I aggravated my hip flexor last week prior to running a half marathon this weekend and needless to say it feels pretty bad right now. So just curious what experience people have had in dealing with a hip flexor injury and what they find to be the best way to help alleviate the pain. I plan on laying off the running for a few weeks and if the pain continues I will have it checked out.
Appreciate any thoughts.
Thanks
Nate
Struggled for close to a year with recurring instances of hip flexor issues and I’m not that far out of the woods (yet) - I did initially see an ortho to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong– It really felt like a broken leg on my first round! I did a few sessions of PT but everything was obvious and could be done at home. Here’s what is working for me:
Short term:
Shortened stride while running slower, worked on increasing turnover.
Hills on bike were done at low effort, used mostly easy gears in general.
HOT showers before workouts for warmup.
Ice
Stretching
Foam Roller / Ball use
Long term:
Consciously keeping my stride shorter than what feels natural, still slow.
Use ice after most every activity whether its needed or not
Keep stretching and use foam roller / ball
Walking stairs (using good form) as preventative exercise
and here goes nothing: smart use of Powercranks (they’re easy to overdo initially)
Good Luck!
Fully agree with above poster.
Have just finished up a month in therapy (ITBS right side, hip flexor left side).
Went to an ortho to make sure nothing was structurally wrong, wasn’t, & was sent to therapy for a month.
Most of the stretches & strengthening they gave me were pretty obvious, so they are things I can continue at home.
BUT…it takes a long time to work out this problem it seems.
Tons of stretching day in & day out, they basically told me I am nowhere near flexible enough, & I thought I was.
Basic hip strengthening…ie, glutes, hams, quads.
Get into a good stretching plan, get a foam roller, get some rubber bands for leg workouts, & go to it.
I got my bands & roller from perform better, & they have lots of good explanations/videos on the site for how to use the stuff you buy.
The bands are great for flexor & hip workouts.
I never had any issues on bike or swim, but with running, was told to increase turnover, shorten stride.
Take some time off of running, work on getting into shape, & start out real slow. Might even want to run/walk to start back up.
Good luck.
Have had an ongoing hip flexor issue also. Firstly inflamed hip and a few years later cramping still in the same area. Very unusual as it was cramping earlier today then I did a 40min 10km later along with an hour in the pool and 45mins on the bike and it is good.
It is the only injury after quite a few kms. I do the same as the guys above. Was doing strengthening work just a few hours ago and am watching closely all that works. I do stretches and it helps and also warm up alot before doing sessions.
Do get it checked out with a specialist though to rule the different dignosis out.
Appreciate the comments. I definitely feels like you have a broken leg because initially it hurt so much to put weight on that leg. And then when you are seated you can barely pick your knee up off the ground. I am going to make a conscious effort to do the little things to strengthen my stability muscles in my legs and hips.
I only started running alot three or four months ago and this was my first half. Are there any sites with a good program for using bands?
I’ve got a minor hip thing going on right now, I found that using the foam roller aggressively on the inside of my hamstring seemed to release things and helped a lot.