Training guide
Your hip flexors lift your knee towards your chest: the iliopsoas deep in your hip and the rectus femoris at the front of your thigh. You use them with every step and stair, and hardest when you sprint and kick. Strengthening them means lifting the knee or leg against resistance (marches, band knee drives, leg raises and step-ups) 2 or 3 times a week.
They respond quickly: about 10 minutes of band work 3 times a week raised hip flexor strength by 17% in 6 weeks in a trial. Weak hip flexors were linked with declining mobility in older adults, and stronger ones with faster sprinting, though most of that evidence is links rather than trials.
This guide covers the muscles, the hip flexor strengthening exercises with doses, walking at any age, running and kicking, what sitting really does, tight against weak, and when hip or groin pain needs its own plan.
Your hip flexors lift your knee towards your chest: the iliopsoas (psoas and iliacus) deep in the hip, the rectus femoris at the front of the thigh, and smaller helpers. They work with every step, stair and stride, and hardest when you sprint and kick.
Source 1
About 10 minutes of elastic band hip flexion 3 times a week raised hip flexion strength by 17% in 6 weeks in 33 young adults. They work hardest when the leg lifts against gravity at about 30 to 60 degrees of hip bend, and harder with added load.
The psoas worked at under 16% of its maximum while lifting up to 100 kg, and slow squats barely changed hip flexion strength. Train the knee lift itself.
Weak hip flexors were linked with declining mobility over a year in 433 older adults. A bigger psoas went with faster sprints in young athletes, and 8 weeks of hip flexor training cut 40-yard sprint time by 3.8% in a small study. These are mostly links, not proof.
Inactive people who sat over 7 hours a day had about 6 degrees less hip extension in one study, but no study shows sitting makes the hip flexors weak, and hip flexor length wasn't linked with back pain in most studies. Strengthen through the full range; stretch if it feels good.
Two or 3 times a week: marches, band knee drives built up over 6 weeks from a band you could lift 15 times to one you can lift 8 times, leg raises and step-ups with a knee drive. Pain at the front of the hip or groin when you lift your knee, a lump in the groin, or a teenager with a pop at the hip bone needs its own plan first: see the warning signs.
Source 2
The main hip flexor is the iliopsoas: the psoas major, from the sides of the lower spine, and the iliacus, from the inside of the pelvis, sharing a tendon to the inner thigh bone. The rectus femoris, the one quadriceps muscle that crosses the hip, helps and also straightens the knee; the sartorius and tensor fasciae latae help too. The psoas and iliacus usually work together, and the psoas also works when you sit tall. Our iliopsoas page has the anatomy.
Source 1
They lift the knee when you walk, climb stairs and step over things, drive the swinging leg forward when you sprint, and swing the leg into a kick. With your feet held down, they also curl your trunk up in the second half of a sit-up.
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Across 9 muscle activity studies of 109 healthy adults, the iliopsoas worked at over 60% of its maximum in a straight-leg raise around 60 degrees of hip bend and 40 to 60% around 45 degrees, and added load raised activity. In a study of 38 exercises, the hip flexors worked hard only when the exercise lifted the legs or the whole upper body. Sit-ups worked the psoas at 15 to 35% of its maximum and curl-ups at under 10%.
Lifting the knee upright (seated and standing marches, band knee drives, step-ups with a knee drive, skipping); lying (straight-leg raises, dead bugs, reverse crunches and leg raises, where your abs hold your pelvis while the hip flexors lift); and hanging and holding (captain's chair and hanging knee raises, the tuck L-sit and the L-sit), as our leg raise and hanging leg raise guides set out.
The psoas is largest in your 20s and shrinks with age, most of all in women in their 70s. Hip flexor strength mattered for walking mostly when it was very low, in a study of older women with disabilities. Young footballers with a bigger psoas had stronger hip flexors, and in 118 adults, body weight, not back pain, went with less hip flexor range.
The plan for strengthening your hip flexors. Our hips guide covers the glutes and the side of the hip, our Pilates and psoas release pages cover those approaches, and our hip flexor pain guide covers strains and sore tendons.
Most of this evidence is muscle activity studies, small trials in young adults and cohorts of older adults; we found no randomised trial of hip flexor strengthening alone in older adults.
In 33 healthy adults (average age 24, 45% women), band training of one leg for about 10 minutes 3 times a week for 6 weeks, building from a band they could lift 15 times to one they could lift 8 times, raised hip flexion strength of the trained leg by 17%. In 48 active adults, 8 weeks of hip flexor training raised hip flexion strength 12.2%.
In 14 college sprinters, 6 weeks on a hip training board grew the psoas more than in controls, and in 8 distance runners, 12 weeks of heavy hip flexor work twice a week grew it a little, with no comparison group.
The hip flexors work hardest when the leg lifts against gravity at about 30 to 60 degrees of hip bend, and harder with load. Heavy lifting barely used the psoas (under 16% of its maximum with loads up to 100 kg), and 8 weeks of slow squats barely changed hip flexion strength.
Across 11 trials of 452 people, strength training improved range of movement as much as stretching. Its hip measure was hip flexion range, which depends on the hamstrings, so this says strength training builds range in general, not hip flexor length in particular.
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Two or 3 times a week. The band trial, and our tight hip flexors routine, used 3 times a week for 6 weeks.
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Band knee drives: 3 sets of 8 to 15 each leg, building from a band you could lift 15 times to one you can lift 8 times over the weeks, as in the trial and our tight hip flexors routine. Straight-leg raises, 8 to 10 each side; dead bugs, 6 to 8 each side; step-ups with a knee drive, 3 sets of 8 each side; hanging knee raises, 2 sets of 8 to 12 (our hip flexor pain and hanging leg raise guides). The NHS's seated hip marching is 5 lifts each leg.
Stop the last set of these small moves 0 to 2 reps short of failure, which our guides call 0 to 2 RIR (reps in reserve: how many more reps you could have done), and rest 60 to 90 seconds, as our plans' notes say. Keep your trunk tall and still: leaning back takes the work off the hip flexors.
Add reps until every set reaches the top of its range, then move to a stronger band or the next step of the ladder: band knee drives, then step-up knee drives, then bench or hanging leg raises, as our plans' notes and leg raise guides say.
Strength rose within 6 weeks in the band trial and 8 weeks in the sprint trial. Keep it going twice a week after that (our editorial suggestion).
During the exercise, pain up to about 5 out of 10 is acceptable. It should settle within an hour or so, and your hip should be no worse that night or the next morning. If it is, do less next time (fewer repetitions, a smaller range, a lighter load), not nothing.
Pain can go up a little when you start a new exercise programme; guidelines for arthritis say so and still recommend keeping going. If pain climbs week after week, or a warning sign appears, stop and get it checked.
Our editorial order, from our tight hip flexors routine and hip flexor pain guide, with the band build from Thorborg 2016. Our hip flexor strengthening workout follows it, and our hanging leg raise guide teaches the bar versions.
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The movement on the figure: Standing band hip flexion
Seated marches, 5 lifts each leg (the NHS sitting exercises), and standing marches, 1 minute, as warm-ups and first steps; standing band hip flexion, 3 sets of 8 to 15 each leg, moving to a stronger band until 8 is hard (our tight hip flexors routine, following a trial's 6-week build); step-ups with a knee raise, 3 sets of 8 each side (our hip flexor pain guide); skipping, 3 sets of 20 m. There's no 3D demo of a cable or ankle-weight knee raise: the band version is the same movement.
Dead bug heel taps, 2 to 3 sets of 6 to 10 each side; dead bugs, 6 to 8 each side; straight-leg raises, 8 to 10 each side; reverse crunches, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 15; bench leg raises, 3 sets of 6 to 10; captain's chair knee raises, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12; hanging knee raises, 2 sets of 8 to 12; the L-sit, 4 holds of 10 to 15 seconds after the tuck version; mountain climbers, 30 seconds (our leg raise, hanging leg raise and mountain climber guides and tight hip flexors routine).
3D demoDead bug heel tapsBeginner · No equipment
3D demoDead bugBeginner · No equipment
3D demoStraight-leg raiseBeginner · No equipment
3D demoReverse crunchIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoLying leg raise on a benchBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoCaptain's chair knee raiseIntermediate · Other / check instructions
3D demoHanging knee raiseIntermediate · Pull-up bar
3D demoTuck L-sitIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoL-sitAdvanced · No equipment
3D demoMountain climbersIntermediate · No equipmentIn 433 older adults living at home, weak hip flexors were linked with declining mobility over a year. In 94 older adults, each extra watt of hip flexor power went with slightly lower odds of a fall, though hip abductor strength predicted falls more strongly. In older women, strength explained under 20% of walking performance. These are links, not proof that training changes them.
In 127 women aged 60 to 70, stair-climbing speed was only weakly linked with psoas size, and in 37 women in care homes, muscle size, the psoas included, didn't differ between fast and slow walkers.
In one study of 36 people without a comparison group, 6 weeks of hip flexor training on at least 3 days a week raised hip flexion strength, step length and walking speed. We found no randomised trial of hip flexor strengthening alone in older adults. The NHS asks adults 65 and over to do activities that improve strength, balance and flexibility on at least 2 days a week.
In 96 older adults, hip flexor stretching twice a day for 10 weeks raised hip extension a little (from about 6 to 8 degrees). Supervised stretching raised stride length in people who started stiff, and walking speed and stride length in 74 frail older adults.
Add marches and knee lifts to the whole-leg and balance work older adults need: start seated, then standing with a hand on a counter, then a light band. Our exercise for older adults guide has the full plan.
Junior sprinters with more psoas relative to thigh muscle ran faster 100 m times, and psoas size went with sprint time in preadolescent boys and adult male sprinters. These are snapshot studies of young athletes.
In 48 active adults, 8 weeks of hip flexor training cut 40-yard sprint time by 3.8% and shuttle run time by 9.0%, and in 14 college sprinters, 6 weeks on a hip training board improved 100 m times. Promising, and small.
In 29 college footballers, iliopsoas size went with side-foot kick speed but not instep kick speed. A review found hip flexor and quad strength linked with kicking, but exercises that copy part of the kick didn't seem to transfer well. Kicking practice comes first.
Of 40 hip flexor injuries on MRI scans in male athletes, 16 were in the rectus femoris, mostly from kicking and sprinting, and 12 in the iliacus, mostly from changes of direction. Our quad strain and hip flexor pain guides cover recovery.
Band knee drives and step-up knee drives twice a week, plus skipping and strides, alongside your sprinting and kicking practice (our suggestion). Our strength training plan for runners and sprint and hurdles warm-up have the sessions.
In 98 adults, inactive people who sat more than 7 hours a day had 6.1 degrees less hip extension than active people who sat little, in a snapshot study. In 62 students followed for a year, hip flexor length fell, but sitting wasn't tested as the cause. We found no study showing that sitting weakens the hip flexors.
Hip extension range didn't track pelvic tilt or the curve of the lower back. One stretching session cut pelvic tilt by 1.2 degrees, unrelated to the range gained; the shape of the pelvis alone varies the measured tilt by up to 23 degrees; and 3 weeks of stretching changed no part of running posture.
The common lying test for tight hip flexors picked up a real shortfall in hip extension only about a third of the time unless the pelvis was held still.
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In 600 adults, iliopsoas length wasn't linked with back pain, though weaker hip flexors were. In 118 adults, the link between hip flexor range and back pain disappeared once body weight was accounted for, and in teenage baseball players and elite athletes, hip flexor tightness or psoas strength didn't go with back pain. One study of ice hockey players found tight hip flexors went with 3 times the risk.
Strengthen through the full range, and stretch if it feels good; don't expect either to change your posture or back pain. Our Pilates for hip flexors, psoas release and anterior pelvic tilt pages cover those questions.
The Doha agreement on groin pain in athletes names iliopsoas-related groin pain as one kind, more likely if resisting hip flexion or stretching the hip flexors hurts. Our groin pain and hip flexor pain guides cover it.
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The proven risk factors for groin injury are a previous groin injury, a higher level of play, weaker adductors (inner thigh muscles) and less sport-specific training. The Adductor Strengthening Programme, built on the Copenhagen plank, cut the odds of groin problems in football by 41%.
Hip flexion strength was, if anything, greater in athletes with groin pain, and we found no study showing that weak hip flexors predict groin injury. Train the adductors too.
The half-kneeling hip flexor stretch with your pelvis tucked, 2 holds of 30 seconds each side with 30 seconds' rest (our tight hip flexors routine, from a trial's dose). The split-stance standing stretch: the move page's dose: hold 20 to 30 seconds, 2 to 4 times each side (our editorial starting point). Heel slides suit a sore or recently operated hip.
The hip flexor strengthening workout builds from marches and band knee drives to leg raises and step-ups. The tight hip flexors routine pairs a stretch with strengthening; the leg raise sessions load the hip flexors with the abs; the sprint warm-up and injury prevention sessions suit sport; the seniors' sessions include marches.
A 25-minute session for hip flexors that don't currently hurt: marches, band knee drives, leg raises and step-ups, with optional bar and running blocks.
25 minBeginner11 movesA bench or box, A bandHips that feel tight: a tucked hip flexor stretch, then band knee drives, leg raises, dead bugs, bridges and lunges. Full-range strength work helps flexibility too.
15 minBeginner8 movesA band, An anchor pointA 25-minute Pilates class for the hip flexors: pelvic control, hip flexor strength, the glutes and back of the hip, and a gentle pelvis-tucked stretch.
25 minBeginner16 movesA band, An anchor pointA 25-minute ladder to hanging leg raises: reverse crunches, the captain's chair, hanging knee and straight-leg raises, then strict toes to the bar.
25 minBeginner10 movesPull-up bar, A stepA 15-minute lower ab workout: heel taps, reverse crunches and leg pull-ins, then lying leg raises and the hip lift. It trains your whole six-pack; pick your step.
15 minBeginner11 movesA bench or boxA 20-minute warm-up for sprinters and hurdlers: jogging, ankle circles, leg swings, hip mobility, skips, wall and arm drills, build-up runs and practice starts.
20 minBeginner12 movesCardio machine, A wallThe Nordic hamstring and Copenhagen adduction programmes from the football trials: a 10-week build, three adductor levels, then once a week in season.
15 minIntermediate6 movesA wall, An anchor pointA 20-minute seated workout for older adults who cannot stand for long: marching, leg and arm strength, posture, and sit-to-stands that lead back to standing.
20 minBeginner11 movesA bench or box, Something with weightA 40-minute strength and balance session for over-65s, built from the Otago home programme and NHS exercises, using a chair, a counter and a step.
40 minBeginner18 movesA bench or box, Something with weightThe runners' plan has knee drives and skips; the seniors' plan has marches; the ab challenge and calisthenics plan build leg raises and the L-sit.
A 12-week strength plan for runners: two sessions a week of heavy lifts, single-leg work, calf raises and hops, fitted around your runs.
2 training days45 minBeginner3 days a weekA 12-week exercise plan for over-65s: strength and balance three times a week, short balance sessions and daily walks, based on falls-prevention trials.
3 training days40 minBeginner4 days a weekA free 30-day ab challenge: four 12-minute core sessions a week, from dead bugs to hollow holds, with rest days and an honest word on belly fat.
4 training days12 minBeginner3 days a weekA 12-week calisthenics plan for beginners: three bodyweight sessions a week with push-up, pull-up, squat and dip ladders, and a bar if you have one.
3 training days40 minBeginnerThat's a different plan: our hip flexor pain guide starts with gentle loading and keeps pain at 3 out of 10 or less at first, and our hip pain when lifting your leg guide covers the changes to try.
Our hip pain with sit-ups guide covers it.
A lump in the groin, upper thigh or tummy, especially one that appears when you cough or strain and goes when you lie down: see a GP, as it may be a true hernia. A femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of the thigh, mainly in women over 50, though it can happen to anyone) needs treating in hospital.
See a GP if you think you have a hernia, a bulge or lump that may get bigger when you strain and smaller when you lie down. Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel or are sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Call 999 or go to A&E for a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) with very bad tummy pain, sickness, being unable to fart or poo, a high temperature or sudden confusion.
Same day, and stop running now: groin or front-of-hip pain in a runner, sometimes felt in the thigh or knee, that builds with running, hurts with every step or at night, or hurts when the hip is turned to the end of its range. Keep weight off the leg, using crutches if you have them, and get an urgent GP appointment or help from NHS 111 the same day: a stress fracture of the hip (femoral neck) needs urgent imaging.
Same day: a teenager with sudden pain at the front or top of the hip bone after a sprint, kick or jump, often with a pop. A piece of growth plate can pull off the pelvis (an avulsion fracture), and it needs an X-ray the same day.
Follow your surgical team's limits. Our knee replacement, hip replacement and ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) injury guides cover the stages.
Our seated march's move page says to keep the lift low after a recent hip replacement unless your surgeon has said otherwise.
Skip sit-ups with osteoporosis, back pain that flares with bending, in later pregnancy or the first weeks after a birth, or with a hernia.
With osteoporosis or a past spinal fracture, avoid repeated or loaded deep rounding of the back, and bend from the hips. The osteoporosis guide covers impact and lifting.
After the first trimester, prop yourself up or skip the moves done lying on your back, and use the standing and seated marches instead (our suggestion, following the NHS advice our plans give, as our tight hip flexors routine does).
Stop if you feel dizzy or light-headed. Keep a counter or wall within reach, and have someone nearby for the hardest moves if you've fallen recently (our suggestion, as in our older adults guide).
Keep the knees bent in leg raises and dead bugs, and stop any move that sends pain down a leg.
Pain you'd call mild to moderate, no more than about 5 out of 10, that settles within an hour or so, with your back no worse the next morning, is acceptable; if it is worse, do less next time (fewer reps, a smaller range, a lighter load), not nothing. Stop or shrink any movement that sends pain, pins and needles or numbness further down your leg. That's our back pain guides' rule.
Control matters more than stretch: build strength through the range you can control. Our exercise for hypermobility guide has more.
Call 999 or go to A&E for severe hip pain after a fall or injury, if you can't walk or put weight on your leg, or for tingling or loss of feeling in your hip or leg after an injury. Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for severe hip pain that started suddenly without a fall, a hip that's swollen and feels hot, skin around it that has changed colour, or hip pain with feeling generally unwell and a high temperature.
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Same day: a teenager with sudden pain at the front or top of the hip bone after a sprint, kick or jump, often with a pop. A piece of growth plate can pull off the pelvis (an avulsion fracture), and it needs an X-ray the same day.
Same day, and stop running now: groin or front-of-hip pain in a runner, sometimes felt in the thigh or knee, that builds with running, hurts with every step or at night, or hurts when the hip is turned to the end of its range. Keep weight off the leg, using crutches if you have them, and get an urgent GP appointment or help from NHS 111 the same day: a stress fracture of the hip (femoral neck) needs urgent imaging.
Call 999 or go to A&E if your child gets sudden pain in their hip, knee or thigh (hip problems can sometimes be felt in the thigh or knee) or cannot put any weight on their leg. If your child is limping, ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 the same day. This applies to teenagers too, and in some children knee pain is the only sign.
A lump in the groin, upper thigh or tummy, especially one that appears when you cough or strain and goes when you lie down: see a GP, as it may be a true hernia. A femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of the thigh, mainly in women over 50, though it can happen to anyone) needs treating in hospital.
See a GP if you think you have a hernia, a bulge or lump that may get bigger when you strain and smaller when you lie down. Get help from NHS 111 if you have a hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, you feel or are sick, you're vomiting blood or your vomit looks like coffee grounds, you're constipated, you have a high temperature or feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Call 999 or go to A&E for a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) with very bad tummy pain, sickness, being unable to fart or poo, a high temperature or sudden confusion.
Same day (urgent GP appointment or NHS 111): throbbing pain in one leg (rarely both), usually the calf or thigh; swelling in one leg (rarely both); red, blue or darkened skin around the painful area, which may be harder to see on brown or black skin; or swollen veins. It could be a blood clot (deep vein thrombosis, DVT), which is more likely while you're moving about much less than usual or after a hospital stay.
Also call 999 for pain and swelling in one leg with breathlessness or chest pain: it can be a blood clot that has reached the lungs.
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Call 999 or go to A&E: loss of feeling or numbness around the genitals or bottom, new trouble peeing or controlling your bladder or bowels, changes in genital sensation during sex or problems with erections or orgasm, or pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs. These are signs of cauda equina syndrome, which needs treating in hospital urgently. Don't drive yourself.
See a GP if pain spreading down a leg hasn't improved after a few weeks of home treatment, is getting worse or stops your normal activities. Sciatica on both sides, or weakness or numbness in both legs that's severe or getting worse, is a 999 call or a trip to A&E.
See a GP if hip pain stops you doing normal activities or affects your sleep, is getting worse or keeps coming back, hasn't improved after 2 weeks of treating it at home, or you have hip stiffness for more than 30 minutes after waking up.
If you get chest pain or pressure, feel faint or dizzy, are unusually breathless, or your heart races or beats irregularly during exercise, as our plans advise.
For chest pain that comes on suddenly and doesn't go away, feels tight or like squeezing, spreads to your arms, neck, jaw, stomach or back, or comes with sweating, feeling sick, light-headedness or breathlessness; severe difficulty breathing; someone who faints while exercising; palpitations that don't go away, or come with chest pain, shortness of breath or feeling faint; or a headache that starts suddenly and is extremely painful, especially while lifting or straining, or comes with numbness or weakness, difficulty speaking or loss of vision. The NHS says a bleed on the brain may be more likely when lifting something heavy. Don't drive yourself to A&E.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 for a headache that's triggered or made worse by coughing, sneezing, bending down or exercising. In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
Stop straight away if you feel any pain or become unwell, the NHS says, and contact 111 if your symptoms worry you or don't go away.
A dull ache in your muscles for a day or two after something new is normal. Joint pain that's sharp, gets worse during a set or lingers into the next day means switching to the easier option, and seeing a GP or physiotherapist if it carries on (our plans' rule). Our muscle soreness guide has more.
Speak to your GP first if you haven't exercised for some time or have medical conditions or concerns, as the NHS advises. Get advice before heavy lifting or hard straining work if your blood pressure is uncontrolled, or you have heart disease or chest pain when you're active, a pacemaker or defibrillator, diabetic eye disease, glaucoma, a hernia, recent eye or tummy surgery, or you're pregnant, as our breathing guide lists. After a recent shoulder dislocation or shoulder surgery, follow our shoulder dislocation guide or your surgical team first.
Speak to a GP first if you haven't exercised for some time, or if you have a medical condition or concerns. Get advice first, too, if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, have recently had a heart attack or an operation, or are pregnant or have recently given birth.
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Short: one snapshot study found 6 degrees less hip extension in inactive people who sat over 7 hours a day, which is a link, not proof. Weak: we found no study. Moving more is good advice for many reasons, and strength training through a full range builds range as well as stretching does, so it covers both worries.
The link with hip flexor range disappeared once body weight was accounted for in one study, and iliopsoas length wasn't linked with back pain in 600 adults, though weaker hip flexors were; one ice hockey study found a link.
Hip extension range didn't track pelvic tilt, a stretching session cut tilt by 1.2 degrees unrelated to the range gained, and pelvic shape alone varies the measurement by up to 23 degrees. Our anterior pelvic tilt page covers this.
The psoas worked at under 16% of its maximum lifting up to 100 kg, and squat training barely changed hip flexion strength. Train the knee lift.
The proven risk factors are a previous injury and weak adductors, and hip flexion strength was if anything greater in athletes with groin pain. Train the adductors too, with the Copenhagen plank.
We found no trial testing it. Our psoas release page covers the myths.
In active adults, 8 weeks cut 40-yard sprint time by 3.8%, and college sprinters improved on a hip board in a 14-person trial; the rest is snapshot studies. Promising, and small.
Moves that lift your knee or leg against resistance: band knee drives, step-ups with a knee drive, straight-leg raises, and hanging or captain's chair knee raises. The hip flexors work hardest when the leg lifts at about 30 to 60 degrees of hip bend, and harder with load.
Marches, band knee drives with a band tied low round a table leg, straight-leg raises, dead bugs and step-ups with a knee drive on the bottom stair. About 10 minutes of band work 3 times a week raised hip flexor strength 17% in 6 weeks in a trial, and our hip flexor strengthening workout puts it in order.
Band knee drives and step-up knee drives twice a week, plus skipping and strides. A bigger psoas went with faster sprinting in young athletes, and 8 weeks of hip flexor training cut 40-yard times by 3.8% in one small study.
Start with seated marches (the NHS's version is 5 lifts each leg), then standing marches holding a counter, then a light band. Weak hip flexors were linked with declining mobility over a year in 433 older adults, a link rather than proof, and balance work belongs alongside.
Often neither in the way the internet says: the common lying test (the Thomas test) is unreliable unless the pelvis is held still, and a tight feeling can be stiffness or sensitivity. Strength training through the full range builds range as well as stretching does, so strengthening covers both.
We found no study showing it does. Inactive people who sat a lot had about 6 degrees less hip extension in one study, which is a link, not proof.
The evidence doesn't show it: hip flexor length wasn't linked with back pain in 600 adults, or once body weight was accounted for in another study. If your back hurts, our back pain guides have the plan.
Very little. The psoas worked at under 16% of its maximum even lifting heavy, and squat training barely changed hip flexion strength. Add knee drives or leg raises.
Follow your surgical team's limits first; our hip replacement guide has the stages. Seated marches with a low lift are a common early step, and our move page says to keep the lift low after a recent replacement unless your surgeon has said otherwise.
That's a different plan: our hip flexor pain guide starts with gentle loading and keeps pain at 3 out of 10 or less at first. A teenager with a pop at the front of the hip bone after a sprint or kick needs an X-ray the same day.
Two or three times a week. The band trial used 3 sessions a week for 6 weeks, building from a band people could lift 15 times to one they could lift 8 times.
Mainly the iliopsoas (the psoas and iliacus) deep in the hip, with the rectus femoris at the front of the thigh, the sartorius and the tensor fasciae latae. Our iliopsoas page has the anatomy.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. Check with a GP before starting hard training if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
