Your low back may also feel tired or sore. That's not your psoas muscles, but your lower back muscles, which tighten because of postural changes and get fatigued and sore.

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ARE HIP FLEXORS AND PSOAS MUSCLES THE SAME?

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Usually, the term, "hip flexors", refers to the glutei minimi muscles, which work in concert with the psoas muscles to move the leg forward, in walking. The glutei are surface muscles about where trousers front pockets are; the psoas muscles are deep muscles.

 

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WHEN YOUR PSOAS ISN'T THE REAL, CENTRAL PROBLEM

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Sharp, off-center low back pain and pain around the rim of the pelvis are another matter -- signs of a twisted sacrum. When someone's sacrum is twisted, postural changes make the psoas tighten. In that case, you can't effectively address the psoas pain directly by any means. The position and movements of the sacrum must be corrected -- and then psoas relaxes and the pain goes away, by itself.

 

Got pain in your groin? inner wall of your pelvis? behind your stomach?

 

Those are symptoms of a tight psoas muscle. 

 

Got the other pains?  Go here.

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WHAT OTHER PROBLEMS CAN A TIGHT PSOAS CAUSE?

 

When someone uses abdominal crunches to counter the postural effects of a tight psoas -- which cause the pelvis to tip forward and the belly to bulge -- the tight abdominal muscles squeeze the abdominal organs, which impairs their functioning. So, tight psoas muscles may indirectly lead to digestive/eliminative problems and restricted breathing.

 

More direct problems from a tight psoas include (1) chronic constipation (from sluggish lumbar plexus function), (2) poor posture (balance problems), (4) reduced length of walking stride, (5) unequal leg length, (6) chronic fatigue, (7) increased chance of back injury, and (8) torn labrum (hip joint cartilage damage).

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PSOAS HEALTH

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When the psoas muscles, hamstrings, and abdominal muscles work freely and easily, together, the psoas muscles tighten and relax, shorten and lengthen appropriately in movement. The back muscles lengthen and the spinal curves flatten (to a normal shape). The abdominal contents rest in proper position in the abdominal cavity, where they are supported instead of hanging forward. Stride lengthens and you stand up straighter.

 

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"HOW DO I RELAX MY PSOAS MUSCLE?"

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You didn't think I would leave you hanging, did you?

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It's something completely different from stretching, and in another way, completely familiar, as familiar as yawning and stretching and feels about like that. 

 

It's a way to retrain movement memory, efficiently, which means, get muscles to relax to their normal, relaxed resting tone efficiently and without stretching -- faster than any other method. It also improves coordination and makes muscles feel stronger (better under control).

 

It's a kind of movement action related to yawning, called,

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PANDICULATION

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Here's a video that explains pandiculation --

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the release action that works better than stretching.

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There's a psoas reconditioning program that uses pandiculation movements that involve or affect the psoas muscles. It frees movement and restores comfort.