Flex Your Hips
09/27/2012 Leave a comment
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| Photo Credit: Scuba-limp CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
Your hip flexors are muscles that help flex your hip joint when you stand up and sit down. When your hip flexors are weak or tense, you can experience stiffness and pain in your hip or lower back. Hip flexor exercises help to strengthen the muscles and improve flexibility of the joint. If you suffer from osteoporosis, spine injury or hip injury, consult your doctor before trying any hip exercises.
Lying leg raises can be done on the floor or on an exercise bench. Lie on your back and flatten your back as much as possible. Bend both of your knees and then raise your knees toward your chest as far as you can. Keep your knees together and try to avoid lifting your lower back off the floor. Lower your knees but don’t touch the floor with your feet and then bring your knees back to your chest again. Try to do 8 to 10 repetitions of this exercise.
Stretching your hip flexor muscles help improve flexibility to make bending, walking and standing up easier. Lie down on your back on your bed or on an exercise bench. Allow your legs to hang over the bed with your butt close to the edge of the bed or bench. Place your feet flat on the floor with your knees bent. Raise one knee up toward your chest but leave the other foot on the floor. Grab your knee with both hands and gently pull your knee toward your chest. Lower your foot back to the floor and repeat on the other side. Try to do 8 to 10 repetitions with each leg.
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