Fast Fitness - Quick Relaxing Hip Stretch
Friday, December 21, 2007
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM
- Lie over a bed or bench with hips right at the edge and legs dangling
- Feel wonderful stretch in front hip muscles
- If your lower back hurts, you are probably arching your lower back, as in the left photo, Click and read this post - Innovation in Abdominal Muscles. Correct it by tucking your hip (by flattening lower back) toward the bed - right photo.
Reader Bernie, age 80, supplied these photos. He had registered for my Fix Your Own Back Pain workshop but skipped it to do surgery instead. He returned to me in worse pain two years later. His story how we successfully fix the worsened situation is posted in:
- Fixing Leg Numbness, Back Pain, Flank Pain, Knee Pain, Nerve Pain, Three Unhealthy Surgeries, Part I
- and Fixing Leg Numbness, Back Pain, Flank Pain, Knee Pain, Nerve Pain, Three Unhealthy Surgeries, Part II
He also demonstrates:
- Fast Fitness - Dynamic Partner Balance Challenge
- and Fast Fitness - Relaxing Hip, Leg, and Groin Stretch.
Photos of Mr. Cleff by Dr. Jolie Bookspan - www.DrBookspan.com/research
Labels: fast fitness, hip, leg stretch, lower back, stretch
5 Comments:
At Wednesday, May 07, 2008 1:51:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Great stretch. Here is one I learned from Tom Furman who got from one of the Dog Brothers (kali)
Lie on your stomach, propped up on your forearms. Squeeze your feet, thighs and buttocks together. While doing so, slowly bend your legs like you are trying to touch your feet to your buttocks. Also, press down with your groin area into the floor. Releases the psoas and stretches the front of the thighs, flexors and quads. Nice stretch.
At Wednesday, May 07, 2008 2:07:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Readers, I understand that it is a common assumption that squeezing one set of muscles will relax another. However many people manage to squeeze both sides and not relax anything. The inhibition of the muscles on the other side is not always automatic or achieved. It is also not functional to squeeze the backside muscles (your own), although it seems to be so popular.
At Wednesday, May 14, 2008 6:48:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Perhaps I'm not correct, but I thought reciprocal inhibition, where tensing one muscle would relax the antagonist, was a given.
Example: a dancers stretch ( I think you won't like, but please stay with me) Stand, feet forward, bend forward BUT at the hip, NOT the lower back, KEEP the small arch in the lower back. Now they say ("they" is your fellow comrade Pavel :) that if you do this and squeeze the glutes, that 1. your hamstrings will release better, and 2. squeezing the glutes will protect the lower back.
I presume physiology is, by definition, quantifiable, so either one should be able to prove or disprove this, no? Please educate me, thank you...
At Wednesday, May 14, 2008 6:51:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Also, your bed hip stretch here.. if you tuck your hip and flatten your lower back, aren't you by default squeezing your glutes to perform this?
At Thursday, May 15, 2008 6:46:00 PM,
Jolie Bookspan, M.Ed, PhD, FAWM said…
Anonymous, no, don't tense or squeeze anything. Even if you did, it is not the gluteals that tuck the hip, it is the abs. It is bad biomechanics to tighten a muscle to move the bones. Scratch your nose and see that you move without tightening or squeezing or clenching your arm (hopefully).
Again as above, although it is a common assumption that squeezing one set of muscles will relax another, many people manage to squeeze both sides and not relax anything. Inhibition of the muscles on the other side is not always automatic or achieved. Co-contraction often overrules. This is explained in my book Stretching Smarter Stretching Healthier.
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