“Knowing yourself is to be rooted in being,
Instead of lost in your mind.”
-Eckhart Tolle
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Whether you sit at your computer all day, hit the gym religiously, play sports for fun, or compete at elite levels, you may have “dormant bottom syndrome” or “gluteal amnesia” without even realizing it. This is when you suffer from a neglected posterior chain, and a tight anterior chain. Your posterior chain refers to the muscles located on the rear side of your body, including the muscles of your back, glutes, and hamstrings. Prolonged sitting, sleeping in a fetal position, and many forms of exercise (such as sit-ups, cycling, even walking and running) disproportionately shorten the anterior, or front muscles, of the body. Our modern lifestyles often force us into a position where our necks are craned forward, our shoulders are shrugged up toward our ears, our backs are rounded, and our hands are out in front of us. Over time, this tightens the muscles on the front of the body, especially the psoas (pronounced “so-ass”), while stretching and weakening the muscles on the back of the body, leading to imbalance, poor posture, and injury.
Your psoas muscles are important deep core stabilizers that provide structural support to each side of your spine, like “guy-wires” or violin strings. (Source: Medical Historical Library, Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library, Yale University).
These long, thick muscles, located deep in your abdomen (three to four inches beneath your skin), include the smaller iliacus (which connects the pelvis with the thigh) and the bigger psoas (which connects the spine with the thigh). The psoas muscles connect the front of your spine to your thighs— working to stabilize, decompress, and support your spine, especially when bearing heavy loads, like when you lift or jump. To find them, place your hands on your abdomen at the level of your hip bones and work slightly away from your navel to your sides. You can sense these deep pulleys activating when you initiate the movement of lifting your knee toward your chest.
If you feel antsy when you sit for a long period of time, often it’s your psoas screaming at you! Listen to your body’s urges to move and stretch your iliopsoas muscle group. Due to a new understanding of the important role these muscles play, the psoas muscles have received a lot of attention lately not just as hip flexors, but also as stabilizers of your core, breath, and spirit.
“Psoas” I was saying…this pair of core-stabilizing muscles is unique! They are the only ones in your body that connect your legs to your spine, with connections to your diaphragm (the dome shaped breathing muscle at the base of your lungs), your core floor (the sling shaped hammock of pelvic muscles at the base of your abdomen), and the fight or flight response of your autonomic nervous system. Chronic tension in these muscles may cause back, hip, or knee pain, as well as inefficient breathing, digestive problems, anxiety, protruding bellies, and angry backs.
Relieve this tension with dynamic stretching targeting your psoas muscles. Get up and perform the psoas strut as often as possible to stretch your tight psoas and wake up your sleepy ass. When you walk, you are naturally stretching out your psoas in the leg that is trailing behind, and you can get even more stretch by making sure the heel of this back leg stays in contact with the ground without lifting up (or as close as possible).
Focus on quieting your steps, which requires stronger activation of your posterior chain. Engaging and tightening your glutes helps to relax your psoas through what is called “reciprocal inhibition,” which is when muscles on one side of a joint relax to accommodate contraction on the other side.
To ramp of your psoas and core activation dynamically increase your step length into a walking psoas lunge. The psoas muscles flex and laterally rotate your hip, as well as side bend your trunk laterally. The psoas are also postural muscles that stabilizes your core by maintaining the natural curves of your spinal column. Therefore, to get a great dynamic stretch of your psoas lunge forward, keeping your back heel towards the ground, then side bend and rotate your trunk away to the opposite side and backwards. Make sure to take a long enough step to avoid letting your knees go forward beyond your toes. Each heel strike will increase your posterior chain tone, stretch out your tight hip flexors, and give you a little more pep in your step!
The psoas strut is a great dynamic movement to perform first thing in the morning, before heading out to the gym or a run (or after), during your workday, after a long car or bike ride, or any time you feel the primitive urge to pandiculate (our animal instinct to stretch). When you step forward, you are stretching the psoas in the trailing leg, then increasing the stretch by side-bending and rotating away, reaching over your opposite shoulder. Incorporating this strut into your day will keep your psoas supple and inner core balanced and ready for action!
For more information, please refer to my book ‘Master Your Core’. Thanks for your interest! Please like, share, and start a new positive, healthy trend with the psoas strut!