How to heal a nagging hip flexor in 3 days or less…

How to heal a nagging hip flexor in 3 days or less…

Ha! I wish!

So I don’t exactly know how to heal a nagging hip flexor in 3 days or less but I sure know how to make a pesky hip flexor feel better over a longer period of time. I’ve learned this handy trick over the past few years because I happen to be the lucky (read: unlucky) owner of one very tempermental, problematic and all-round weak hip flexor!

The first time it bugged me was a couple of years ago, I don’t really know what happened but one day it started to hurt. Thankfully I didn’t have anything big on the horizon and good old fashioned rest seemed to heal it up.

The next time it bugged me was in the months leading up to Run for Water last year. After I’d hurt my calf, a few other things started to bug me probably out of overcompensation for that bum calf. This was when I really started to see how a proper exercise program could help clear away the nagging pain.

The last time this pesky part bugged me was last November when one day it just started to hurt again. The run didn’t seem overly hard but it was enough to aggravate it and it bugged me all fall and into the start of this New Year when I got serious about my exercises again and it cleared up.

I am most certainly not a doctor, a therapist or any kind of person qualified in any capacity to dole out fitness advice but I can tell you all about what worked for me. It’s pretty simple really. The key to keeping my hip flexor (and accompanying groin, glutes and hips) happy is a strengthening routine targeted at my hips and glutes, pulled together from the advice of both my chiropractor and physiotherapist.

Nikki’s Hip & Glute Strengthening Routine to

1. Lateral Leg Raises

• Lay on your side with back, bum and legs against a long wall (this is an important cue to stay aligned properly)
• Lift our top leg straight up, feeling the burn in your glutes
• If you don’t feel it in your glutes you are likely leaning too far forward or aren’t aligned
• I do 2-3 sets of 10 reps on each side

Hmm, nice shoulder shadow across this pic…forgive me, it was late!

Original article and pictures take www.fitsugar.com site