HIP
FLEXION - STANDING
CORRECT FORM
| This
exercise works a muscle that is probably the most neglected
area of the body - the hip flexors.
The hip
flexion exercise is best done using the bottom cable of a
cable cross-over machine. (A bottom cable of a lat-pull is
used in the picture to the right).
1) Hook a strap to the bottom pulley and place your foot inside
the strap. Stand completely erect, back straight, shoulders
back, feet shoulder-width apart.
|
|
2) From this
position, raise one leg up in the air as if you are performing a
knee-kick. Keep your back completely straight with your shoulders
back.. Bend only at the hip joint. Bring your knee up as high as
it will go without having to lean backward.
3) Inhale as
you lower the leg. Exhale as you raise the leg.
MUSCLES
USED
SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS/PRECAUTIONS
The main safety
consideration for this exercise is to keep the lower back straight.
It is a common mistake to bend forward or backward at the waist in
an effort to lift the leg up higher. Doing this will expose your lumbar
discs to injury.
EFFECTIVENESS
The hip flexor muscles are probably the most neglected muscles in
an exercise program, primarily because there is no standard way or
popular commercial equipment to work them. Yet, there is a HUGE imbalance
between the hip flexors and the gluteals which oppose them.
Imbalances
occur from working only your biceps OR triceps; back OR chest; hamstrings
OR quadriceps. Similarly, weak hip flexors can have a profound effect
on sports performance (i.e. kicking) or postural imbalances that
could later lead to arthritis down the road. There is a growing
prevalence of total hip replacements due to arthritis in the U.S..
Could some of this be due to profound muscle imbalances which result
in abnormal joint forces on the hip over decades?
The standing hip
flexion exercise is probably the most effective way of working the
illiopsoas muscle group/hip flexors.
HELPFUL WITH TRAINING FOR
Everyday life. Any sport which requires good hip range-of motion (i.e.
kicking sports, running sports). |
