Tight hip flexors and glutes from desk work and running

Tight hip flexors often feel like stiff hips at the start of a run, a shorter stride and glutes that feel tight but weak at the same time.

This is a very common mix in Copenhagen: eight hours at a desk, a bike commute, and then a run in the evening. I know it well. I run trail halves and ran the Øresund Bridge Run, and at home my husband trains for half Ironmans, so tired hips are normal kitchen conversation.

Tight hip flexors and glutes usually come from sitting most of the day and then asking the same hips to run, with training load going up faster than recovery.

When we sit, the hip flexors stay short and the glutes switch off a little.

What I often see:

• Short, tight hip flexors and psoas from sitting
• Glutes that feel tight but don't really do their job
• Quads and the outside of the thigh taking over
• A lower back that compensates when the hips don't move freely

Yes, massage often helps tight hips feel looser and your stride feel freer, especially when the tightness comes from load and sitting, not injury.

It is one tool together with sleep, strength work and smart training.

Please see a physio or doctor first if you feel sharp pain in the hip or groin, clicking with pain, pain at night, or pain that doesn't change with rest. Please see a doctor first if the pain came after a fall or accident, if it is sharp, sudden or getting worse quickly, or if you notice numbness, weakness, fever or anything that simply feels wrong. I am happy to support you, and I will always tell you honestly when massage is not the first thing you need.

I work on tight hip flexors and glutes with deep tissue and Zen Shiatsu, often with my elbows in the glutes, and slowly around the psoas and the front of the hip.

We talk about your training, your workdays and where the hips complain.

The glutes can take quite deep work. I stay detailed and connected, so it feels deep but safe.

Muscles I usually work with:

• Psoas, iliacus and rectus femoris (the hip flexors)
• Gluteus maximus, medius and the deep rotators like piriformis
• Tensor fasciae latae and the outer thigh
• Adductors on the inside of the thigh
• Quadratus lumborum, because the lower back is often part of it

The best way to loosen tight hip flexors is to break up long sitting, do a kneeling hip flexor stretch after work and wake up your glutes before you run.

• Break up long sitting. Stand up, walk a little, open the front of your hips
• Kneeling hip flexor stretch for about a minute on each side after work
• Wake up the glutes before you run: a few bridges or side steps
• Easy runs should really be easy
• Sleep counts as training

During a training block, many runners come every two to three weeks, and a bit closer before and after a key race.

When you sit a lot as well, a steady rhythm keeps the hips from closing up again.

If we work 45 minutes, once a week is a strong rhythm. If we work 60 minutes, every two weeks can also work well. If you know you will come regularly, my loyalty tickets let you save on every visit and book whenever it suits you.