This is the second of 4 posts to flesh out the introducing hip mobility and lumbar stability post that I did last week. In this mini-series, I’m going to cover:
- Stretching
- Soft tissue work
- Activation drills
- Strength exercises
Soft tissue work for increased hip mobility
As I mentioned in my previous post, I’ve allowed my posture to deteriorate recently and I was shocked at how bad it had become when I saw my holiday snaps (check out the lower back arch!). I’m cross with myself and I’m ready to be a bit more aggressive with sorting the problem out. Soft tissue work is going to be one of the tools I use to help.
Having said that, just thinking about being aggressive with soft tissue work is bringing tears to my eyes, but hey, I shouldn’t have let things get so bad in the first place…
And as I mentioned before, I know I need to work on my upper back too but one thing at a time!
Soft tissue work for improving hip mobility and lumbar lordosis
When it comes to improving my hip mobility and reducing lumbar lordosis, I am looking to create an improvement in the tissue quality in order to change my posture and overall movement patterns. I want to remove any knots and scar tissue in the muscles so that the muscles lengthen and relax. I want to allow my hips to move more freely so that the movement that occurs when I flex or extend my legs at the hip happens at the hip and not at the lower back.
So when I bring my knee up (in starting sprinting or stepping up) then my lower back doesn’t round outwards. And when I extend my leg behind me (in jumping or as the tail leg in sprinting) then my lower back doesn’t sway forwards (as in the photo above).
What muscles are we working on?
The hip flexors. And remember there are more than just two! There are quite a few hip flexors, and they include:
The adductors, which contribute to hip flexion:
Bascially, anything on the front of the leg and in the front of the groin acts to flex the hip in some way shape or form. Look down in the bath and you’ll see them (unless you bathe in milk, in which case you won’t be able to).
Soft tissue work for hip mobility
For these soft tissue techniques, you will need a hard ball, like a baseball or a hockey ball, and a foam roller. These are my tools of torture:
Psoas major
I’m using a hockey ball or baseball to roll the psoas major. I have already noticed results with this technique and it doesn’t seem to hurt as much as, say, rolling the tensor fascia lata with the foam roller…
Rectus femoris
I’m using the foam roller to roll my rectus femoris. It doesn’t really seem to hurt so I suspect there aren’t many knots.
Sartorius, pectineus and adductors
I’m using the foam roller for these simply because I can’t seem to get the ball to work properly.
Tensor fascia lata (TFL)
This is my nemesis. It brings tears to my eyes and it is showing no signs of getting any better. Watch this space.
I tend to work into the muscle until I find where the knots are. I put pressure on the knot until it relaxes under the roller or the ball and then move on. It’s a lot harder than it sounds to do.
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