Stressed and sitting a lot? Try stretching your psoas!

Lots of sitting can lead to tightness in our muscles, particularly around your hips and lower back. Here we’ll discuss one of the main culprits, the psoas muscle, and provide some helpful stretches to improve your flexibility.

The psoas major muscle is one of the only muscles which connects your spine to your legs. You have two psoas muscles, either side of your spine attaching to the top inner aspect of each thigh bone (femur). The psoas is located deep within your core, underneath other spinal and abdominal muscles and so is very hard to feel with your hands. It allows you to bend forwards to pick something off the floor, climb the stairs, stand upright and move your leg forwards when walking or running.

So it goes without saying it’s an important muscle for us to to keep healthy!

When sitting, this muscle is in a shortened position. When regularly sitting for prolonged periods the muscle can start to remain in this shortened position and becomes tight. The psoas muscle helps to create the inward curve of the lower part of your spine (lumbar lordosis), which is important for distributing load and posture.

However, if the psoas becomes tight and shortened, this may increase the tension in your spine and increase the curve (hyperlordosis). This may lead to postural problems and back pain.

How do I know if I have a tight psoas?

If you are sitting for a big portion of the day then there is a fairly high chance that your psoas muscles are tight. Some people may complain of dull aching pain in their lower back and groin due to the increased pressures on these areas, but sometimes you do not have any pain at all. This may develop later, or you may be at risk of lower limb injuries during exercise due to the imbalances that a tight psoas creates.

Many people find that the muscles around their neck are where they “carry tension” but the psoas can also become tight when we are stressed. The psoas is actually connected to the diaphragm by connective tissue called fascia. When you are stressed, the psoas responds by tightening.

So a combination of high emotional stress and lots of sitting is pretty bad news!

A test for psoas tightness

• Lie on your back with both legs straight.

• Pull your left knee towards your chest and hug it in tightly.

• If your right leg cannot remain on the floor as you do this and lifts up, this could be a sign that you have tightness in the right psoas.

• Try on both legs and see if you can see any differences!

How do I stretch my psoas?

Stretching the psoas can be tricky and uncomfortable when first starting out. The position required to put psoas on a stretch is not a position that we tend to get into very often! Everything we do - driving, sitting, walking, even sleeping (if you sleep on your side with your knees and hips bent) puts the psoas into a shortened position.

Stretching the right psoas

Kneel down on your right knee. We would recommend doing this on carpet or placing a cushion or folded towel underneath your knee for comfort

Place the left leg infront with your foot flat on the ground, toes pointing forwards and your left knee bent

Keeping your body upright, slowly bend your left knee and sink into the position until you feel a stretch in the front of your right hip. If you want more of a stretch, move the front leg further away so you can sink further!

Hold the stretch for around 20-30 seconds. If it becomes painful then ease off slightly and hold this position.

Repeat 3 times.

If you want even more of a stretch, try raising your right arm overhead and reach toward the ceiling (the same arm as the back leg). This will stretch the whole length of your psoas. Be careful - this may pull a lot and you may want to work up to this slowly after a few weeks.

Then try the same thing on the other side.

Other handy tips

Try to avoid sitting for prolonged periods, and get up to move and stretch regularly. Our previous blog has some quick ideas for stretching to prevent prolonged sitting.

If you have to sit, make sure that your hips are in line or slightly higher than your knees. This will slightly improve the position of the psoas and help to prevent it from shortening.

Try putting a folded towel under the back of your bottom when sitting, and you could try using or making a “lumbar roll” to support your lower back. This tilts the pelvis slightly and improves tension in the psoas muscles.

This is absolutely not written to substitute medical advice and it is always important to see a qualified health care professional for a formal diagnosis. If the stretch causes pain during or after the exercise, discontinue and consult a physiotherapist.

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