Case Study: How do I Unlock my Hip Flexors?

This is the first case study on manlyhacks.com.

It's about strength imbalance in my hip area which causes an anterior pelvic tilt.

This research suggests that as many as 85 percents of men and 75 percent of women, who do not show any symptoms, have an anterior pelvic tilt.(study1)

​This is an off topic, but I want to share it with you as there are lots of people with strength imbalances. Majority of them do not know the cause of the problem. They make the condition worse by doing the wrong exercise.

Today lets focus on hips.

My problem - the imbalance explained!

My belly is protruded out, (my butt also) and the spine is over curved towards the lower portion.

I had participated in bodybuilding competitions. 

This is my old pic from my last competition in 2010.

Even having six-pack abs, my belly protruded out. It's not flat.

I have to flex the abs muscle to make abs look flat, as you see in the pic.

If I didn't flex my ab muscle, the belly sticks out.

I thought..

Its due to the fat lying under the abs, in my abdominal cavity,- visceral fat.

I also noticed that the curve in my lower back was exaggerated when compared to others.

At that time I don't know about the cause.

Due to the imbalanced hips, I was not able to sleep on my back. When I lay down on the back, I can feel the tension.

Some sort of pulling in my lower back.

I can't sleep that way.

So I have to sleep on either side.

And again with shoulder press workout

As the load on the barbell increases, my lower back starts to curve in while pressing.

It happens due to the weakness in my glutes.

(Please comment and correct me if I am wrong)

I used a bench with back support while doing the shoulder press.

What is causing the issue?

I can't find out the real cause, the villain.

Until recent.

I find a YouTube video about anterior pelvic tilt.

After watching that video, I have figured out the cause.

Anterior pelvic tilt

The anterior pelvic tilt is caused by shortening or stiff hip flexors and lengthening or weak hip extensors. Weak abs muscles are also involved.(study 2)

The muscle imbalance progresses over time and involves reciprocal inhibition, ​in which muscles at one side of a joint relaxes to facilitate contraction on another side of the joint.(study 3)

Prolonged sitting can shorten your hip flexors. Also sitting can make your hip extensors (glutes muscles) inactive or make them weak.

In modern day, due to the sedentary lifestyle and prolong sitting make anterior pelvic tilt more common. A study shows that more than 85% in men and 75% in women have some sort of anterior pelvic tilt.

Excessive anterior pelvic tilt can cause back pain and other posture-related problems.

How I worsen the problem with Leg Raises:

I did a lot of leg raises, and it does more harm than good. The leg raises helps to strengthen the hip flexors instead of abs.

The tension on my lower portion of the spine increased.

Leg raises worsened my anterior pelvic tilt.

If you have anterior pelvic tilt, stop doing any exercise that causes flexion at the hips. ie.Thighs towards the upper body (leg raises and situps).

If you still want to do the leg raises, start your legs from parallel and raise it to shoulder level. Lower the legs until it reaches parallel to the ground.

Repeat.

By doing leg raises in this fashion, you can minimize the involvement of your hip flexor muscles.

Crunches and plank are good exercises for your abs, as they minimize the involvement of hip muscles.

For anterior pelvic tilt.

I did a lot of crunches and glute bridge.

Thus strengthening my abs and glutes.

How to do a Glute Bridge

Lie flat on the floor with your knees bent and toe pointing forward, place your arms on the floor on either side.

Lift your hips off the floor until your thighs, and upper body forms a straight line.

Squeeze your glute muscles and hold the position for 2s.

Return to starting position and repeat.

I did the exercise on alternate days and got good results.

Last week I bought a workout and diet program from criticalbench - “24-hour testosterone fix and testosterone aggressor”.

From the creators of 24-hour testosterone fix, I came to know about “unlock your hip flexors” and decided to try the program.

Let's look at what unlock your hip flexors have to offer

While purchasing the hip flexor program, they will recommend you some of their programs as upsells.

You can buy if you need them, or you can skip.

As it is a digital product, you will get immediate access to the ebooks and videos. You can download and save it on your computer or smartphone.

The ebook contains detailed instructions about the workouts. In addition to the ebook, there are instructional and training videos.

In the instructional video, Kaselj himself guides you to do the workout in proper form.

Kaselj also writes about the health issues caused by tight hip flexors, and how it affects the quality of your life.

The ebook will give you a clear understanding of the anatomy and biomechanics of the hip and hip flexors and extensors.

He writes about

Here he explains why static stretching alone isn’t the answer?

“That’s because you need to attack the muscle from a variety of angles using a variety of exercise techniques and modalities in order to “unpack” the muscle in the right way.

The truth is, you can learn to release your tight hip flexors on your own.

If you think of your psoas as a combination safe lock, there are several numbers that will unlock it, but they need to be entered in the right order.

There are a number of specific movements beyond simple static stretching you can use to unlock and loosen your hips, legs, and back.”

I have started the workout on 23rd March, and I can feel an immediate relaxation in my hip area. ( may be due to different types of stretching workouts- dynamic, static and PNF )

I will update my progress and results after trying it for at least four weeks.

After 2-3 workouts

After doing 2-3 times, I can now sleep on my back. The pull on my lower back is reduced. It shows that tight hip flexors are now relaxed.

Let's see what happens in 4 weeks 🙂

You can get unlock your hip flexors here.

Why I reviewed this product?

I know this is not our regular topic, but our readers may have some problem with their hip or hip flexors. This case study may help them to identify the problem.

You can correct your imbalance by either choosing this program or use other free resources. ( glute bridge and crunches)

If you find the information useful, please share with your friends.

Do you have

1. anterior pelvic tilt?
2. protruded belly?
3. an exaggerated curve in the lower spine?

Please share your thoughts in the comment section.

Reference

1. Herrington, L. (2011). Assessment of the degree of pelvic tilt within a normal asymptomatic population. Manual Therapy, 16(6), pp.646-648.
2. William Morrison, M. (2019). Anterior pelvic tilt: Fixes, causes, and symptoms. [online] Medical News Today. Available at: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317379.php [Accessed 26 Mar. 2019].
3. The PTDC. (2019). 5 Steps for Dealing With Anterior Pelvic Tilt | The PTDC. [online] Available at: https://www.theptdc.com/5-steps-dealing-anterior-pelvic-tilt [Accessed 26 Mar. 2019].