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Tight hamstrings and hip flexors often go unnoticed till they result in that one small indicator across all age groups - lower back pain. Whether you're a student who sits long hours without any considerable physical activity, employee who cannot avoid sitting long hours, or just a couch potato, you may at some point experience lower back pain.
How can tight hamstrings and hip flexors cause back pain? Well, when these muscles which directly or indirectly support the back remain in a wound-up position all day (when you sit or stand too much, for instance), over time they get weakened. Weak muscles cannot support your posture properly, resulting in excessive stress on the lower back area, which eventually causes pain.
Yoga can help solve this problem. A stretching session with simple yoga asanas in the morning or at night before sleeping can help you relieve muscle tension as well as over time strengthen the muscles enough to prevent this problem.
Yoga Exercises for Tight Hamstrings and Hip Flexors
Without further ado, let's take a look at five yoga exercises that can help you get relief from tight hamstrings and hip flexors:
1) Anjaneyasana
This is one of the best yoga poses to relieve tight hamstrings and hip flexors. It stretches the hamstring of the front leg and the psoas of the back leg.
To do this yoga pose:
Start in the Adho-Mukha Svanasana (downward facing dog pose). Place your right foot between your hands while lowering your left knee on the mat or a folded blanket.
Raise your chest till your shoulders stack over your hips, or place your hands on blocks alongside your front foot. Stay put, and take a breath. Continue on the other side.
Tips:
To enhance the psoas stretch, lift your pubic bone towards your belly button. Imagine pulling your front heel toward the back of the mat without moving your foot to simultaneously stretch and strengthen the anterior hamstring.
2) Prasarita Padottanasana
Both hamstrings and hip flexors are stretched at the same time. The position of the legs away from the body lengthens the psoas muscle, instead of shortening it.
To do this yoga pose:
Start with your feet approximately 3-4 feet apart and parallel to each other, or slightly pigeon-toed. Hinge forward at the hips, and place your hands on the floor or blocks. Press through the farthest edges of your feet, and raise through the arches. Relax your abdomen, and move your sight between your legs.
Relax and stretch out your neck so that the crown of your head drops towards the mat. Remove your shoulders from your ears. You can prevent the sensation of falling forward by contracting the muscles on the fronts of your legs. To relieve tension in the lower back, pull your inner thighs against your pubic bone, and tilt them inwards slightly. Stay put, and take a breath.
3) Hanumanasana
This yoga asana stretches the hamstring of the front leg and the hip flexor of the back leg.
To do this pose:
Beginning in low lunge, extend the tailbone toward the rear of the knee. In half splits, straighten your front leg while inching your heel forward so that your hips remain aligned over the back knee. Keep your shoulders packed over your hips (you can put blocks under your hands, if necessary), and begin to inch your back knee further away from you to enter splits.
As you do so, continue to stretch the tailbone towards the mat, and lift the pubic bone towards the navel. Keep your front knee facing the ceiling by slightly angling your front thigh outward. Roll your back thigh inward and down till the distance between the hips and the mat is equal.
Relax your shoulders away from your ears, and pull your front ribs in towards your body. Stay put, and take a breath. Continue on the other side.
4) Paschimottanasana
This yoga asana stretches the hamstrings of both legs and strengthens the hip flexors.
To do this yoga pose:
Straighten your legs out in front of you as you sit. If you have tight hip flexors or low back pain, sit on the folded edge of a blanket to prevent your lower back from rounding.
Lengthen your spine, and move your sit bones away from your heels by a fraction of an inch. Maintain your feet in a flexed position as you hinge at the hips, and extend your torso toward your toes. When you can no longer reach, pause.
Keep your knees as bent as possible. You can maintain an elongated spine, and hold the outer edges of your feet, ankles, or calves, or you can round your back and bring your chin to your chest. Stay put, and take a breath.
5) Parivrtta Trikonasana
This yoga asana stretches and strengthens the hamstrings of both legs, as well as the hip flexors. Tight or weak hip flexor muscles can induce a curvature in the lower back and increase stress to the hamstrings during the pose.
To do this yoga pose:
Start in the pyramid pose with your hands on the ground or on blocks in front of your front foot. Press against the mat or blocks to encourage chest lengthening. In the revolved triangle pose, reach your right arm towards the ceiling, and allow your bottom ribs to create the twisting action of your chest.
To prevent your lower front ribs from protruding forward and low back from arching, imagine your rib cage as a spinning barrel. Raise your thigh muscles as if they were hugging your femur bones towards your hips. Stay put, and take a breath. Continue on the other side.
Takeaway
Performing the aforementioned yoga poses regularly can help you stretch and relieve tight hamstrings and hip flexors.
