As you may or may not know, I suffered a grade 2 strain in a couple of deep muscles on a spot in my lower back a little while back. I backed off from most squatting and deadlifting movements for awhile and have recently been getting back into some lighter ones (Don't worry, I've found ways to train hard). While it has been a pain recovering from this injury, it has forced me to take a step back and look at what weaknesses contributed to this problem. A couple of them were in my hips. My psoas and my glutes were both weaker than they should've been. While my back has been healing, I have been doing exercises to bring up weak points and facilitate recovery. Here are a couple of hip exercises that I've been doing a few times a week either as part of main workouts or as smaller extra workouts. They have helped me and maybe they can help you.
Knee Raises- The psoas major is a unique hip flexor that attaches to the femur and all of the lumbar verterbrae. With its attachments to the vertebrae, it has some control with the low back. If its too stiff, it can pull on it and bring it into hyperextension. If its too weak, the back will have less support and help from it, causing it to round easier. The psoas is most active in hip flexion above 90 degrees. Looking at this fact, guess where it might be of assistance. In the bottom of the squat. Where have I been weakest when squatting. In the bottom. A simple exercise like this can help a lot. I usually do them for 3-5 sets of 12-20 reps. I am using 20 lb ankle weights in the video but some people can start with just their leg weight and it will be plenty difficult. Notice how I focus on the top half of the hip flexion to emphasize the psoas.
Knee Raises- The psoas major is a unique hip flexor that attaches to the femur and all of the lumbar verterbrae. With its attachments to the vertebrae, it has some control with the low back. If its too stiff, it can pull on it and bring it into hyperextension. If its too weak, the back will have less support and help from it, causing it to round easier. The psoas is most active in hip flexion above 90 degrees. Looking at this fact, guess where it might be of assistance. In the bottom of the squat. Where have I been weakest when squatting. In the bottom. A simple exercise like this can help a lot. I usually do them for 3-5 sets of 12-20 reps. I am using 20 lb ankle weights in the video but some people can start with just their leg weight and it will be plenty difficult. Notice how I focus on the top half of the hip flexion to emphasize the psoas.
Kneeling Hip Extensions-I do these to strengthen my glutes with the added benefit of strengthening my low back without loading it much. Abdominal stability also comes into play with these. I've talked about the importance of having strong glutes many times before so I won't get into it too much here. I usually do these for 3-5 sets of 12 to 20 reps as well.
While injuries suck for the most part, they do make you smarter. I have brought up weak areas now with plenty of different exercises and my hips feel stronger and more stable than ever since I've started doing some regular lifts again. If your squat, dead or anything else has stalled, or if you have an issue with pain or posture problems, maybe special exercises like this could be what you are missing.
P.S. I've been adding more videos to my youtube page so be sure to check them out!
P.S. I've been adding more videos to my youtube page so be sure to check them out!
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