Hips, Shoulders Knees-and-toes...

One of the quickest ways we unconsciously identify age in anyone in front of us isn’t from their face or hair—it’s from their apparent hip flexibility. Sometimes younger people have an injury or tight “hip flexors,” which are easily fixed with the

right stretches. But over time, our hips can rotate outward and resist extension. Shoulders tighten, as do all the other joints. We often feel our calves cramp at night or our ankles complain as we get out of bed, even as early as our 40s.We begin to move… well, older.

But here’s the truth: it doesn’t have to be that way. Daring Gray helps you move younger again.

Occasionally, I do house calls where a client is lying on the floor or in bed with a back spasm and can't get up. This is why hip flexors are talked about so much. The bones they connect to and the other muscles they interact with can make or break your pain-free range of motion.

Hip flexors are a group of muscles originating from the front of your lumbar spine and the inside of your pelvis that run down to your femur. So imagine a muscle group that connects your lower back to your leg, anchored on and through your hip bones. If you contract them (and if your core muscles are engaged), they lift your leg. If you contract them and your abdominal muscles are not doing their part, they can pull your low back forward (lordosis).

While we’re sitting, the hip flexors are shortened. If we sit a lot, the muscle can remain habitually shortened and pull forward on your low back when you try to stand. Tight hip flexors limit the swing of your back leg as you walk, causing a twisting motion that’s not good for the low back either—and eventually causes pain from degeneration of bones and discs.

Hip flexibility affects—and is affected by—the way we sit, stand, sleep, the way we walk, jog, or run. Pilates class can have a positive or negative effect, as can hamstring stretching and strength training, which can inadvertently create muscle imbalances. Yes, sitting, driving, and not moving are the worst.

“It can take more than stretching to reestablish the length of the hip flexors.”

So just stretch them, right? No! Hip flexors can't be stretched the same way you can stretch your hamstrings. I warn people: the iliopsoas, if overstretched, can retaliate with a painful spasm. Offending these persnickety muscles can ruin your whole week. So how do you keep them toned and flexible?

Did you know when your low back hurts, that forward bend stretch where you reach for your toes may be the exact opposite of what you need? Stretching the hamstrings can actually tilt the pelvis farther forward, increasing the curve of the low back and causing more pain. Plus, it does nothing for the hip flexors—which are a common cause of low back pain.

It can take more than stretching to reestablish the length of the hip flexors and allow you to walk the way you did when you were a little bit (or a lot) younger and/or more flexible than you are today.

How do you know which stretches and which exercises are the right combination? There's a ton of advice out there—and an unmanageable amount of conflicting information; apps, gurus…

But how can someone who doesn't have their hands on you know what your daily activities are, your fitness level, and your actual flexibility—front to back, side to side?How can someone who isn’t hands-on, give you an appropriate exercise prescription?

We’d like to get our hands on you.

Schedule a quick $25 posture assessment, any Monday through Saturday for insights, and a strategy session on how we can reverse any tendencies toward "old-person posture" and reclaim your height a bit.