Tight Hip Flexors: Hidden Cause of Back Pain & Poor Posture

Unlocking Tight Hip Flexors: The Hidden Cause of Pain, Poor Posture & Low Energy

At Neurohealth Wellness in Allambie Heights — Northern Beaches' home for chiropractic care, injury rehabilitation and proactive health — we often meet patients who are doing all the ‘right’ things.

They’re active, health-conscious, eating well, and making an effort to stay mobile. But they still feel stiff, sore, tired, or restricted in their movement — especially around the lower back, hips and pelvis.

One of the most common yet overlooked culprits?

Tight hip flexors.

Why Hip Flexors Matter More Than You Think

Your hip flexors are a group of muscles near the top of your thighs, which connect your upper and lower body. The main player here is the psoas major — a deep core muscle that links your lumbar spine to your femur. It’s the only muscle in the human body connecting the spine to the legs, making it essential for walking, standing, sitting, twisting, and even stabilising your breathing mechanics.

When this group becomes tight — often due to prolonged sitting, poor posture, old injuries or emotional stress — the consequences can ripple out into multiple systems in the body.

Common Symptoms of Tight Hip Flexors

Tight hip flexors don’t just cause discomfort in the hips — they affect multiple systems. Common signs include:

✔️ Lower back pain
✔️ Groin or thigh discomfort
✔️ Difficulty standing fully upright
✔️ Reduced hip mobility
✔️ Digestive issues (from organ compression)
✔️ Increased anxiety and poor sleep
✔️ Anterior pelvic tilt or swayback posture
✔️ Poor sexual function or circulation to the lower body

Because the psoas also plays a role in stabilising the spine and influencing the nervous system, tight hip flexors can even affect energy levels, mood and stress response.

The Sitting Trap: How Modern Life Is Harming Your Hips

We sit for work, meals, commuting, relaxing — and in doing so, we unknowingly hold our hip flexors in a short, contracted state for hours on end.

Over time, the body adapts by literally shortening these muscles, pulling the pelvis into an anterior tilt, tightening the lower back, and weakening the core and glutes.

The result? A domino effect of dysfunction that extends far beyond your hips:

• Limited range of motion
• Compressed abdominal organs
• Altered breathing patterns
• Slouched posture and forward head carriage
• Reduced blood and lymphatic flow

Sitting is often called “the new smoking” — and when it comes to your hips, this couldn’t be more true.

Why Stretching Alone Isn’t Enough

It’s tempting to try a quick lunge stretch and call it a day. But the psoas is a deep, tonic muscle, meaning it responds better to slow, targeted release and active retraining — not just passive stretching.

Most effective treatment plans involve a combination of release work, strengthening, mobility, and activation — especially of the glutes and core — to properly rebalance the system and restore functional movement.

Best Exercises for Tight Hip Flexors

Here are some of the best exercises we recommend at Neurohealth Wellness to release and retrain the hip flexors. These are ideal for anyone living on the Northern Beaches looking to improve posture, performance, and mobility.

🧘‍♂️ 1. Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch (with Pelvic Tilt)

A great foundational stretch when done correctly.

How to do it:

• Kneel with one leg forward and the other behind.
• Engage your glutes and gently tuck your pelvis (posterior tilt).
• Keep your spine upright and lean forward slightly until you feel a stretch at the front of the hip.

Hold for 30–60 seconds. Repeat on both sides.

🏃‍♂️ 2. Dynamic Hip Opener: “World’s Greatest Stretch”

Ideal for loosening up before training or after sitting all day.

How to do it:

• Start in a lunge with your hands inside the front foot.
• Drop the back knee slightly and rotate your chest upward, lifting the inside arm toward the ceiling.
• Breathe deeply and open the chest.

Repeat 3 times per side, flowing slowly.

🍑 3. Glute Bridges

Glute strength balances the anterior pull from the hip flexors and supports the lower back.

How to do it:

• Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat.
• Press through your heels and lift your hips, squeezing your glutes.
• Hold at the top for 2–3 seconds.

Complete 3 sets of 10–15 reps.

💥 4. Dead Bug (Deep Core Activation)

This teaches core control and helps stabilise the pelvis — taking pressure off the hips.

How to do it:

• Lie on your back, arms and legs raised.
• Slowly lower opposite arm and leg while maintaining core engagement.
• Keep your lower back flat on the floor.

Do 2–3 sets of 8–10 slow reps per side.

🔄 5. Foam Rolling (Quads & TFL)

The psoas is difficult to access directly, but foam rolling the quads, TFL (tensor fascia latae), and surrounding fasciacan help reduce tension and support the release of tight hip flexors.

Roll slowly for 1–2 minutes on each muscle group, breathing into areas of tension.

👣 BONUS: Movement Is Medicine

The best long-term fix for tight hip flexors is frequent, functional movement. Simple strategies like:

• Taking walking breaks
• Standing desks
• Floor sitting with hip-opening postures
• Lunging, squatting, or using mobility drills daily

…can make a major difference to how your hips feel and how your body functions.

The Neurohealth Approach to Hip Flexor Dysfunction

At Neurohealth Wellness, our chiropractors take a whole-body, functional view of your health. We don’t just look at pain points — we examine movement patterns, posture, joint mechanics, muscle balance, and nervous system function.

When addressing tight hip flexors, we use:
✅ Spinal and pelvic adjustments to restore movement
✅ Soft tissue techniques to release fascial adhesions
✅ Neuromuscular retraining
✅ Targeted rehab with exercises like the ones above
✅ Education on sitting, movement and breathing patterns

Our goal is always to rebalance your body so it can move freely, heal naturally, and perform at its best.

Don’t Ignore the Warning Signs

If you’ve noticed:
✔️ Back pain that won’t go away
✔️ Hip tightness or stiffness getting out of bed
✔️ A hard time activating your glutes
✔️ Decreased performance during sport or running
✔️ A lack of flexibility, energy, or motivation

It may be time to check in with a chiropractor who understands the deeper mechanics of movement.

Ready to Free Your Hips?

Whether you're a surfer, runner, gym-goer, parent or office worker — hip flexor health affects your quality of life more than you think.

👉 Book an appointment with one of our experienced chiropractors at Neurohealth Wellness or call us on (02) 9905 9099.

Let’s help you move better, live pain-free, and stay active for life.

Further Reading:

• Understanding Hip Pain: Causes, Assessment, and Treatment Beyond the Hip Joint
• Hip Hinge 101: The Secret to Building Strength and Preventing Injury
• Why Hip Mobility Matters for Pain-Free Movement | Causes & Exercises

References:

1. Kendall FP, McCreary EK, Provance PG, Rodgers MM, Romani WA. Muscles: Testing and Function with Posture and Pain. 5th ed. Baltimore: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2005.
2. Neumann DA. Kinesiology of the Musculoskeletal System: Foundations for Rehabilitation. 3rd ed. Elsevier; 2016.
3. Iliopsoas syndrome: a lesser known cause of low back pain. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2015;14(5):408-413.
4. Kuechle DK et al. The functional anatomy of the iliopsoas muscle and its implications for hip dysfunction and posture. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1997;79(4):525-529.
5. Youdas JW et al. Lumbar lordosis and pelvic inclination in adults. Physiother Theory Pract. 2000;16(2):105–113.
6. McGill SM. Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabilitation. 3rd ed. Human Kinetics; 2015.

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