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Saturday, November 1, 2008
Performing Like The Pack
Raleigh Durham, NC
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By: Charlie Rozanski, NC State University
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Keeping Hip Flexors in Shape Keeps You in the Game
When an athlete develops an overuse injury of the lower leg such as shin splints, jumper’s knee or tendonitis, we always evaluate the entire lower quarter.
We pay particular attention to the hips. The muscles that flex the hip are some of the most universally tight muscles in all of athletics.
Because athletes spend a great deal of time in a good stance, flexing their hips and lowering their center of gravity, the hip flexors reset their resting position into this tighter state. This can make it more difficult for an athlete to extend their hips during running and jumping. Therefore, it is important for any athlete who experiences a lower body injury to work on stretching the tightened hip flexors to counteract their negative effect.
While many athletes claim to stretch the hip flexors, they simply don’t pay close attention to technique with the stretch. The technique is critical to maximizing the benefit.
To stretch your right hip flexor, stand holding the back of a chair or leaning into the wall with your left hand for balance. Flex your right knee and grab your right shin above the ankle with your right hand pushing the right shin towards your posterior thigh. As you pull your lower leg towards your thigh keep your thighs tucked together, leaning backwards with your trunk and tightening your lower abdominal muscles.
The two most common errors in technique on this stretch are leaning forward as you pull your leg back or letting your leg lift to the side as you pull it back. As with all stretches, you should hold for 10 to 20 seconds at a time and repeat at least 3 or 4 times.
In addition to injury management, hip flexor tightness naturally leads to a decrease in hip extension. Since the majority of power and explosiveness in an athlete comes through hip extension, tight hip flexors can have an adverse effect on performance as well as lead to injury. Focusing on hip flexibility is very important to athletic performance.
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