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The psoas muscle is a hip flexor that lifts the thigh, making it essential for walking and climbing stairs. Prolonged sitting can cause the psoas muscle to become tight, leading to increased stress on the lower back and muscle imbalances. To improve strength and flexibility and reduce muscle imbalances, it is important to perform exercises that target the psoas muscle. This can be achieved through stretching and strengthening exercises, such as straight leg raises, camel pose, and the Full Boat pose.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Exercise | Straight leg raises |
| Marching in place | |
| Camel pose | |
| Full Boat | |
| Hip extension | |
| Leg lift | |
| Walking | |
| Climbing stairs | |
| Rest and recovery |
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Straight leg raises
The psoas muscle is one of the hip flexor muscles that lifts the thigh. This motion is essential for walking and going up stairs. Prolonged sitting causes the psoas muscle to become too tight, which can increase stress on your lower back and make it difficult to walk and lift your feet from the floor.
It is important to focus on contracting your psoas muscle during this exercise. If you lift your leg too high, you will feel your rectus femoris and TFL tighten and begin to do the lifting. Avoid letting these superficial muscles take over and instead focus on contracting your psoas muscle.
To take this exercise up a notch, try the Full Boat pose. This challenging pose works the psoas, abdominals, back muscles, and quadriceps. To perform this pose, sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you. Press your hands on the floor a little behind your hips, with your fingers pointing towards your feet.
In addition to straight leg raises, camel pose is another effective yoga posture for stretching the psoas muscle. To perform this move, start in a kneeling position with your buttocks resting on your heels. Place your hands on your hips and contract your glute muscles to lift your buttocks into a tall kneeling position. Continue to push your hips forward as you arch your back and reach your hands back to grab your heels or ankles.
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Camel pose
The psoas muscle is one of the hip flexor muscles that lifts the thigh, allowing us to walk and climb stairs. Prolonged sitting can cause the psoas muscle to become too tight, which can result in muscle imbalances and increased stress on the lower back. To access the psoas muscle, try the following yoga posture:
- Start in a kneeling position with your buttocks resting on your heels.
- Place your hands on your hips. Contract your glute muscles to lift your buttocks from your feet into a tall kneeling position. Your hips should be over your knees, with your shoulders back.
- Continue to push your hips forward as you arch your back. Reach your hands back to grab your heels or ankles. Keep squeezing your glutes and thighs to push your hips forward.
This move stretches the psoas muscle on both sides of your body at the same time.
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Full boat pose
To access the psoas muscle, you can try the full boat pose. This challenging pose works the psoas, abdominals, back muscles and quadriceps.
To begin, sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you. Press your hands on the floor a little behind your hips, with your fingers pointing towards your feet. Strengthen your arms and then lift your legs so that your knees are bent and your shins are parallel to the floor. Keep your back straight and lean back slightly, balancing on your sitting bones. Hold this pose for a few breaths, focusing on engaging your core and psoas muscles.
You can also try straight leg raises to build psoas muscle strength. Lie on your back with your legs straight, then bend one knee and place your foot flat on the floor. Lift your other leg slowly, keeping it straight, until your knee lines up with the knee of your bent leg. Hold for five seconds, then slowly lower your leg back down. Repeat for 20 repetitions on each leg.
Another option is the camel pose, a yoga posture that helps open the hips and stretches the psoas muscle on both sides of the body. Start in a kneeling position with your buttocks resting on your heels, then place your hands on your hips. Contract your glute muscles to lift your buttocks from your feet into a tall kneeling position, with your hips over your knees and your shoulders back. Continue to push your hips forward as you arch your back, reaching your hands back to grab your heels or ankles. Keep squeezing your glutes and thighs to push your hips forward.
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Marching in place
The psoas muscle is one of the hip flexor muscles that lifts the thigh. This motion is essential for walking and going up stairs. Prolonged sitting causes the psoas muscle to become too tight, which can increase stress on your lower back and make it difficult to walk and lift your feet from the floor.
- Stand with your feet shoulder-width apart.
- Lift your right knee to hip height, keeping your knee bent.
- Lower your right foot back to the starting position.
- Repeat with your left knee.
- Continue alternating legs, marching in place for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
You can also try straight leg raises to build psoas muscle strength. Lie on your back with your legs straight. Bend one knee, placing your foot flat on the floor. Lift your other leg slowly, keeping your leg straight with your knee fully extended. Lift your leg so that your knee lines up with the knee of your bent leg. Hold for 5 seconds before slowly lowering your leg to the floor, keeping it straight. Complete 20 repetitions on each leg.
For a more challenging pose, try the Full Boat. This pose works the psoas, abdominals, back muscles, and quadriceps. Sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you. Press your hands on the floor a little behind your hips, fingers pointing toward your feet, and strengthen your arms.
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Hip extension
The psoas muscle is a hip flexor that lifts the thigh, which is essential for walking and climbing stairs. Prolonged sitting can cause the psoas muscle to become tight, which can increase stress on the lower back and result in muscle imbalances.
To access the psoas muscle, try the following hip extension exercises:
Straight Leg Raises
- Lie on your back with your legs straight.
- Bend one knee, placing your foot flat on the floor.
- Lift your other leg slowly, keeping your leg straight with your knee fully extended. Lift your leg so that your knee lines up with the knee of your bent leg.
- Hold for 5 seconds before slowly lowering your leg to the floor, keeping it straight.
- Complete 20 repetitions on each leg.
Camel Pose
- Start in a kneeling position with your buttocks resting on your heels.
- Place your hands on your hips.
- Contract your glute muscles to lift your buttocks from your feet into a tall kneeling position. Your hips should be over your knees, with your shoulders back.
- Continue to push your hips forward as you arch your back. Reach your hands back to grab your heels or ankles. Keep squeezing your glutes and thighs to push your hips forward.
Full Boat
- Sit on the floor with your legs straight in front of you.
- Press your hands on the floor a little behind your hips, fingers pointing toward the feet, and strengthen the arms.
It is important to focus on contracting the psoas muscle during these exercises, rather than letting the superficial muscles take control.
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Frequently asked questions
You can strengthen your psoas muscle by doing straight leg raises. Lie on your back with your legs straight, bend one knee and place your foot flat on the floor. Lift your other leg slowly, keeping your leg straight with your knee fully extended. Hold for 5 seconds before slowly lowering your leg to the floor, keeping it straight. Repeat 20 times on each leg.
The psoas muscle is one of the hip flexor muscles that lifts the thigh. This motion is essential for walking and going up stairs.
The camel pose is a yoga posture that helps open the hips and stretches the psoas muscle on both sides of your body at the same time. Start in a kneeling position with your buttocks resting on your heels. Place your hands on your hips. Contract your glute muscles to lift your buttocks from your feet into a tall kneeling position. Your hips should be over your knees, with your shoulders back. Continue to push your hips forward as you arch your back. Reach your hands back to grab your heels or ankles. Keep squeezing your glutes and thighs to push your hips forward.
