How to Fix a Tight Hip Flexor When You’re Running

By Jae Gruenke | Injury Recovery

Feb 22

Have you ever had a hip flexor tighten up on a run, or do you maybe even suffer from a chronically tight hip flexor? The feeling of it tugging every time your leg is behind you may make you yearn to stretch it out, and you might even find yourself giving it an extra little pull each time you feel the tug to try and lengthen it.

If you do that, though, you may have noticed it never gets better. In fact, it can grow more and more annoying, possibly cause you to end your run early, and even sometimes turn into a pull that affects subsequent runs.

This whole sequence of events is set into motion when you decide that the feeling of tightness indicates that the problem is that the muscle is tight. But there’s another way to look at it that will lead you to an actual run-salvaging solution.

This shift of perspective starts from thinking of your whole body as a system that works together. From this perspective there’s no such thing as a local problem; a single muscle that wasn’t tight to start with won’t just get tight all by itself during a run. Something about how you’re running causes it to tighten.

Furthermore, there’s not much point in talking about your tight muscle as if it were a single independent rebellious entity. No part of your body acts on its own. Your muscle isn’t an “it” that’s “tight.” The movement of your whole body all together is coordinated by your nervous system, which tightens and lengthens muscles as needed by the situation according to your interaction with your environment and your idea of what you’re doing. You – meaning your nervous system – are tightening up that hip flexor because you feel there is reason to do so.

In other words, it’s not that your tight hip flexor is the problem, it’s that you are tightening your hip flexor to try to solve a problem. Solve the problem the tightness is meant to fix and it will go away.

The shortening of a hip flexor is part of the act of bringing the leg forward. The sensation of tightness there indicates that something about how you’re running is making it too hard to bring the leg forward. That’s the problem you need to solve – how to more easily bring the leg forward.

Often the difficulty is what Romanov, inventor of the Pose Technique, calls a “late pull,” or waiting too long to start bringing your leg forward so that it’s still a bit behind you when you’re in midstance instead of right underneath, where it belongs. (I disagree with his view that we should actively “pull” or lift the foot from the ground, but his terminology could describe a passive as well as active movement so I’m going to stick with it.) This creates tremendous drag in the leg and leaves the hip flexor stretched too long, and your nervous system responds to the sensation of stretch by tightening the muscle. You consciously feel only the tightness, and if you react to it by trying to leave your leg back a little longer to “stretch,” you’ve just exacerbated the problem, which will begin to snowball.

Other possible (and not mutually exclusive) causes include having the opposite side glutes not active enough, having trouble turning the pelvis to help bring the leg forward, and having the glutes or hamstrings on the same side chronically a bit too contracted and thus creating too much resistance to bring the leg forward. You probably wouldn’t actually feel any of these things because they’re not intrinsically uncomfortable, whereas an overstretched hip flexor is.

No matter which – or how many – of these possible causes underlies your hip flexor issue, the solution is the same: bring the knee forward more quickly. You’ll rapidly feel the tension ease off.

No matter how smart you are, your unconscious mind is smarter, and when it sees fit to tighten a muscle trust the impulse and go with it. Your brain is trying to bring your leg forward, so do it! If shifting your form to help the tight muscle work more effectively doesn’t fully do the trick you could also stop and try this, which works on the same principles.

If you regularly get tight hip flexors, then you need more than just an effective technique for relieving the tension once it starts–you need to address the root cause so it stops happening. So I’ve put together a set of Feldenkrais lessons for you that addresses all three of the possible causes. I call it the Hip Flexor Balance Kit, and you can get it for free here:

Click here to get your Hip Flexor Balance Kit

 

 

 

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About the Author

Jae Gruenke, GCFP, is a running technique expert and Feldenkrais Practitioner. Known as a “running form guru,” she is the Founder and CEO of The Balanced Runner™ in New York City and The Balanced Runner UK. She has helped runners from beginner to Olympian improve their form to become pain-free, economical, and fast.

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(9) comments

Charles Velez. February 24, 2014

Great tip for tight hip flexors.Use that rotation of the spinal engine and pelvis!All the best Charles

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FeldyPT February 24, 2014

Love this!
“No matter how smart you are, your unconscious mind is smarter”

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Mary Debono February 24, 2014

Wonderful advice, Jae! I just shared your post on my Facebook page. Thank you for the great information.

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Alexia Nazarian October 23, 2015

I can’t believe I only just discovered you! So would a way to bring the leg forward more quickly be to lift the knees higher? I’m running my first marathon in a week and I was in tremendous discomfort during my 20 mile run 2 weeks ago. I’ve been taking very easy but am worried about race day. What you’re saying makes sense to me. I find that since you’re running slower and taking smaller steps in long distances, you’re missing the full range of motion and putting stress on your hip. Please let me know if there’s anything you think I should do between now and then. I was still planning on doing my 10 easy miles tomorrow and then basically nothing next week. Thank you!

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    Jae Gruenke October 25, 2015

    Think more of bringing your knees forwards than up. Of course they’re swinging on an arc, but you don’t want to lift them any more than necessary, whereas just thinking of moving them forward (you can imagine you’re cross-country skiing) will help your pelvis turn and that has a host of additional benefits. You’ll also pick up your pace a little without working any harder. I hope that helps, best of luck with your race!

    Reply
Kat July 15, 2018

This is the first article I’ve read that was helpful for me! I will have to try out these tips. Thank you so much!

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    Jae Gruenke August 10, 2018

    Glad to hear it, Kat!

    Reply
Tom Allred August 9, 2020

I had a Birmingham hip put in two years ago. There was a time when I was back to running ok. Now the right hip flexor hurts almost every time I run. I’ve tried everything. At a loss on how to get back.

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    Jae Gruenke August 12, 2020

    Sorry to hear it, Tom! I’d definitely start by going back to the doctor and making sure all is well with the hip they put in. Then go do the free lesson on this page: https://www.balancedrunner.com/how-to-fix-achilles-tendinitis-tendinosis-tendinopathy/ Even though it’s ostensibly for achilles problems, it helps with hip flexor issues as well and may get the ball rolling in the right direction for you. You probably need a more overall approach to your running form rather than a single lesson, but hopefully this will help.

    Reply
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