Understanding the Psoas Muscle
The psoas major is a deep core muscle that connects your spine to your legs. Often referred to as the "muscle of the soul," it plays a crucial role in various bodily functions, including posture, movement, digestion, and emotional well-being. Why is a Strong Psoas Important? A strong psoas can offer numerous benefits, such as improved posture, enhanced flexibility, reduced lower back pain, and better digestion.
Exercises to Strengthen Your Psoas
To target your psoas effectively, try incorporating these exercises into your routine:
Static Stretches
- Hip Flexor Stretch: This stretch targets the hip flexors and psoas, helping to improve flexibility and reduce tightness.
- Knee-to-Chest Stretch: This simple stretch can help alleviate lower back pain and improve hip mobility.
Dynamic Movements
- Psoas March: This dynamic exercise strengthens the psoas and core muscles. Yoga Poses: Yoga poses like Warrior I and Low Lunge can effectively target the psoas and improve overall flexibility.
- Pilates Exercises: Pilates exercises like the Roll-Up and Leg Circles can help strengthen the psoas and core.
What Is the Purpose of the Psoas Muscle?
As you can see on Coach @yogi.ish here, the psoas connects from your lumbar spine and angles downward and connects to your upper thigh bone. Structurally, it’s one of the deepest muscles in your core. The purpose of your psoas muscles is primarily to extend your low back and flex your thigh bone towards your chest. Common exercises that rely heavily on the psoas are walking and running, yet it assists in movements such as squatting, deadlifting, sitting, and picking something off the floor! 🔥
How Do You Strengthen Your Psoas?
Here’s how to get the strongest contraction from this muscle with this exercise: 👇
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟭: Place a circular resistance band around your feet
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟮: Stand tall and put your hips into anterior tilt (meaning send that booty to the sky)
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝟯: Lift one knee as high as you can, then the other, all the while keeping that anterior tilt and your hips level
A big⭐️shoutout to @stickmobility and our anatomy art artist @eye.kuh.
How Can You Improve Hip Mobility?
Are you interested in more tips like this? 🔥 Our 𝗛𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 is a step-by-step video training guide to teach you the tools needed to strengthen your glutes, open up your hip flexors, and reduce or eliminate pain in your hips. 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝗼 for more info! 🔥
We truly hope you guys enjoyed the ending to this video.. especially all of you who constantly question why our female models are “naked."