Is sitting ruining your health? Could releasing your hip flexors improve your life?

To unlock your Psoas, you need a combination of exercise styles and a specific sequence - static stretching is not enough. See my video "Antidote to 'postural stress" for my recommended exercises.

Is Sitting damaging your health?

Sources:

  1. Liz Koch
  2. Rick Kaselj and Mike Westerdal (Criticalbench.com)
  3. Danielle Prohom Olson - The Body Divine

Sitting causes Psoas to tighten which can lead to:

  1. BULGING BELLY SYNDROME.It isn't necessarily weak abdominals which causes the lower back to curve pushing out the stomach, it can be a tight Psoas. A tight psoas pulls forward the back of the pelvis and moves everything in front of it. This includes both the small and large intestines, which is why a tight psoas can affect our DIGESTION in a huge way. The tighter the psoas the more pressure is placed on organs and other muscles and this will cause unwanted changes in your bodily functions.
  2. INHIBIT FAT LOSS.The psoas is known as the fight or flight muscle. It tightens in response to danger (or stress) to help us spring into action - or curl up into a protective ball. It tightens in response to adrenaline, which is a good and totally normal reaction. The problem comes when the muscle becomes chronically tightened, and gives the signal to the brain that you are in danger (or stressed!). The body doesn't know the difference between real physical danger, and mental, emotional or in this case postural stress, so initiates and maintains over a long time, the stress response in the body. The Most frustrating way that this affects us is by storing any calories that are not absolutely necessary in the abdominal area. For more details on the stress response and how it links to fat storage in the abdominal area go to "Stress- is it making you fat?" in the nutrition section. For the purpose of this feature understand that sitting for hours is considered stress for the body and when the stress hormone cortisol remains elevated in the blood and the extra glucose (fuel) mobilised in response to this hormone is stored as fat - mostly in the abdomen.​ ​A tight psoas muscle constricts the fascia connecting to the diaphragm leading to shortness of breath or CHEST BREATHING, adding to stress further. The cyclical motion of stress, which indirectly affects the psoas and a tight psoas attributing to stress levels cannot be broken until an external stimulus is injected - i.e. exercise!
  3. ​Poor athletic performance.​The tightness from sitting is generated by the backward tilt of the hips. When you get up from sitting all day and go to the gym to "ease the pressure" , working the core and legs, you exacerbate the same pattern of sitting with many of the exercises. We need to work the core but standard crunches and sit ups aren't going to help your hips. It is important to work the legs and gluteals but too much flexion of the hips (as in squats) will limit the range of motion in your hips and cause your lower back and knees to take all the pressure.

​​Athletes beware! To create explosive power (jumping, sprinting etc) you need strong gluteals. The Glutes work antagonistically (opposite) to the hip flexors (Psoas). If our psoas muscle is tight then the glutes are unable to fire (activate) properly. In addition, weak gluteals will encourage the body to use the hamstrings more, leading to tightness in them as well. Loosening the constantly shortened Psoas whilst strengthening the glutes will lead to REDUCED LOWER BACK PAIN, INCREASED HIP MOBILITY AND IMPROVED PERFORMANCE ON THE JOB,ON THE FIELD AND AT HOME!​​

Your hip flexors, in particular Psoas, are the engine of our body. This muscle not only controls our balance, but it also controls our ability to twist, reach, bend, walk, step and sit. Almost all movement goes through the hips.

​Tight hip flexors can cause:

  • Bad posture
  • ​Low back pain
  • Sacroiliac pain
  • Sciatica
  • Disc problems
  • Spondylolysis
  • ​Hip degeneration
  • ​Knee pain
  • Compromised immunity
  • High anxiety
  • Loss of sexual performance​
  • ​Circulatory problems
  • Trouble sleeping
  • Digestive problems (IBS, Constipation)


​​The Psoas connects upper and lower body. The muscle attaches to the vertebrae of the lower spine, moves through the pelvis and connects to a tendon at the top of the femur. It also attaches, through fascia, to the diaphragm, so it's connected to your breathing, and upon it sits all the major organs. When it works well you get an improved core strength and greater mobility. It can also help you drop body fat, train harder and improve athletic performance.

​A tight psoas not only creates structural problems it constricts organs, puts pressure on nerves, interferes with the movement of fluids and impairs diaphragmatic breathing. The psoas is so intimately involved in such basic physical and emotional reactions that a chronically tightened psoas continually signals to your body that you are in danger, eventually exhausting the adrenal glands and depleting the immune system. The situation is exacerbated by our modern lifestyle, from car seats to constrictive clothing, from chairs to shoes that distort our posture, curtail our natural movements and further constrict our psoas.

Its main nemesis is SITTING.​

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