The past 3 days are a complete blur right now as I sit on my flight home from Phoenix.  Early mornings, long days and a lot of standing.  My back started making some noise the second we got to the airport, a clear sign that my darn hip flexors were unhappy with me.  Yes, the cause of my back pain almost always comes from my pelvis slipping into an anterior tilt due to the hip flexors getting overly tight.  And I can tell when it’s getting really bad because if I try to activate my glutes they are no where to be found.  Tight hip flexors can cause the glutes to be inhibited and sometimes trick you into thinking your hamstrings are tight, when in fact they are taut.

So before hopping on my flight home where the problem can only get worse, I took advantage of our delay to work on getting the hips to release and the glutes to join the party again!

• Start in a half kneeling position, making sure to have your legs in 90 degree angles
• From there, do a posterior pelvic tilt (tuck it under)
• Now squeeze the glute on the side you are stretching
• Hold for 30 seconds and repeat on the other side
• You can also pull your arm to the opposite side to increase the stretch

Give this a try next time you find yourself waiting for flight, your back will thank you!

-S