This stretch is for two main muscles, the rectus femoris and the TFL. The rectus femoris is the only quad muscle that performs both hip and knee extension. When someone strains their quadriceps (which is really four muscles that produce knee extension), the rectus femoris is generally the muscle that has been strained. It is easily stained because it’s often tight. Sprinting and kicking a soccer ball are two activities often implicated in a strained rectus femoris.
The most often injured quad muscle is the rectus femoris
The second part of the stretch, where you gently twist over your front leg, will stretch the TFL, a muscle that is also often tight. The TFL is a hip flexor, abductor (moving the leg away from the midline of the body), and internal rotator (rotates the leg to the inside) but it also acts to stabilize the knee via the IT band, thus it plays a role in maintaining healthy knees. For such a small muscle it plays a number of important roles. Like I’ve said before, it’s usually the small muscles that no one even realizes exist that can really mess you up.
TFL (tensor fasciae latae) is the muscle on the left.
Front view:
Side view:
Keys: Keep perfect posture. Place your front leg directly in front of you and the back foot lying flat on the bench. Your back knee should be on the ground. Squeezing the glute of the leg being stretched will intensify the stretch. After 15 seconds, gently twist over the front leg. Hold for another 15 seconds.
Many people quickly become aware of how tight their hip flexors have become upon initiating this stretch. You may also find that one side is much tighter than the other. This indicates asymmetry. Asymmetry is often referred to as a “unilateral deficit” among science geeks or “sh*t is messed up on one side of your body” among the lay person.
Regardless of how you describe it, asymmetry is a potential problem or it could even be the source of a current problem. Asymmetries are not good as they indicate something has gone wrong. Eliminating asymmetries often leads to pain magically going away. It’s an absolutely fascinating subject and you really begin to understand how the body works as a system, but it’s too complex to address in this post.
You may not be able to hold the stretch for 30 seconds. It can be quite uncomfortable the first few times you try it. Find a bench that is not so high that you can’t comfortably get into position, nor one that is too low that you won’t feel the stretch. This stretch can be done before, during, or after the workout. I generally have people do it twice on each leg.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
excellent info on stretching the tfl and rectis femoris, also felt the comments on the small muscles not being recognized and “assymetry” to be good points. I have trouble with the tfl and did this stretch tonight and can tell it has released some and my hip feels to be in better position. thank you Neal!
Great! Glad you found the information useful.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’ve been in pretty severe pain for months thinking I had arthritis in my hips and lower back. But after reading articles and watching your videos I realized my problems were related to tight hip flexors. I had gotten to the point where I tilted when I walked and could barely get out of the car after sitting for a brief period of time. Your information and videos have helped tremendously. This site is one of the best I’ve come across. Direct, clear information and good video demonstrations.
Thanks for letting me know the site has helped, Louise. Have you had any relief yet?
Neal
Hi Neal,
Yes, I have had tremendous relief. It’s amazing. I have to stretch every day or I get tight again but I am much improved. I no longer tilt when I walk and the pain in my hip flexors no longer keeps me up at night. Today I improvised and “got a spot” that is still tight. I straddled one of those big gym balls, picking one that was squishy, not firm. The straddle alone stretched my groin/lower back/hip area. But I then leaned backward as far as I could go, holding onto a strap on a piece of equipment that was in front of me. Yikes. That did it. I felt even better after that. I live in Florida after moving here from NJ so it was nice to get great advice from “home.” Thank you again.