Many people are aware of the benefits of exercise and stretching to reduce injury. However, it is common to perform certain exercises incorrectly and have resulting hip or pelvis discomfort. The way you set up a stretch and how well your alignment is effects how selective and specific the stretch will be. If you are aiming for a certain muscle group but feel a pull or sensation somewhere else in the body, it is most likely your positioning is incorrect creating poor alignment.
An easy stretch that many of us do at home or at the gym is the Figure 4 or Piriformis stretch. This stretch targets the release of the piriformis muscle located on the side of your pelvis in the gluteal region. This stretch can be less efficient if we push down too much on our knee instead of pulling the knee towards our chest. The emphasis on your set up makes the difference between stretching the correct muscle vs increasing ligamentous or capsular stress to a joint.

Another easy stretch that many people do is the kneeling lunge stretch where you target the quadriceps and hip flexor muscles on the front of your thigh. It can commonly be performed incorrectly if the abdominals are not engaged. Performing a slight posterior pelvic tilt (think of tucking your tailbone under) can reduce the excess compression of the lumbar spine and increase stretch on hip flexor and quadriceps.

If you are concerned that your stretch routine is aggravating your hip or pelvis region, call us for a free-screen or initial evaluation!

For more information call us at Results Rehab at (619) 437-6450.
Results@resultsrehab.com