Tight hips and lower back pain
Many people assume that tight hips are simply inconvenient. You can’t sit comfortably on the floor, many yoga poses are out of reach, and you get fidgety and uncomfortable in the car and on planes. But it’s much worse than that.
When your hips are tight, you automatically adjust your movement patterns to make up for it. When you squat, your feet turn out and your heels pop up. When you sit cross-legged, your back hunches up into a ball. When you run, your hips don’t fully extend, so your running gait turns into a clumsy waddle, especially when you become fatigued.
All these movement workarounds contribute or even cause chronic back and knee pain, among other problems. When you’re walking, sitting, and running around with poor posture, you’re simply more prone to injury.
When we open our hips, it helps with yoga but more importantly it helps in your daily life to keep your joints safe and protected.
What Do Tight Hips Look Like?
Poor running gait: If your hamstrings are tight then you can’t fully extend your leg behind you. Your body compensates by having your legs go out to the sides instead of straight back behind you.
Anterior pelvic tilt: If your hip flexors are tight, they can pull on the front of your pelvis creating an anterior pelvic tilt making your belly protrude and your butt stick out. Add high heels to that and that increases the pressure in your lower back even more. Incidentally, almost all shoes have a heel; work boots, running shoes, dress shoes.
Poor Squats: If your hips are tight then you can’t squat down properly. You can’t lift a box safely, you can’t play with a child or even tie your shoes without putting undue stress on your knees and your lower back. What does a healthy squat look like? You should be able bend your knees fully with your feet slightly turned out (10-12 degrees) and your heels are on the ground. Your pelvis is close to the ground as well. You should feel relaxed here. You can spend many many minutes here. The reality is, for most of us your feet turn way out (45 degrees), your heels are up in the air, we are wobbly in our legs and there is alot of pressure in our lower back and knees. We can’t lift from the ground, we can’t squat, we can’t move with a natural range of motion.
Can’t sit comfortably on the floor: If your hips are open, then when you sit on the floor cross legged your knees will be touching the ground and your spine is comfortably straight. When your hips are tight, then most likely your knees are off the ground, perhaps by your armpits, and your back is rounded and it is really uncomfortable. This may not seem like a big deal but it puts incredible strain on your lower back which makes it difficult to sit on a floor or in a plane, in the car or at your desk; basic situations. You might be constantly feeling lower back pain because your hips are restricting your movement. When you open up your hips, it allows you to sit more comfortably on the floor, in yoga and more common situations; at your desk, in your car.
When you open up your hips, you can improve your posture and get your spine in a more neutral, natural alignment. Flexibility gains are not as quick to achieve as strength gains, but they last so much longer. Once you open your hips, they’ll stay open unless you start doing repetitive stress exercises or stop stretching all together. So let’s get bendy! See you at class today at 4:00pm PST
The statements made in this email have ot been evaluated by the FDA (U.S. Food and Drug Administration). Information provided is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information provided is not a substitute for a face to face consultations with your healthcare practitioner, and should not be construed as medical advice of any sort. By using any of this information you are accepting responsibility for your own health and health decisions.