How To Assess Hip Flexor Tightness
Also check out Psoas Release Techniques for additional ways to free up your hip flexors.
Author: Sam Visnic
How To Mobilize Your Lower Back While Sitting
Also, check out the Kneeling Chair for better positioning at work and reduction of spinal stress.
How To Work On Your Forearms With The Arm-Aid
Need help with tennis or golf elbow? Learn more about Release Muscle Therapy.
How To Foam Roll Your Glutes – Simple Steps For Results
While there are many tools available for glute self-massage, the foam roller is the easiest to access (you can find one at virtually any gym).
In addition, the roller has a wide contact surface, which is ideal for keeping reducing the intensity of the pressure into any one area.
How To Foam Roll Your Glutes – Key Points:
- Make sure you are sitting on the glute you want to massage. Also be careful of putting pressure on your tailbone.
- Turn the roller at a slight angle to access the deeper muscle fibers (glute medius, minimus, and piriformis).
- Move in 2-4 inch segments and emphasize the tender spots.
- Breathe! If you are holding your breath, its going to be difficult to reduce the threat/guarding in the tissues.
How To Foam Roll Your IT Bands
While its commonly called foam rolling the “IT band”, we are really rolling the lateral quadricep (vastus lateralis) and the tensor fascia latae (TFL).
This are is often VERY sensitive, especially when there is an excessive amount of forward tilting of the pelvis, and imbalances between muscles in the hips and pelvis.
Due to this, we generally do not recommend foam rolling this area in a cold state. The best options for warming the area up include:
- Using a stationary bike for approx. 5 minutes
- Applying heat pack for 10 minutes to the area
- Rolling post-workout
These can dramatically reduce the sensitivity of the tissues and allow for a greater therapeutic effect and release.
As with all foam rolling, work in 2-4 inch segments, emphasize tender areas, and remember to breathe!
How To Reduce Back Pain During Glute Bridges
Addressing glute muscle weakness is an essential goal of any postural balancing program, and the glute bridge exercise is a staple.
Generally the exercise is tolerated well, but its not uncommon for it to cause some discomfort in the lower back.
So, whats happening?
Bridging involves extension of the hips, and any limitation in your ability to do so will affect the exercise. If you aren’t able to get the extension from your hips, its going to come from somewhere else. In this case it will be the lower back.
If you have sensitivity toward the end range of back extension, this is going to cause some discomfort.
There are a few solutions here:
- Increase your ability to extend your hips
- Modify the exercise to avoid the end range of back extension
Lets take a look at these and how to reduce back pain during glute bridges.
Reduce Back Pain During Glute Bridges – Increase Hip Extension
Direct massage techniques and stretching applied to your hip flexors is the fastest way to increase hip extension. The primary ones we are concerned with are:
- Psoas
- Rectus femoris
- Tensor fascia lata (TFL)
Tensor Fascia Lata
Rectus Femoris
Psoas
Its important to know that only the psoas and the TFL cross the hip. The rectus femoris crosses both the hip AND the knee.
Since the glute bridge is done with bent knees, the muscle that will create the greatest degree of restriction first is going to be the rectus femoris. Thus, we need to select a stretch that emphasizes this muscle. The kneeling hip flexor stretch is our favorite to use.
Quite often its the only stretch we need to do in order to gain enough hip extension to comfortably do glute bridges without back discomfort!
Both the psoas and the TFL are quite a bit more tricky to access via stretching, so direct massage release work is often much more effective.
Modifications To Avoid Excess Back Extension
There are a few easy modifications to make in the glute bridge to avoid excess lower back extension.
- Move your feet forward: This opens up the knee angle, which reduces the tension on the rectus femoris.
- Move your feet further apart: This allows the hips to extend more due to increasing abduction of the hip joint.
- Tilt your pelvis more (posterior pelvic tilt) to flatten your lower back prior to lifting your hips.
The glute bridge is a fantastic exercise for strengthening the back side of the body and building resilience of the lower back. With the tips listed above, you’ll be able to perform them with minimal discomfort and reap the benefits! Following these steps will reduce back pain during glute bridges.
Guide To Foam Rolling For Those That Hate Foam Rolling
Let’s be honest. Foam rolling sucks. It’s as simple as that – no one likes to do it.
Unfortunately, that’s why it never gets done, or gets done in a half-assed manner.
If you’re reading this, I’m quite sure you’re already aware of the value of doing soft-tissue work.
If not, go HERE to learn more.
When I do massage work on clients, I usually send them home with homework in the form of foam rolling, stretching and muscle activation exercises, and there is definitely a pattern of skipping the foam rolling once things are better.
BUT…you need to maintain health of your tissues.
Foam rolling is an excellent form of self-massage with the ability to relieve muscle tightness and pain, aid in recovery, and correct larger tension patterns.
Although traditional stretching can be very beneficial in its own way, it often fails to provide adequate pain relief as it simply doesn’t reach deep enough in the specific areas of your body where tension is located.
Foam rolling on the other hand, involves applying direct and profound pressure to the very root cause of tension, which allows it to release trigger points and break up adhesions between muscles in a highly effective way.
Foam rolling also has a number preventative benefits, which I like to refer to as “pre-hab” values. These include:
Improved Circulation
Myofascial release breaks up tight areas where blood flow might be restricted, thus improving circulation and in extension overall health.
Increased Range of Motion & Improved Flexibility
Foam rolling is an excellent and safe alternative to pre- and post-exercise stretching.
Decreased Stress Levels
Myofascial release has the potential to lower the stress hormone cortisol.
Decreased Post-Exercise Soreness
Foam rolling can significantly reduce the chances of delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS, which is characterized by pain and stiffness 24-48 hours after intense exercise.
Prevention of Injury
Foam rolling is an excellent tool for keeping your muscles flexible, which is one of the best way to prevent injuries resulting from overuse and overtraining.
Now that we’ve established the many benefits of foam rolling, let’s circle back to the biggest issue:
Lack of consistency
As we all know, failing to plan is planning to fail. In other words, you need to create a plan to get the essentials in with minimum time, pain and effort.
There are many reasons why people avoid foam rolling at all cost (literally). Below, I’ve listed some of the more common ones I hear along with tips on how to overcome these barriers.
“It hurts”
TIPS:
- Do a quick cardio warm-up before rolling. This will warm up your tissues and help avoid rolling on “cold” muscles, which will be more sensitive to the pressure. etc.
- Try rolling AFTER each workout for less discomfort (unless you need to roll in order to train). Your muscles will be warmed up from exercising and it will be much less painful than if you were doing it before your workout.
“I’m too lazy”
TIPS:
- Perform while watching TV. You know those shows you watch that aren’t any good, but you watch them anyway? Roll while watching those! Scroll down to the bottom of the article for tips on exercises.
“It’s too time consuming”
TIPS:
- Practice quality over quantity. Foam roll the areas that are WORTH foam rolling. Use the right tool for right area – the foam roller isn’t the best tool for some muscles. In other words, be efficient and make it worth it.
- Save painful rolling exercises for the gym. Getting yourself to the gym means you’ve already left your comfort zone – why not take advantage that? Realistically, you’re much more likely to get it done after a tough workout session than if you were relaxing at home.
“It’s boring”
TIPS:
- Vary your rolling exercises. You don’t go to the gym performing the same workout every day, do you? Choose 1-2 rolling exercises (link to CTA) per workout and make them specific to the body part(s) you’re focused on that day; such as legs, upper body, back, etc.
“I’d rather just get a massage”
TIPS:
- You know exactly where it hurts. One of the main benefits of foam rolling is that you know exactly where it hurts and are able to control the intensity of the therapy by yourself. Professional massage work is a great way to address your soft tissue needs, but unless you’re getting hands-on work done a few times per week, adding supplemental foam rolling work (link to CTA) can expedite your results and supplement the professional work.
A FINAL TIP is to stay on top of tension patterns that are reflective of your lifestyle, which means ergonomics at work, exercise habits, posture, etc.
Top Areas That Need Addressing & Helpful Exercises
Some parts of the body need more attention than others, and below you’ll find a list of the top areas that needs addressing along with helpful exercises to get you started.
Top 6 Quadricep Release Techniques – DIY Or With Help
The quadricep muscle group contains 4 muscles: vastus lateralis, vastus medialis, rectus femoris, and vastus intermedius.
Excess tension in these muscles can contribute to stress in the knees, hips, and lower back.
How to know if you may need the following quadricep release techniques:
- Anterior pelvic tilt
- Knee pain
- Patellar tracking issues
- Lower back pain
- Thigh pain
- Hip pain
- IT band syndrome
Are Your Quads REALLY Tight?
So how do you know if your quadriceps are actually tight?
The easiest way to tell is to assess the quads in the same position as we test the hip flexors in, which is called the Thomas Test.
We need to differentiate tightness between the tightness of the rectus femoris (part of the quadriceps that flexes the hip) and the rest of the quadricep muscles.
Quadriceps Release – Massage Therapy
The quadriceps are often quite sensitive to soft-tissue techniques, so massage therapy isn’t my first choice to address tight quads, but pin and stretch techniques (such as Active Release Technique) can help.
The emphasis doesn’t necessarily need to be a high amount of pressure, but rather a moderate sustained pressure for a longer period of time (for example 2 minutes). I always recommend following up with stretching as a home assignment to lock-in the results.
In this video, John Gibbons demonstrates this technique:
Quad Stretch – Standing
The standing quad stretch is probably the most well-known version people use.
The most common error, however, is allowing the pelvis to tip forward excessively (anterior pelvic tilt), thus reducing the tension on the quadriceps. Be sure to maintain a neutral pelvis by squeezing your glutes.
Quad Stretch – Kneeling Hip Flexor Position
The kneeling hip flexor stretch is by far the most versatile quadriceps release stretching technique.
It allows you to maintain your balance and emphasize the pelvic tilt aspect of the stretch. The primary emphasis of this stretch is going to be the rectus femoris.
As the stretch gets easier, the back foot can be elevated slightly to add more tension to the quadriceps.
Quadriceps Release – Percussion Therapy Tool
Percussion tools can be useful for releasing tight quadriceps. Generally, most people just use the tool to massage the quads without regard to position, but I prefer to place the muscle under stretch as the percussion is applied.
Watch the video below for details:
VIDEO
Quadriceps Release – Graston-IASTM Therapy Tool
Graston-type IASTM (instrument assisted soft tissue mobilization) tools can be helpful for reducing quadriceps muscle tone and improving range of motion.
Some techniques can be self-applied, but this is a good reason to see a professional therapist.
Quadriceps Release Technique – Foam Roller Self-Massage
Self-massage for the quadriceps is easily do-able with a standard foam roller. The goal is to roll with a light-moderate level of discomfort that allows you to comfortably work on the tissues.
When you find areas that are particularly tender (quad trigger points), hold those points for 10-15 seconds, then move to another area.
Continue this process until you treat the areas that you can access effectively.
VIDEO
Thanks for checking out these quadricep release techniques. Keep in mind that any techniques presented here need to be applied in the context of an overall corrective strategy aimed at addressing the root cause of the issue, whether that is chronic pain, tension, or reduced performance.
To learn more, see my services page, or my online system, the Posture Hacking System.