Is it OK to involve the hip flexors in abdominal training exercises?
First let’s define “hip flexors”. The hip flexors are any muscles that cross the hip joint and causes the hip to bend at the waist or the thigh to raise off the floor. The primary muscle that causes the hip to bend at the waist is one of the quadriceps called the rectus femoris. The primary musche that causes the thigh to raise is a deep, short muscle that attaches from the lumbar spine to the top of the femur (leg bone) called the psoas. Regardless of the muscle in question, it is universally accepted that the hip flexors are tonic muscles… they always want to do the work… Every chance they get they will override the abdominal muscles and do the work. It is the overuse of the hip flexors that makes sit-ups with anchored feet so poo-pooed. The late Vladimir Janda (pronounced yanda), a world renouned physiotherapist and research, has stated that overuse and subsequent shortening of the hip flexors is the number one reason for postural dysfunction. The bottom line… When exercising
