enough, they all benefited her.

Basically, what we talked about was looking at the balance of hip flexion with hip extension and the muscles that could be contributing to her tight hip flexors. What I also shared with Melissa is that another muscle called adductor magnus can often be problematic for people. The adductor magnus performs adduction as its name implies but some fibres perform hip flexion and hip extension. Because it performs so many different movements it is important to stretch opposing muscle groups when looking at a hip problem such as hers.  So one thing led to another and I showed her my Lazy Hamstring #2 stretch as seen below.

Try this:

Lie flat on your back, tuck your butt up against the wall, placing the soles of your feet together. Place your hand on your knees and push towards the wall. This will stretch your groin (adductor) muscles with a focus on the upper attachment on the pubic bone.

Remember to breathe by slowly inhaling through your nose and exhaling out your mouth. Hold for 20-30 seconds or until you feel your groin muscles relaxing.

A birds eye view.

Add this Lazy Groin Stretch to your repertoire and let me know if it helped.