In over 10 years of training young hockey players, I have NEVER met a player who didn’t have tight hip flexors.
In the last month alone, I have worked with over 500 aspiring female players, and shown them a hockey-specific stretching routine.
500 out of 500 players had tight hip flexors.
Since the hip flexors are the main muscles you use to drive your knees forward while skating, they get tighter with every stride you take. Couple this with the fact that players spend the majority of their day sitting in school, in the car or in front of the computer and you can see why these muscles stay in a shortened position.
Why should you worry about hip flexor tightness?
Because they are the #1 cause of low back pain in young hockey players.
The hip flexor muscles attach on the front of the upper leg, but they originate from the lower back. So as the hip flexors become progressively more tight, they pull more and more on the lower back. This constant tension leads to irritation in the muscles and joints of the lower back and ultimately leads to back pain.
The solution to this problem is simple:
Stretch Your Hip Flexors!
You don’t need to wait until the season starts…
I guarantee you that your hip flexors could use a great stretch right now!
Two short minutes of hockey-specific stretching can help you avoid a season of back pain.
A pretty easy decision to make.
Until next time,
Kim
