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Stretching Hip Flexors and Tightening Your Glutes

When your legs are moving, at least one hip flexor or gluteus muscle is involved in some way. It’s no wonder, then, that many exercisers are interested in maintaining good flexibility in their hip flexors and in strengthening their glutes. A fit-looking hip area is also a physically attractive feature. Hip exercises will strengthen your muscles, but if you’re looking to trim fat, remember that you can’t spot-reduce. Add cardio exercises to your workout to create a leaner body overall.

  1. Hip Flexors

    • The hip flexors include the iliopsoas, sartorius, rectus femoris, tensor fasciae latae and pectineus muscles. Along with some of your hip adductors, the flexors are responsible for hip flexion -- activities in which your thigh and pelvis move closer together, including running and jumping.

    Glutes

    • Your glutes surround your pelvis from the sides and rear and include the gluteus maximus in your rear end plus the gluteus medius and minimus around your hips. These muscles are involved in almost every possible hip movement. If your legs are in motion and you’re not flexing your hips, one or more of your glutes are almost always helping you move.

    Hip Flexor Stretches

    • The rectus femoris is one of your quadriceps, so it’s not surprising that many quad stretches also work your hip flexors. To perform a quad stretch on one knee, set your right shin and knee on the floor behind you, your toes pointed back and your thigh angled forward a bit. At the same time, place your left foot flat on the floor in front of you with your knee bent. Move your hips forward until you feel a stretch in your right hip. A common standing stretch involves bending your right knee and moving your right foot toward your butt. Grasp your foot with your right hand and move your heel as close to your buttocks as you comfortably can. Hold both stretches for 30 seconds and repeat the stretches with both legs.

    Gluteus Exercises

    • The most common exercises to strengthen and tighten your gluteus muscles include squats, deadlifts, leg presses and lunges, all of which target the gluteus maximus. Use a leg press machine, sitting or lying, to push a resistance plate with your legs. You can perform the other three exercises with barbells, dumbbells, machines and other exercise tools, and there are numerous variations of each. Perform squats by placing a barbell across your back, squatting back as though sitting in a chair and then rising. For lunges, grab a pair of dumbbells and take a large step forward, bending the front knee; step back, then lunge with your opposite leg. Perform deadlifts by reaching down and grasping a barbell with your arms extended and then rising to a standing position while keeping your arms straight. The gluteus medius and minimus support or stabilize your movements during many variations of these four exercises. Sit in a hip abduction machine and press your legs sideways to target the two smaller glutes more directly.

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