If so, do you also spend adequate time stretching the muscles you specifically exercise?

The answer should be a definite “yes.”

But whether you’re a fitness fanatic, an armchair sportsman, or if normal day to day activity is your only exercise, there are some muscles you work hard regularly but rarely or never stretch.

Can you name two of the most heavily exercised but most taken for granted and under-stretched muscles in the body?

Pecs and Hip Flexors:

Ten points if you said Pecs (Pectoralis Major and Minor – in the chest) which draw the arms around to the front, and Hip Flexors (mainly Iliopsoas group – across the front of the hips) which lift the legs.

What singles out these muscles for special mention is that for long periods of each normal day they are being used (contracted) and exercised.

But most people are unaware this is even happening.

Whenever you sit down – for example, at your work desk for most of the day, watching TV or driving a vehicle – the hip flexor muscles stay contracted.

Similarly, every time you work with your arms  to your front – like at a desk or computer, peeling prawns over the sink, laying paving blocks, hammering nails, serving at a counter, etc – your Pec muscles (also known as shoulder medial rotators) are contracted and being exercised.

But even most serious fitness enthusiasts, who would never dream of exercising a  muscle group without also stretching it, ever think about stretching these particular muscles for their routine daily activities.

Now, with all the above in mind, how many of you ever get sore or tight in the lower back, or in the back of the neck and shoulders? (If you answer “no,” you’re definitely in the minority).

Back Pain from the Front:

It may surprise you to know that apart from cases of specific injury or slipped disc, etc., lower back pain or tightness can usually be attributed to tight hip flexor muscles in the front.

Similarly, tight front Pec and other shoulder medial rotators are generally responsible for muscular aches and pains in the back of the neck, shoulders and between the shoulder blades.

One joint hip flexor (Iliopsoas group) muscles go from the side of the spine from mid to lower back and down across the front of the hips to the top of the legs. When they are tight, they tilt the hips forward, which causes the smaller muscles in the lower back (from the top of the hips to the spine) to also tighten by default. This is where you feel sore.

Think about the sore lower back you get after driving or sitting at a desk for several hours without a break.

When you get up to stretch, you generally lean backwards, not forwards. In other words, you stretch your hip flexor muscles – across the front of your hips – to make your back feel better.

• When Pec muscles are tight, they make the shoulders rounded and pull the cervical spine and head forward.

• For the eyes to focus ahead rather than down, muscles in the back of the neck and shoulder area are forced to tighten to pivot the head back and upward on top of the neck.

What this all means is pain in the lower back and shoulder areas is often just a symptom – not the main cause of the pain, which is often in the front of the body.

As unlikely as it sounds, it may be that releasing tight hip flexors in the front is also needed to help alleviate pain between the shoulder blades at the back.

It could be that a tight hip flexor on one side raises one hip higher than the other. This in turn tightens muscles on one side of the spine in the lower back, which in turn pull on other spinal muscles up between the shoulder blades on that side.

Unfortunately, for time, cost and other reasons, many health professionals focus on only treating the SYMPTOM, not the CAUSE, in the case of muscular aches and pains.

Take the Time:
However, most qualified and experienced remedial massage therapists are prepared to take the time to not only relieve the symptom, but also try to determine and remove the main cause or contributing factors.

Remedial Massage and stretching can alleviate or heal most muscular aches and pains, as well as have many other benefits.

If you’re experiencing muscular pain in your body, make an appointment today.  You’ll be surprised at the difference a Remedial Massage can make.

The Psoas is perhaps the single most involved muscle, and it is the cause of most grief in the low back, neck, shoulders and especially the hip joint.  Often, the patient will complain of feeling sore in the groin.

A contracted Psoas will significently reduce performance in athletes and accident victims and has a detrimental affect on our ability to function properly at work.  When it is released, it gives a profound feeling of relief, and is likened to a heavy weight being removed from their hips and lower back.

The psoas major plays an important role in maintaining the lumbar lordosis.  Contractures of one or both psoas (major and minor) through over use or muscular imbalances will definitely affect pelvis rotation.

In most back and hip pain complaints, the cause is often the psoas muscle which is one of the most important muscles in the body. Problems related to the Psoas include: low back pain, sacroiliac pain, sciatica, disc problems, spondylolysis, scoliosis, hip degeneration, knee pain, and menstruation pain. The list can also include pelvic tilt, leg length discrepancies, lumbar lordosis and kyphosis

Primarily, the Psoas flexes the hip and the spinal column with an average length of 400 millimeters. It’s a very powerful muscle, and runs down the lower mid spine beginning at the 12th rib connecting with the vertebral bodies, discs and transverse processes down the lumbar vertebrae.  Then it passes across the pelvis to attach on the inside top of the leg at the lesser trochanter.

The lower portion combines with fibres from the iliacus muscle, which sits inside the surface of the pelvis and sacrum, to become the Iliopsoas muscle as it curves over the pubic bone and inserts on the lesser trochanter.

What is the function of the Psoas?

The psoas functions as a hip and thigh flexor, which makes it the major walking muscle.
If the legs are stationary, its action is to bend the spine forward.  If sitting, it stabilises the trunk.  The lower psoas brings the lumbar vertebrae forward and downward to create pelvic tilt.

When we think of smooth, elegant and graceful movement in dancers and athletes we are looking at the psoas functioning at its optimum. It requires that the psoas maintains the pelvis in a dynamically neutral orientation that can move easily and retain structural integrity. This creates positions of the spine that require the least muscular effort.

Common Ailments

Sore back, shoulders and knees are common complaints of people who lead a full and active live. Let’s face it, there are many occupations that are not kind to muscles.

In most cases, one of the major common denominators of these problems is imbalance in a muscle group known as the Iliopsoas aka Psoas Major, Psoas Minor and Iliacus muscles.

These are the hip flexor muscles and extend from along the side of the spine from about mid-torso down to the base of the spine then across the front of the hips to the top of the leg.

Most people are familiar with muscle names like quadriceps (quads), hamstrings, calves, “abs,” biceps, triceps, “lats,” etc because they deliberately exercise them.  But I doubt if even .001 per cent of the population knows they have this Iliopsoas muscle group let alone its actions and the musclar imbalances it can cause in the rest of the body.

Because Iliopsoas muscles flex the hip, they contract every time you walk, run, jog, climb, sit or bend. Think about how much and how often this happens every day!

They are also postural muscles – in other words, they help hold you upright while you are standing and sitting – and are designed to take a lot of hard work and punishment before they ever feel sore.

But that does not mean they are not tight. If they are, they can put all sorts of uneven pressures on the hip.

They are quite substantial muscles and pull the front of the hips downwards, causing muscles in the lower back and along the spine to tighten as the back of the hips tilt up (hence the back pain).
Among these lower back muscles is the Quadratus Lumborum from the top of the hip on an angle to the spine.  It acts like guy ropes for the spine, helping to stabilise it and keep it balanced.

If the Psoas muscles from one side of the spine pull tighter than the other, it tilts one side of the hips higher, putting uneven pressures along the back of the spine and on several major leg muscles which go across the hips and knee joint.

Because the Iliopsoas group can cause tightness in muscles controlling flexibility of the spine (including Quadratus Lumborum), they also can have a big impact on shoulder muscles.

When you start to raise your arm above your shoulders, at about 150 degrees the shoulder blade begins to rotate upwards and the spine flexes to accommodate this.

If the spine is too rigid from tight muscles, then the muscles moving the shoulder blades need to work harder and can fatigue or become sore.

Pain in your back, shoulders or knees is usually due to tight or strained muscles in those areas but, in fact, it is often the hip flexors that have caused those muscles to be tight in the first place.

Hopefully from the above, you will agree the reason for muscle and joint pain is not always what it seems and that the therapist should look at the bigger picture to give you the most effective treatment.

A good tip if you’re ringing around to find a remedial massage therapist is to ask the masseur, “Can you do a Psoas (pronounced so-as) Release?”
A qualified and competent therapist will know straight away what you are referring to.

Psoas Release

A Psoas Release is a technique used to help release tight hip flexor muscles across the front of the hip, to balance the hip and get it back in correct alignment.  This then helps reduce or remove some of the uneven pressures on other muscles in your back and legs.
It involves putting pressure from the fingertips into the Psoas muscles just above the hips and lowering and raising the leg against this pressure to stretch the muscle.

It can sometimes be quite uncomfortable or painful, depending on how tight the muscle is, but the results are well worth a possible few minutes of discomfort well within your normal pain tolerance.

Without this technique, therapists who only treat the areas you say are sore are often only doing half a job (if the hip flexors are part of the problem)

In reality, they may only be treating a symptom of the problem, rather than the probable cause as well.

Health care is expensive enough without having to make repeated visits for problems which often can be fixed or greatly relieved quickly when a Psoas release is included in the treatment.

If you haven’t tried massage therapy for a bad back or that pain in your hips, make a call today.  Make an appointment and experience the many benefits that massage has to offer.  With any massage however, it’s advisable to wear comfortable underwear that’s not too tight.

The Psoas is the only muscle to connect the lumbar spine to the legs.
The Psoas is perhaps the single most involved muscle, and it is the cause of most grief in the low back, neck, shoulders and especially the hip joint.  Often, the patient will complain of feeling sore in the groin.

A contracted Psoas will significantly reduce performance in athletes and accident victims and has a detrimental affect on our ability to function properly at work.  When it is released, it gives a profound feeling of relief, and is likened a heavy weight being removed from their hips and lower back.

The psoas major plays an important role in maintaining the lumbar lordosis.  Contractures of one or both psoas muscles, the major and minor, through over use or muscular imbalances will definitely affect pelvis rotation.

In most back and hip pain complaints, the cause is often the psoas muscle which is one of the most important muscles in the body.

Problems related to the Psoas include:

Low back pain, sacroiliac pain, sciatica, disc problems, spondylolysis, scoliosis, hip degeneration, knee pain, and menstruation pain.

The list can also include pelvic tilt, leg length discrepancies, lumbar lordosis and kyphosis.

The Psoas, with an average length of 400 millimeters, flexes the hip and the spinal column. It’s a very powerful muscle, and runs down the lower mid spine beginning at the 12th thoracic vertebrae connecting with the vertebral bodies, discs and transverse processes down the lumbar vertebrae.  Then it crosses the pelvis to attach at the lesser trochanter on the inside top of the leg.

The lower portion merges with fibers from the Iliacus muscle, which sits inside the surface of the pelvis and sacrum, to become the Iliopsoas muscle as it curves over the pubic bone and inserts on the lesser trochanter.

What is the function of the psoas?

The smooth, elegant and graceful movement in athletes and dancers are typical of a perfectly functioning Psoas. The Psoas functions as a hip and thigh flexor, which makes it the major walking muscle.
It also keeps the spine vertical, just like the guy ropes on a flagpole to tall radio mast.  If one psoas gets tight or contracted, the opposing one has to stretch, and the spine tilts, and the hips do likewise.  The result is muscles start to ache.

Common Ailments

Sore back, shoulders and knees are common complaints of people who lead a full and active live. Let’s admit it, there are many occupations that are not kind to muscles.

In most cases, one of the major common denominators of these problems is imbalance in a muscle group known as the Iliopsoas aka Psoas Major, Psoas Minor and Iliacus muscles.

These are the hip flexor muscles and extend from along the side of the spine from about mid-torso down to the base of the spine then across the front of the hips to the top of the leg.

Most people are familiar with muscle names like quadriceps (quads), hamstrings, calves, “abs,” biceps, triceps, “lats,” etc because they deliberately exercise them.  But few would know they have this Iliopsoas muscle group let alone its actions and the muscular imbalances it can cause in the rest of the body.

Because Iliopsoas muscles flex the hip, they contract every time you walk, run, jog, climb, sit or bend. Think about how much and how often this happens every day!

They are also postural muscles … in other words, they help hold you upright while you are standing and sitting , and are designed to take a lot of hard work and punishment before they ever feel sore.

But that does not mean they are not tight. If they are, they can put all sorts of uneven pressures on the hip.

They are quite substantial muscles and pull the front of the hips downwards, causing muscles in the lower back and along the spine to tighten as the back of the hips tilt up (hence the back pain).
Among these lower back muscles is the Quadratus Lumborum from the top of the hip on an angle to the spine.  It acts like guy ropes for the spine, helping to stabilise it and keep it balanced.

If the Psoas muscles from one side of the spine pull tighter than the other, it tilts one side of the hips higher, putting uneven pressures along the back of the spine and on several major leg muscles which go across the hips and knee joint.

Because the Iliopsoas group can cause tightness in muscles controlling flexibility of the spine (including Quadratus Lumborum), they also can have a big impact on shoulder muscles.

When you start to raise your arm above your shoulders, at about 150 degrees the shoulder blade begins to rotate upwards and the spine flexes to accommodate this.

If the spine is too rigid from tight muscles, then the muscles moving the shoulder blades need to work harder and can fatigue or become sore.

Pain in your back, shoulders or knees is usually due to tight or strained muscles in those areas but, in fact, it is often the hip flexors that have caused those muscles to be tight in the first place.

Hopefully from the above, you will realise the reason for muscle and joint pain is not always what it seems and that the therapist should look at the bigger picture to give you the most effective treatment.

It’s also a good tip, if you’re ringing around to find a remedial massage therapist is to ask the masseur, “Can you do a Psoas (pronounced so-as) Release?”  A qualified and competent therapist will know straight away what you are referring to.

Psoas Release

A Psoas Release is a technique used to help release tight hip flexor muscles across the front of the hip, to balance the hip and get it back in correct alignment.  This then helps reduce or remove some of the uneven pressures on other muscles in your back and legs.  Without this technique, therapists who only treat the areas you say are sore are often only doing half a job if the hip flexors are part of the problem.

In reality, they may only be treating a symptom of the problem, rather than the probable cause as well.

Health care costs enough without having to make repeated visits for problems which often can be fixed or greatly relieved quickly when a Psoas release is included in the treatment.  I believe the Psoas is such an important muscle, I release it with every massage I perform.

If you haven’t tried massage therapy for a bad back or that pain in your hips, make a call today.  Make an appointment and experience the many benefits that massage has to offer. With any massage however, it’s advisable to wear comfortable underwear that’s not too tight.

Back pain could be caused simply by muscle imbalances or by more complex issues related to disc and vertebral, spinal cord, facet joint, ligament, vascular, dural, inflammation and spinal canal problems.

There are many aspects of back pain I know little about but I do know there are many people suffering occasional or ongoing back pain who would find a remedial massage is all they need to greatly relieve their problem.

If muscle-related problems are the cause, which is often the case, massage treatments are relatively simple but very effective.

Many people put up with ongoing back pain rather than seeking help because they assume surgery or constant use of pain killing drugs are the only ways to find relief, and they don’t want to be cut open or become addicted to drugs.

Surgery may be necessary as a last resort, but it is certainly worth trying one or a few non-invasive, drug free remedial massages first to see if they offer a solution.

Sometimes just talking to a qualified, competent therapist who can explain aspects you never even considered about the interaction and effect of a range of muscles and how they influence back pain brings mental relief in itself.

Even where the original cause of the pain can be traced to, say, disc problems from wear and tear or an accident or injury, muscular imbalances on the left/right and/or front/back of the body can significantly aggravate the situation and cause even more pain.

A remedial massage can usually bring significant relief.

If muscles on one side of the spine are tighter than the other, or tight muscles cause the hip to tilt forward, backward up upwards, they can put undue pressure on inter-vertebral discs and cause even more pain.

A competent masseur would seek to not only balance up the muscles as much as possible but also work on factors making the muscles uneven in the first place.

Tight hip flexor muscles across the front of the hips or weak abdominal muscles often are a significant contributor to lower back pain. Muscle tightness in the chest often leads to pain in the neck, shoulders and mid back.

If you have suffered regular back pain and haven’t done anything about it, or tried other methods without success, give remedial massage a shot. It might not be what you need or a total solution to the problem, but it could be.

A couple of years ago I had a patient (a taxi driver) who had put up with pain for years trying other types of treatments all of which failed. On his first visit he was wearing a brace when he arrived. He left with it tucked under his arm. A couple of sessions over a couple of weeks was all he needed.

The answer to your back problems could be closer than you think.

If you haven’t tried deep tissue massage therapy make a call today.  Arrange an appointment and experience the many benefits that deep tissue massage has to offer.  With any massage however, it’s advisable to wear comfortable underwear that’s not too tight.