Hip Flexor Muscles Used in Sports Training

hip flexor muscles and names used in running


There are 7 hip flexor muscles on each side of the body  and they are prominent in nearly all sports activities, such as running, kicking, jumping and play a role in swinging a bat, golf club or tennis racket.

Before we identify them, it might be helpful for some of you if we also refer to them as thigh flexor muscles.  This is because it may be easier to visualize the movement of the thigh at the hip joint rather than trying to figure out what is taking place deep inside the hip joint itself.

With that in mind, the first two muscles, the psoas and iliacus, are perhaps the more popular ones as they are heavily involved with doing situps and hanging knee raises.

Sometimes these two muscles are referred to as the iliopsoas since the muscle belly of the psoas and the muscle belly of the Iliacus converge together and form one common tendon of insertion.

The next two muscles, the Sartorius and Rectus Femoris are the longest of all of the hip flexors, or thigh flexors, and the Sartorius is also the longest muscle in the body. 
  
The last three, the pectineus, adductor longus, and adductor brevis are typically thought of as hip adductor muscles, but since they do cross the hip joint, they can also flex the hip joint and are also considered flexors of the hip. 

Now as a group, the hip flexors job is to flex the thigh upon the pelvis.

Again, this is why it is helpful to refer to the hip flexors as thigh flexors because you can see this action, the thigh flexing on the hip, more clearly. 

Hip flexion is a powerful movement for running faster, jumping higher and kicking farther and is necessary in many of the sports you play.   See the image below  for the hip flexors in action while running.

The names of the contracted hip flexors while running

The hip, or, thigh flexor muscles in running motion


If you have any questions about your hip flexor muscles and how they may be involved in your sport or skill, please contact us at AthleticQuickness.com

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