Your back hurts and then before you know it your knees are tight and your miserable….

You have stretched your low back muscles and even given you hamstrings a little care and still your back is hurting…

The answer might have little to do with your back or knees. The pain could be linked to your hips, in particular a group of muscles called the hip flexors that are in use when we climb stairs, run, dance and play soccer and even do resistance training. Also known as the iliopsoas, they help the leg move up and down and stabilize the spine. 

They are located in your abdomen and upper thigh and are among the strongest in the body. “When we sit all day, the hip flexors shorten,” says Jim Thornton, president of the National Athletic Trainers’ Association and head athletic trainer at Clarion University in Clarion, Pa. “When they’re shortened, it impacts how we perform and can cause all kinds of problems, from our lower backs down to our feet.”


Unfortunately many training programs over look the hip flexors and focus only on the hamstrings and quadriceps. To remedy the problem speak to your trainer, yoga teacher chiropractor etc and ask them to show you some basic stretches and be sure that you do them correctly so that you keep the body in alignment.