Hip gripper?
HOW DOES A GRIPPING HIP AFFECT My pelvic floor?
That gripping hip flexor muscle tension might be contributing to your pelvic pain and inhibiting your strength goals!
The psoas muscle in particular can lead to low back pain, hip pain, groin pain, and genital pain. The muscle fibers originate from the front surface of the lumbar spine on segments T12-L5 and the lowest rib. It is innervated by nerves L1-L4 and branches of the femoral nerve. There are connections to the diaphragm by tendons, ligaments, and fascia. As the psoas passes through the pelvis it bundles with the iliacus muscle of the pelvis to form the conjoined iliopsoas tendon where it exits the pelvis and inserts on the inside of the leg at the femur on the lesser trochanter. The muscle action of the psoas is a hip flexor and external rotator, and flexor of the trunk. The genitofemoral nerve pierces through the psoas muscle, it provides sensation and motor innervation to the lower abdomen, groin (scrotum & cremasteric reflex in males/mons pubis in females) and upper thigh.
I often see in Pilates and Aerial training overactive hip flexors that dominate abdominal exercises. I love to ask “Where do you feel it?” during conditioning of lower abdominals with hip flexion exercises to be we’re targeting what we think we are!
How do you know if you have gripping hip flexors? You may stand with an anterior pelvic tilt, you are a chest breather, you are often cued to “tuck your pelvis”, “hollow your core”, you have difficulty keeping your pelvis tucked in Aerial with knee hang or knee beats and in Pilates during Double Leg Kick, or your legs lift off the floor hindering your Pilates rollups.
The downside of having overactive hip flexors that are shortened and tense is that gripping may inhibit that muscle’s ability to contract effectively, leading to muscle fatigue, weakness, imbalance, and ultimately faulty joint mechanics that increase wear and tear of cartilage and bony structure and increase risk factors for hip impingement, labral tears, osteoarthritis and hip joint replacement surgeries.
So what can we do about your grippy hip? First we’ll identify if your grippy hip flexors have muscle length restrictions, then we’ll treat it! We’ll work on muscle balance with antagonist muscle groups (diaphragm, glutes, abductors), eccentric loading and strengthening of shortened hip muscles (thigh stretch, kettlebell marching), and repatterning movements so that you get out of the grippy hip cycle! Dry needling, cupping, soft tissue and joint mobilizations can help us get there!
Your body, your needs, your therapy. At Studio Rehab, we believe in creating a treatment plan that is specific to you. A comphrehensive assessment will include posture and movement analysis, hip and low back joint mobility and range of motion, lower extremity muscle length and flexibility, strength tests, and breathing and pelvic floor muscle assessment to evaluate connective tissue, muscle integrity, strength, endurance, coordination, and function relevant to your personal needs.
Peace, Love, & Pelvic Floor
Amanda Fitzgerald, Physical Therapist, Pelvic Rehab Practitioner Specialist, Certified Pilates Instructor, Circus Medicine
