Why are my hips so tight?

Do you ever notice that your hips feel tight? Or maybe you notice its uncomfortable to squat during a workout, to pick up your child, or even to grab a pen off the floor something doesn't feel right?

We've noticed these patterns can be an unknown culprit:

  -Long periods of sitting

- Protection mode

      -Forward head posture

Long periods of sitting

If you think about it, we sit quite a lot with our current lifestyle. For instance, you sit on the bus/car to go to work (~30 min), sit at work/school (~7-9 hours), sit to on the bus/car to go home (~30 min), sit to eat dinner (~30 min), sit on the couch to watch tv (2-3 hours).

Based on this lifestyle, its ~11 hours of sitting! Wow. If this sounds like you, then we can implement other ways to combat this sitting ordeal.

  • Drink more water -> leads to more bathroom breaks -> increases movement
  • Utilize a sit /stand desk
  • Walk to and from work

2) Protection mode

Or it could be an emotional response because your body is in protection mode. Why? Well when trauma happens, we naturally gravitate towards the protection posture (imagine getting beat up by a gang of people and instinctively you hunker down to try to protect yourself). When the brain/body learn that the environment isn’t safe, it essentially “turtles” to protect itself. If left in protection mode for too long, it memorizes this pattern until taught otherwise.
(check out https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/the-athletes-way/201705/vagus-nerve-survival-guide-combat-fight-or-flight-urges for tips to help your brain/body relax as well get adjusted to fire the vagus nerve -rest and relax- part of your nervous system)

3) Forward head posture

Or maybe its from FORWARD head posture. Yes, yes. Even a “text neck” can lead to tight hips. Why? Well try it. Drop your head forward. Notice how your shoulders follow by rounding forward. Then the back slouches and with all this weight going forward it rolls your pelvis too (which is where the hips live). This can offset hip mobility and lead to muscle imbalances.

With Chiropractic care, helping your body to find balance influences how the body uses energy to adapt to stressors (structural, chemical, emotional) because its all connected. A balanced body leads to a healthier and wealthier quality of life.

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