Therapeutic Answers to Common Yoga Pose Questions: For yoga teachers and students who have basic knowledge and understanding of yoga and their bodies. by Jaimie Perkunas

Author:Jaimie Perkunas [Perkunas, Jaimie]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Jaimie Perkunas
Published: 2016-06-04T04:00:00+00:00

How do you avoid overusing your hip flexors in boat pose?

This is a common complaint when students perform boat pose. In addition to it just being a challenging pose, I choose not to teach boat pose in my back care classes because I find most of my students have tight hip flexors from sitting for a living. Unfortunately, boat pose contracts the already short and tight hip flexors which cause cramping and discomfort in the hip creases and could possibly lead to low back pain.

I am not saying students should never do boat pose and I feel boat pose has its place to connect students to their hip flexors. Most students will perform boat pose and complain of pain in the front of their hip crease or their low back. This is common because one of our major hip flexors, the psoas, originates on the lumbar (low back) vertebrae and when engaged can cause pain in the low back. In addition, the full form of boat pose is knees straight and toes as high as eyes. This position isolates the engagement of another hip flexor called the rectus femoris (which is one of the quadriceps muscles). When muscle shorten over both joints (hip and knee) that they cross the muscle will likely cramp unless accompanied by a co-contraction by the opposite muscles group. The hip flexors will work in boat pose. They have to, otherwise you couldn’t lift your legs. Bending your knee or pressing your thighs into your hands to engage your hamstrings can help release the cramping in the front of the hips.

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