Ab Workout for Tight Hip Flexors

The hip flexors are a group of muscles at and around your hips. This muscle group is essential for movements ranging from rotating and flexing the hips to rotating the spine and extending the knees. But more importantly for a person who wishes to build both toned abs and hip flexors, the hip flexors are one of the prime muscle groups in ab workouts. With a proper ab workout design, you can exclusively use ab exercises to build your hip-flexor muscles.

  1. Push Your Tush

    • The push sit-up puts stress on your abdominal muscles while requiring your hip flexors to move your body up and forward. To perform a push sit-up, lie on a sit-up bench. Hold a barbell or two dumbbells in your hands, directly above your shoulders. With your elbows straight, perform a sit-up by flexing your waist and hips. During the movement, keep the weight directly above your shoulders. Slowly return to the starting position. Repeat for a total of 10 repetitions. Rest for three minutes and repeat the exercise two more times.

    The Amazing Feat of Standing Up

    • The Turkish get-up is a full-body exercise that puts considerable force on the hip flexors. Like the push sit-up, the starting position is a lying position with a barbell or set of dumbbells held above your shoulders. But instead of lying on a sit-up bench, lie on the floor. Perform the Turkish get-up by flexing your waist and hips to bring your torso to a vertical position while still holding the weight above your shoulders. From this position, stand up. Perform the entire movement as fluidly as possible. Repeat for a total of three sets at 10 repetitions with three-minute rests in between sets.

    Exercising While Lying

    • The lying leg-hip raise both matches and deceives its name: it primarily targets the abs yet still works the hips. Start by lying supine on the floor. Flex your hips to lift your legs and hips off the ground. Continue flexing until your knees nearly touch your chest. Return to the starting position and repeat for a total of 10 reps. Work at three sets with three-minute rests in between. To increase the difficulty, hold a dumbbell between your ankles while you perform the exercise.

    Don’t Forget to Stretch

    • Finish your workout with a stretch. Kneel on the floor, torso vertical. Place your hands on your butt, fingers down. Arch your back by pulling your shoulders back and pressing forward on your butt. You should feel a stretch in both your abs and your hip flexors, under the abs. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds while breathing deeply.