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Exercises - The Banana Stretch
The iliopsoas muscle actually
consists of two separate muscles,
The Iliacus and the Psoas Major.
Together, they are known as the
Iliopsoas. which are located towards
the front of our hip area.
In the diagram to the right you can
see the Iliacus and the Psoas
muscles which are labelled These two
muscles are responsible for lifting
the upper leg to the torso, or
flexing the torso towards the thigh,
like we do in a roll-up and down or
in a sit-up. |
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Overdeveloped and Tight hip flexors
can contribute to lower back pain by
causing the pelvis to tilt forward.
To counteract this, you must stretch
the hip flexors and strengthen the
Abdominal muscles. This will reduce
pelvic tilt and decrease lower back
pain. Strengthening the lower back
can also help improve the balance
between the muscles of the hip
region.
Due to the position
and function of the iliopsoas muscle
most of the work we do involve
strengthen the muscle with
concentric contraction (shortening
contraction) there are limited
exercises that fully stretch out the
iliopsoas muscle and the Banana
Stretch is one of them.
The Banana Stretch
- Lay Flat on the floor (on an
exercise mat if you have one?)
- Slowly, take little steps and
shuffle your feet as far to your
Right as you can....Make sure you
keep the backs of your hips on the
floor.
- Now take your Left arm above your
head and towards the floor (do not
worry if your arm doesn't reach the
floor)
- Now try to shuffle your shoulders
towards you Right (you may or may
not be able to do this)
- Now in this position. Please try to
Relax, although difficult at first.
by allowing all of your muscles to
relax you will be able to stretch
out this muscle more effectively.
- As you relax, try to focus your mind
on your breathing, allow your
abdomen to expand and try to imagine
breathing into your tummy to stretch
out this deep muscle.
Try to hold the stretch for
4 - 5
minutes and then repeat on the other
side.
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