Yoga guide
Your hip flexors are the muscles at the front of the hip that lift your knee and tilt your pelvis; the biggest is the iliopsoas, which runs from your lower spine and pelvis to the top of your thigh. "Tight hip flexors" are one of the commonest complaints in yoga, often blamed on sitting and blamed for back pain. The evidence is more modest: a tight feeling is often about how much stretch feels comfortable rather than a short muscle, no study has shown that sitting shortens them, and tight hip flexors haven't been shown to cause back pain.
No trial has tested yoga for tight or weak hip flexors in adults in general. What has been tested points one way: stretching adds hip extension, strength training through the full range adds about as much, and hip flexor strength matters for walking, stairs and sprinting. So a good practice both lengthens the front of the hip and strengthens it.
This guide covers what the hip flexors do, how "tight" is tested, the psoas claims, the poses that stretch and the poses that strengthen, what to change with a strain or a pinch at the front of the hip, and a free 25-minute class. If you have a lump in your groin, or a teenager felt a pop at the front of the hip, start with the warning signs.
Stretching the front of the hip adds hip extension, the backward swing of the thigh. Across 11 trials (452 people), strength training through the full range added about as much range as stretching, and 6 weeks of band training raised hip flexor strength by 17%. So a yoga practice for the hip flexors does both.
The usual test, lying at the end of a bed hugging one knee, missed most real shortfalls when the pelvis wasn't controlled, and testers often disagreed. A tight feeling is a rough guide, and in the first weeks of stretching most of the gain is in how much stretch you tolerate rather than a longer muscle.
We found no human study that measured hip flexor length before and after a period of sitting, so there is no direct evidence that sitting shortens them. In one snapshot study, people who sat a lot and were inactive had about 6 degrees less hip extension than active people who sat little, which can't show that sitting caused it.
In 600 adults, hip flexor length wasn't linked with low back pain, but hip flexor weakness was, and a review rated the evidence linking hip range with back pain as very low quality.
The psoas mainly lifts the thigh; it also squeezes and steadies the lower spine but does little to its curve. Our searches found no study showing that it stores emotions or trauma.
No trial has tested yoga for tight or weak hip flexors in adults in general. In 19 older adults with no comparison group, 8 weeks of gentle yoga increased hip extension when walking; a small prenatal trial found no change in hip flexor length.
The main hip flexor is the iliopsoas: the psoas major, which runs from the sides of the lower spine, and the iliacus, from the inside of the pelvis, share a tendon onto the inner thigh bone. The rectus femoris, the one quadriceps muscle that crosses the hip, is the other big one, helped by smaller muscles at the front and side of the hip.
In fine-wire recordings, the psoas and iliacus worked together whenever the hip had to bend with force, and the psoas also worked to hold the lower back upright in sitting. In 8 adults, the psoas worked hardest in full-effort hip bending, at 15% to 35% of its maximum in sit-ups and under 10% in curl-ups.
At full effort, the psoas squeezes the lower spine hard, but it has only very small effects on the curve of the lower back, and an imaging study concluded that it can't do much to control that curve. Many yoga claims rest on the psoas pulling the lower back into an arch; the anatomy doesn't support them.
Of 156 male athletes with sudden groin pain, 33 had a hip flexor injury on MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), most often in the rectus femoris (16 athletes), then the iliacus (12) and the psoas (7); some had more than one. Sports doctors call groin pain iliopsoas-related when resisted hip bending or stretching the hip flexors brings it on.
The usual clinic test is the modified Thomas test: you lie on your back at the end of a bed and hug one knee to your chest. A thigh that stays lifted suggests limited hip extension, and a knee that won't bend suggests a tight rectus femoris. Done without controlling the tilt of the pelvis, it picked up a real shortfall only 31.82% of the time, and pass or fail scores agreed poorly between experienced testers. Measured carefully, with instruments, it is more reliable. A tight feeling is worth noticing, but it isn't a length.
No study has measured hip flexor length before and after a period of sitting, or tested whether sitting less changes it. One cross-sectional study found 6.1 degrees more hip extension in active people who sat little than in inactive people who sat a lot; the authors suggest the muscles stiffen, which is a hypothesis. In 62 students followed for a year, hip flexor length fell, but the authors call the reasons speculative.
Two reviews conclude that the extra stretch gained over 3 to 8 weeks comes mostly from a changed sensation, a higher tolerance of the stretch, rather than longer muscles or tendons. That isn't a reason not to stretch: tolerance is part of moving freely. It is a reason not to force it.
In 433 older adults followed for a year, weak hip flexors were the main predictor of a decline in getting about. In young adults, 6 weeks of band training raised hip flexor strength by 17%, and in active adults, hip flexor training improved sprint and shuttle run times.
If the front of your hip feels tight, try a gentle lunge, then stand on one leg near a wall and lift the other knee to hip height without your hands. If the stretch is easy but you can't hold the knee up for a few breaths, strength is part of the answer (our suggestion).
The psoas is a long muscle from the sides of your lower vertebrae to the top of your thigh bone. It lifts the thigh and helps hold the lower spine upright in sitting. You can stretch it and strengthen it like any other muscle: the back hip in a lunge stretches it, and lifting the thigh works it.
Our searches of PubMed and Europe PMC found no human study showing that the psoas stores emotions or trauma, or that it has a special fight-or-flight role; the only paper making the link was an opinion piece in a midwifery magazine. Feeling emotional in a pose is real and worth respecting (our camel pose page says feeling oddly emotional on the way out is common), but it isn't evidence of stored trauma. Our yoga for PTSD guide covers what has been tested for trauma.
Source 14
In 40 people with long-term back pain, adding four sessions of psoas release by hand to physiotherapy didn't ease pain more. No study has shown that a release changes the muscle's length. Our psoas release guide covers the tools and what they can and can't do.
Source 28
Not much, on the anatomy. One session of hip flexor stretching changed the tilt of the pelvis by about a degree, with no change in the curve of the lower back, and stretching researchers agreed that stretching doesn't improve posture.
In 600 adults, the length of the hip flexors wasn't linked with low back pain, while their strength was. In 118 adults not seeking care, people with back pain had a little less hip extension, but only body weight predicted it. A review of 24 studies found very low-quality evidence linking hip range with back pain, and in 12 studies that followed 5,459 people forward, hip flexor length wasn't among the measures that predicted it.
In 25 adults, hip extension range wasn't related to the tilt of the pelvis or the curve of the lower back, and a large study of standing posture questioned stretching the hip flexors to correct it. One stretching session changed pelvic tilt by 1.2 degrees, with no change in the lower back's curve.
In 40 professional footballers with back pain and stiff hips, 8 weeks of moving hip flexor stretches improved hip range and pain, and some of the gain was lost after 4 weeks off. Its effects are very large for a small trial, so treat it with caution.
Source 34
Yoga eases long-term low back pain a little, about as much as other back exercise, as our yoga for back pain guide explains. There's no evidence that it works by lengthening the hip flexors (our reading).
No trial has tested yoga for tight or weak hip flexors in adults in general, so this section gives the stretching and strength trials and the few yoga studies, and says which is which.
Our searches found no randomised trial of yoga for tight hip flexors in adults in general. A study often quoted for yoga and flexibility in college athletes measured the sit-and-reach test, not hip extension.
In 19 older adults aged 62 to 83, with no comparison group, 8 weeks of gentle Iyengar yoga increased hip extension and stride length when walking, and the more they practised at home, the more their hip extension improved. Older women who practised yoga gained more hip extension than women who didn't in a non-randomised comparison. A 20-woman prenatal pilot trial found no change in hip flexor length after 6 weeks, and a pilot in 8 people with back pain had no separate control group.
In 25 young men, six stretching sessions over 3 weeks added roughly 10 to 12 degrees of hip extension, without changing walking or running economy. In older adults, unsupervised stretching twice a day for 10 weeks helped only a little, while supervised stretching lengthened stride in those whose hips started stiff. Active and passive stretches worked equally well in 33 patients, and a daily 5-minute lunge with an overhead reach added about 6 degrees in 6 weeks in a small controlled study. Across 77 studies, stretch training increased range by a moderate amount.
In a review of 189 studies, flexibility gains levelled off at about 4 minutes of stretching per muscle group in a session and about 10 minutes a week. Holding a hip flexor stretch for up to 2 minutes before sport didn't hurt performance.
In 24 young men, large gains in passive hip range didn't show up in the range they used when moving, and 3 weeks of hip flexor stretching didn't change how 20 adults ran. So use the range in standing poses and lunges, not only in passive holds (our reading).
Across 11 trials (452 people), strength training and stretching gave the same gains in range. Six weeks of band hip flexor training, three 10-minute sessions a week, raised strength by 17% in 33 young adults, and hip flexor strengthening went with faster walking and longer strides in 36 people, though without a control group.
In a lab study of 20 practitioners, warrior I, warrior II, crescent lunge, pigeon and triangle took the hip into extension, which is where the back hip stretches. Of seven standing poses in 20 older adults, the crescent lunge placed the highest demands on the hip flexors, and among five standing poses the rectus femoris worked hardest in chair pose. Lying leg raises and lifting a straight trunk with the hips bent made the iliopsoas work at 40% to 60% of its maximum or more.
That boat pose and the standing hand-to-big-toe hold strengthen the hip flexors is our reading, inferred from these muscle studies of similar exercises; no study has measured the poses themselves.
Our editorial starting point: 2 or 3 sessions a week that pair front-of-hip holds, about 10 minutes a week in all (30 to 60 seconds a side, tail tucked), with hip flexor strength work, then use the new range in standing poses. The 10 minutes comes from the large stretching review; the band strengthening progression follows the Thorborg trial, as our tight hip flexors routine uses it.
Do the lunges with a hand on a chair, kneel on a cushion, and keep your feet on the floor in boat pose. The knee fold lying on your back is the gentlest strength move (our suggestion).
Our editorial cues, from the low lunge and half-kneeling hip flexor stretch pages and our tight hip flexors routine; the 30 to 60 second hold is our hip openers guide's.
See the movement on the 3D figure: Low lunge (Anjaneyasana)
Slow breathing: 2 minutes, in for about 4 and out for about 6 (our yoga for runners class). Standing march: 1 minute, knees towards hip height (our tight hip flexors routine). Cat-cow: 8 waves, slower than feels natural (the move page's dose). Pelvic tilt into a bridge: 6 slow reps, feeling the pelvis tuck under first, as you'll use it in the lunges (our Pilates hip flexor class). World's greatest stretch: 4 slow reps each side, 1 round (adapted from the move page's dose), shortening the lunge if the front hip crease pinches.
Tail tucked in every one, and a stretch along the front of the back thigh, never a pinch in the front hip. Half-kneeling hip flexor stretch: 2 holds of 30 seconds each side, knee padded (our tight hip flexors routine). Low lunge: 45 seconds each side (our yoga for cyclists class). High (crescent) lunge: 5 breaths each side, hands on your hips (our yoga for balance class). Warrior I: 5 breaths each side, back heel down, a shorter stance if the back calf complains (our yoga for hip flexors class). Standing quad stretch, for the rectus femoris: hold 20 to 30 seconds, 2 to 4 times each side (the move page's dose), pelvis tucked. Lizard pose: 30 to 60 seconds each side (our hip openers guide's hold), coming out if the front hip pinches. Supported bridge, a gentle passive stretch to finish: rest 3 to 5 minutes on the block, the time Yoga Journal suggests, breathing slowly through your nose (the move page's dose).
3D demoHalf-kneeling hip flexor stretchBeginner · No equipment
3D demoLow lunge (Anjaneyasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoHigh lunge (crescent lunge, Ashta Chandrasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoWarrior I (Virabhadrasana I)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoStanding quad stretchBeginner · A wall
3D demoLizard pose (Utthan Pristhasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSupported bridge pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana)Beginner · Firm cushionThat the yoga poses here strengthen the hip flexors is our reading of muscle studies of similar exercises; band hip flexion is the trial-tested one. Standing hand-to-big-toe pose: 3 breaths each side holding your knee, a hand on the wall, then let go and keep the thigh up on its own for a breath (our yoga for martial arts class; letting go is our suggestion). Boat pose: 3 holds of 5 breaths, knees bent, hands behind your thighs if you need (our yoga for swimmers class). Band hip flexion: 3 sets of 8 to 15 each leg, starting with a band you could lift 15 times and moving to a stronger band over the weeks (our hip flexor strengthening workout, from the Thorborg trial's progression). Straight leg raise: 8 to 10 each side, lowering slowly with the other knee bent. Dead bug: 6 to 8 each side, or dead bug heel taps for an easier start (both from our tight hip flexors routine). Knee fold, the gentlest: 2 sets of 5 to 10 each side, every other day (the move page's dose).
3D demoStanding hand-to-big-toe pose (Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoBoat pose (Navasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoStanding band hip flexionBeginner · A band + An anchor point
3D demoStraight-leg raiseBeginner · No equipment
3D demoDead bugBeginner · No equipment
3D demoDead bug heel tapsBeginner · No equipment
3D demoKnee foldBeginner · No equipmentThe muscles at the back of the hip work against the hip flexors, and our routines pair them. Glute bridge: 10 to 12 with a 2-second squeeze at the top (our tight hip flexors routine). Locust: 3 holds of 3 breaths, one leg at a time first (our yoga for knee pain class). Warrior III: 3 breaths each side, hands on a wall or chair back (our vinyasa flow for beginners class). Mountain pose: stand for 5 to 10 slow breaths, 2 or 3 times (the move page's dose). Corpse pose: 3 minutes, a cushion under your knees if your lower back complains (our yoga for runners class).
Deep backbends such as camel, bow, wheel and dancer stretch the front of the hip by arching the lower back; a tucked lunge stretches it without loading the back, so they aren't needed for hip flexor length (our suggestion). Kneeling thigh stretches load the knee: reclining hero's page says knee pain of any kind means stop, half frog's says leave it with knee pain, and the couch stretch's says skip it with knee problems or a suspected hip flexor strain. The standing quad stretch does the same job. In long yin holds in a deep lunge, 30 to 60 seconds is enough, and come out for a pinch in the front of the front hip.
3D demoCamel pose (Ustrasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoBow pose (Dhanurasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoWheel pose (Urdhva Dhanurasana)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoDancer pose (Natarajasana)Advanced · No equipment
3D demoReclining hero pose (Supta Virasana)Advanced · Firm cushion
3D demoHero pose (Virasana)Intermediate · Firm cushion
3D demoHalf frog pose (Ardha Bhekasana)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoCouch stretchIntermediate · A wallOur hip flexor pain guide: "For a strain or a sore tendon, gradual loading comes first; stretching hard early on is likely to aggravate it. Gentle stretching can come back once loading is comfortable."
Its first stage: "The first one to two weeks; keep pain at 3 out of 10 or less." Gentle marches and lying knee lifts come first, and lunges come back once loading is comfortable. The guide has the full plan.
Sports doctors call groin pain iliopsoas-related when resisted hip bending or a hip flexor stretch brings it on. It is one of several causes of groin pain, and a physiotherapist can tell them apart; our groin strain and hip flexor pain guides cover the plans.
A sharp pinch deep in the front of the hip crease when you bend the hip, rather than a stretch along the front of the back thigh, isn't a tight hip flexor. Our hip labral tear and impingement guide covers what to change (our suggestion).
Our 25-minute yoga for hip flexors class stretches and then strengthens the front of the hip; do it 2 or 3 times a week (our editorial starting point). The tight hip flexors routine is the same idea in 15 minutes without the yoga; the hip flexor strengthening workout is for weak hip flexors, older adults and runners; desk yoga suits workdays if you add one low lunge.
A 25-minute yoga class for tight or weak hip flexors: lunges and warriors to stretch the front of the hip, then poses and leg lifts to strengthen it.
25 minBeginner15 movesA wall, Firm cushionHips 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 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 bandA 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 hip-opening yoga sequence: low lunge, lizard, goddess, pigeon, bound angle and happy baby.
25 minBeginner10 movesA wallA 20-minute yoga cool-down for runners: calves, hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes, one balance pose and a rest, after an easy run or on a rest day.
20 minBeginner11 movesA wallA 25-minute yoga class for riders: front of the hips, hamstrings and buttocks, gentle back bends, chest, neck and hands, after a ride or on a rest day.
25 minBeginner15 movesA wallTen minutes of yoga at your desk, no mat needed: slow breathing, neck, shoulder, wrist and spine moves in your chair, then standing poses with a hand on the desk.
10 minBeginner13 movesA bench or box, A wallThese are the warning signs from our hip, hip flexor, groin and hernia guides, word for word, apart from the lines marked as our suggestion. This is general information, not a diagnosis. A&E means accident and emergency; in the US, call 911 for 999.
Call 999 or go to A&E now if you have a femoral hernia (a small lump at the top of your thigh, in your groin) and very bad tummy pain, you feel sick or you're being sick, you cannot fart or poo, you have a high temperature or you feel hot, cold or shivery, or you've suddenly become confused. Do not drive to A&E. With any other hernia and pain in or around it, a bloated tummy, feeling or being sick, vomiting blood or vomit that looks like coffee grounds, constipation, a high temperature or feeling hot, cold or shivery, or sudden confusion, get help from NHS 111.
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.
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.
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.
Call 999 or go to A&E: severe hip pain after a fall or injury, or you cannot stand, walk or put weight on the leg. In an older adult this can be a broken hip; the leg may be at an odd angle or look shorter. Don't drive yourself.
Call 999 or go to A&E: tingling or loss of feeling in the hip or leg after an injury.
Source 57
Call 999 or go to A&E if you have sciatica on both sides, weakness or numbness in both legs that's severe or getting worse, or numbness around or under your genitals, or around your bottom (anus); if you find it hard to start peeing, cannot pee or cannot control when you pee; or if you do not notice when you need to poo or cannot control when you poo, and this is not normal for you. These could be symptoms of a serious back problem that needs to be treated in hospital as soon as possible.
Ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111 if you have severe hip pain that started suddenly but you've not had a fall or injured your hip, your hip is swollen and feels hot, the skin around your hip has changed colour, or you have hip pain, feel generally unwell and have a high temperature (or feel hot, cold or shivery). A hot, swollen hip with a high temperature can be a joint infection.
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.
After a strain, in the first stage, our hip flexor pain guide's goal: "The first one to two weeks; keep pain at 3 out of 10 or less."
Otherwise, our hip guides' rule: "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."
In a lunge, you should feel a stretch along the front of the back thigh, not a pinch in the front of the hip crease or an ache in your lower back (our suggestion).
If you're hypermobile, don't use mobility work to push further: the NHS says "do not overextend your joints just because you can". See a GP if you think you have joint hypermobility syndrome: for example, your joints keep dislocating, or you keep getting sprains, strains, pain or stiffness.
Source 60
Call 999 if:
Call 999 or go to A&E (accident and emergency) straight away for severe difficulty breathing (gasping, choking or not able to get words out), a chest that feels tight or heavy, pain that spreads to your arms, back, neck and jaw, lips or skin turning very pale, blue or grey, or sudden confusion. If you're more short of breath than usual, or your heart is racing, fluttering or skipping beats, contact NHS 111.
Source 63
A joint pain that is sharp, gets worse during a session, lingers into the next day or changes how you move is a reason to use an easier version, and to see a GP or physiotherapist if it keeps happening (the rule in our plans). Muscle soreness for a day or two after something new is normal. In a hot class, stop if you feel dizzy, sick or unwell; our hot yoga guide lists the signs of heat illness.
You can say no to any hands-on adjustment, and a teacher registered with Yoga Alliance must get your explicit consent each time.
The NHS advises getting advice from a healthcare professional first if you have a health problem, an injury or symptoms, or have recently had a heart attack or an operation.
Not shown. In 600 adults, hip flexor length wasn't linked with back pain, though weakness was, and in 118 adults body weight, not back pain, explained hip flexor range. These are snapshot studies, which can't rule a small link in or out.
No human study has tested it. Long sitting with little activity goes with about 6 degrees less hip extension in one snapshot study, which can't show cause. Moving more and practising the range is good advice either way.
Our searches found no study supporting it; the psoas is a hip flexor that also steadies the lower spine. Feeling emotional in a pose is real, but it isn't evidence of stored trauma.
The psoas has little effect on the lower back's curve, stretching researchers agree that stretching doesn't improve posture, and a stretching session changed pelvic tilt by about a degree.
Short-term gains are mostly tolerance, gains level off at about 10 minutes a week, and strength through the range adds as much range. With a strain, hard stretching early on is likely to aggravate it, as our hip flexor pain guide says.
Range you can't control doesn't carry into movement on its own, and for people with very flexible joints the NHS advises not overextending them.
In older adults, weak hip flexors predicted declining mobility, and in 600 adults, weakness, not length, went with back pain.
It can be, if it both stretches and strengthens them. Yoga hasn't been tested in a proper trial for tight hip flexors, but stretching the front of the hip adds hip extension, and strength work through the full range adds about as much.
For the stretch: low lunge, high (crescent) lunge and warrior I with your tailbone tucked, and a standing quad stretch. For strength: boat pose with bent knees, a standing knee lift held without your hands, and lying leg raises. No pose is proven best, but of seven standing poses tested in older adults, the crescent lunge made the hip flexors work hardest.
It can, if you include poses that lift the thigh and hold it there, such as boat pose, a standing knee lift held without your hands, and lying leg raises; that these poses strengthen the hip flexors is our reading of muscle studies, as no study has measured them. Band hip flexion training, which has been tested, raised strength by 17% in 6 weeks. Weak hip flexors matter for walking in later life.
The evidence doesn't show that. In large studies, hip flexor length wasn't linked with back pain, while hip flexor weakness was. Yoga can still ease back pain a little, but not by lengthening the hip flexors.
It hasn't been shown. People who sit a lot and are inactive have a little less hip extension, about 6 degrees in one study, but that can't show that sitting caused it. Getting up and moving often is good advice anyway.
The usual test is lying at the end of a bed, hugging one knee to your chest, and seeing whether the other thigh rests flat. It's a rough screen: done casually, it misses most real shortfalls, and testers often disagree. A tight feeling can be about stiffness or sensitivity as much as a short muscle.
Not at first. Our hip flexor pain guide starts with gentle strength work, such as marches and lying knee lifts, keeping pain at 3 out of 10 or less for the first one to two weeks, and adds gentle stretches once loading is comfortable. Hard stretching early on is likely to aggravate a strain.
The psoas is the deep hip flexor that runs from your lower spine to your thigh. Yoga can stretch and strengthen it like any other muscle, but no study shows that it can be released, and the claim that it stores emotions or trauma has no evidence behind it.
About 30 to 60 seconds a side is plenty. In a large review, flexibility gains levelled off at about 10 minutes of stretching a week for a muscle group, so 2 or 3 short sessions a week is a good start.
It can be: long, gentle lunge holds stretch the front of the hip. Keep the back knee padded and your tail tucked, and come out if the front of the front hip pinches. No trial has tested yin yoga for this.
Poses that hold the thigh up, such as boat pose and standing leg lifts, make them work hard and can bring on a cramp, so bend your knees in boat and hold behind your thighs. Stop for a sharp groin pain, or for a pinch at the front of the hip, which our hip labral tear guide covers.
See a GP for a lump in the groin, or for hip pain that stops normal activities, disturbs sleep, keeps getting worse or hasn't improved after 2 weeks. A teenager with sudden pain at the front of the hip bone after a sprint or kick needs an X-ray the same day, and a runner whose groin pain builds with running should stop and get checked the same day. Call 999 or go to A&E for severe hip pain after a fall or injury, or if you cannot stand, walk or put weight on the leg.
Exercise education, not a personal prescription, and clinical review of these guides is pending. If you are pregnant, have a health condition such as glaucoma, high blood pressure or osteoporosis, or have had recent surgery, check with a doctor, midwife or physiotherapist before starting, and stop for sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.
