Stiff Hip After Sitting? Must Do These Stretches!
- chelsie462
- 7 hours ago
- 10 min read
This article is a transcribed, edited summary of a video Bob and Brad recorded in July of 2024. For the original video, go to https://youtu.be/IYsOcp4pvic
Brad: Sitting is today's smoking. That's a quote that is used in today's medical community, and the reason why is that people are sitting so much. It actually contributes to problems like low back pain, cardiovascular problems, and more. Mike, you want to add in?
Mike: Including hip pain, which can be very stiff hips. And if you have limited mobility, it's going to affect your lifestyle and what you can actually do.
Brad: So first, we're going to show you why and how sitting makes your hips stiff.
Mike: And then we're going to get in the five simple stretches you can do to help solve this problem.
Brad: Okay, we're going to use Sam here to show you how these muscles get tight, why they get tight, and then why we're showing you this, or how the stretches actually correct the problem. So in the seated position, the hip is flexed at 90 degrees. So here we have the hip flexed at 90 degrees with Sam. Now, this red Kinesio tape happens to be RockTape. We just have that handy in the studio. These muscles will actually tighten up because that's the position, the seated position, for such a long time. Now, when this person stands up, let's look at what happens after the muscle tightens up. When you stand, you can see the muscle actually stretches, and is pulling, and that can rotate the pelvis forward, as well as some of the muscle fibers going to the lower back, and they pull and can hyper-extend or put stressful extension forces on the lower back. Either way, we have this rotational and these forces on the low back because of this tight hip muscle group. It's the Iliopsoas, you don't have to remember that.
Brad: But there's one more particular muscle that has the same type of problem that is oftentimes forgotten about with the stretch. And we do not forget that with our program, that is the Rectus Femoris muscle. It's a long muscle from the ileum, the iliac crest, they call it the ASIS, down across, it's actually one of your quad muscles. Now, that muscle also tightens up when in a seated position. And then when you stand, you can see it pulls on the ASIS that we mentioned. And that also rotates the pelvis in a position where you really don't want to have it.
Brad: So, stretch out these two muscles, and you can take that force off the back and the hips, and life is much better. So let's get to it. Good job, Sam. Alright, we're going to show five hip stretches. Doesn't mean you have to do all five, but I really want you to try all five. And you're going to find which hip is tight and which actually feels good. If any of these create any sharp pain, it is a red flag. Do not do it; there's something wrong with your hip, or it might be how you do the stretch. But these should create no sharp pain. Do not do them if they do. The first one I'm going to show is in a seated position. Now, this particular stretch I'm showing does not specifically stretch the hip flexors, but it's a critically important and easy stretch to do. I call it the seated figure four. So you just put your ankle up on the opposite knee, and you put a little pressure to stretch down. Easy to do, only takes 10 to 15 seconds. You can do it lying down in bed as well, just like Mike is doing.
Mike: I can switch legs.
Brad: Then you can see the knee. There you go. Alright, now we're going to go directly from this into a hip flexor stretch that you can do off the edge of a couch or bed. Go ahead, Mike, seeing how I took all of your talking time before. I apologize for being rude.
Mike: So, a simple way to do this that's not as aggressive is just to go to the edge of your bed and drop it off to the side. You might have to scoot over a little bit to get more of a stretch. And then notice if my leg is straight, I'm not feeling much. Once I start bending my knee a little bit, obviously, I'm limited by the height of this mat, and you start to get that Rectus Femoris muscle we talked about a little bit as well. But you can just kind of hang out here. If this doesn't feel like a good enough stretch, we're going to show other variations later, you can try.
Brad: Right, we've got a really good stretch that Rick Olderman, the expert in this field, shows and recommends. So that's coming up. Let's go to the next one. Alright, let's go into Rick Olderman's stretch. This is probably the best way to cover the hip stretch. Go ahead, Mike.
Mike: So you're going to have to go to the edge of a bed if your bed is firm enough on the side. You can certainly do this on a countertop or kitchen table if you're comfortable getting on those surfaces. So you're going to begin in a double knee to chest position. The closer my butt is to the mat, the more stretch I will feel. So what you're going to do is bring down one leg, and I'm going to try to bend my knee again to work the Rectus Femoris. And with the opposite leg, you'll kind of see, I'm going to make sure to bring it up towards my chest. You can see I have a little bit of tightness as I pull up my leg once to pop up. That's how you get a good stretch here. Try to hold it for roughly 30 seconds. Make sure to breathe while doing this. Another thing that's important to focus on is keeping your legs straight. Don't let it try to deviate to the side. Once you hit 30 seconds, reset to double knees to chest and then switch sides. You may notice a difference with this stretch. One leg gets down further, or the knee bends more. And just maybe spend a little more time on the tighter side.
Brad: That's right. Can you go back to the other side, Mike? I just want to help our viewers recognize. When the knee goes down, we're getting the deep muscle. That's the Iliopsoas; that's in deep. And that one's hard to get at. But the Rectus Femoris, that long muscle, that is often forgotten about with most hip stretches, when you pull the foot underneath, that's when that muscle gets stretched. And you will feel that stretch all the way down. It's very clear when you do it. Now, this next stretch is a really good stretch. I know Bob likes to do it, and Mike likes to do it. I've done it, and I actually really like it, but I don't have a couch in my basement where I work out. But this is really aggressive, but it's for a little more mobile people who don't mind getting on their knees. Mike, show them what it's done.
Mike: So this is commonly called the couch stretch. Oftentimes, you do this on the side of your couch. We don't have one here, so we're just using a chair. I like to have something soft to kneel on. Once you're in this kneeling position, get your foot up on the side of the couch. I don't like to do the couch cushions because my ankle is in a different position. If you're actually on the edge, it's going to put your ankle in the plantar flex position. So you're going to feel a slightly different stretch depending on how you do this. Now, once you're here, some people might feel super tight just right here, bending forward. That's fine, just stay here. What you wanna try to do is eventually get to a straightened-up position with a good trunk. And make sure that your pelvis is straight as well, because some people might be straight up, but look, I'm flexing, I'm not feeling a stretch at all. So get a good stretch in there. Once you can do this comfortably, you can kind of noodle around to see which area you're limited on. You can even go back more to get that Rectus Femoris. Just kind of sit in the stretch for a little bit. Oftentimes, it feels pretty good.
Brad: Yeah, it really does. I enjoy doing it, and it really gets at the hip and the rectus that we talked about. Good, and then do both legs, I'm assuming.
Mike: Do both legs, do 30 seconds. I like to do two sets of 30 seconds. Because of the first set, I'm normally tighter. The second set, I limbered up a little bit, and I can get a little bit more aggressive with it.
Brad: Make sure you use a pillow, or a pad, or you have some good carpet because it is aggressive on the bottom knee.
Mike: And the last stretch is a classic one from gym class, at least in my area, or even football, is the standing quad stretch. So you have to be standing. If you feel unbalanced, you can certainly do this by a countertop. Simply grab your ankle and then pull back. Make sure your leg isn't way forward. We're not doing the chicken wing or something. So get a nice position, stand up tall. The more you bend your knee, the more stretch you will feel.
Brad: Right, this is one I like to do because when I'm going to go for a jog outside, I don't have anything to do it with. But a nice standing stretch. And again, don't lean forward. Up tall and use something to balance if you need. And then you really get the Quadratus. Up tall, really critical. Easy stretch to do. If you feel like it works well for you, go ahead, and make sure you do both legs. Alright, five stretches for that hip flexor group, taking away all that tightness developed from sitting long-term at the computer, in the car, wherever you sit. Do we have anything else to go along with this?
Mike: I would say try all five of them out and then see which ones you need to work on more. Perform them two to three sets a day, and hold for 30 seconds each time.
Brad: That's right. And we're going to show you one extra little thing. If you happen to have a massage gun, you can use that effectively to get this muscle group stretched out. Hold on. Alright, so like I mentioned, you can use a massage gun if you want to get at these muscles and get in there to help loosen them up and do it before you stretch. We'll get them loosened up so they stretch better. And with this muscle group, there's a lot of muscle mass there for a lot of people, especially if you're larger. You can go with a larger gun. We have our Bob and Brad C2 Pro. And this actually has a hot and cold head. Can you show them that head? This head is very unique, and there aren't many out there, but it actually heats up and it cools down. So whichever you respond better to, you can use that. Or you can use both, hot for a while, then cold for a contrast massage. It really works out well. Mike, can you talk about where to do it and then where not to do it to get the hip flexors?
Mike: Now, it's going to depend on where you are tight in your legs. The hip flexors, you can kind of work laterally here in this region. You don't want to get too close to the groin region at all. There are a lot of different things that can happen in there, including the lymphatic system, lymph nodes, and you don't want to hit. So just massage that area. If you're more sore in the quad region from your hips, you could certainly do there. Personally, I really like this on the hammies because my hammies are always tight. So any area that connects to the hip is a good place to massage.
Brad: Right. And again, that rectus femoris goes all the way up and down. So you can hit that with it. That's a really nice way to use a massage gun for this type of thing.
Mike: I would say different positions, too. I get a little more feeling and go deeper if I'm standing up versus sitting down. So sometimes it's something to try as well.
Brad: Right, and we also have another video. If this is not getting the information you want, we also have one on how to stop hip bursitis pain without seeing a doctor and having an injection for it.
Mike: So, check out the video, "STOP Hip Bursitis Pain Without Seeing A Dr or Having Injection."
Brad: There you go, enjoy the day.
Mike: I'm taking this thing home.
Brad: Good hip health to you.
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