Should This Feel Good?
This is the first in a series demystifying “internet popular” exercises that leave you asking, “should this feel good?”.
Usually you just assume you’re doing it wrong. Well, you’re not. Not every exercise or stretch is for every body. So, if it doesn’t feel good, try something else.
First up: Pidgeon. Ah, Pidgeon. Hurts so good or just, hurts? For me it’s a little bit of both. To really derive the benefits from Pidgeon I have to ease into it v-e-r-y s-l-o-w-l-y. I don’t often have the patience. And, frankly, a lot of the time my body isn’t open enough to derive the benefits without the risking the pain.
While Pidgeon can be wonderful for many areas of the hip, it’s a complicated and advanced position that can be fraught with anxiety, and actually make you feel worse.
Here’s why Pidgeon might not be right for you. And, alternatives that really will help instead of hurt.
One of the biggest benefits of Pigeon is it stretches and lengthens the hip flexors including the psoas. But… it can also compress the low back.
While we usually know when our superficial hip flexors are tight (like when we stand up from sitting on the couch and it hurts to straighten our hips), it’s sometimes hard to feel a tight psoas. We hear a lot about the psoas, but because it’s a pretty deep muscle, it can be hard to really tell when the functioning is off.
The psoas attaches to the spine and way up on the inner thigh. So, if it’s tight you might feel it in your low back more than your hip. If your psoas and surrounding muscles are already tight, Pidgeon can create more compression than relief in the low back. (Like most things with the body… it depends.)
Below are some exercises to help the psoas and the superficial hip flexors without so much stress on the low back.
Heel slides with prop under sacrum
Lie on your back with knees bent and feet on the floor about hip distance apart.
Place a partially deflated overball or a small pillow or folded towel under your sacrum
Slowly slide your right foot away from you until your knee is straight
Check in with the back of your hips, trying to keep both sides equally heavy on whatever prop you’re using
Point your foot try to feel length from your abdomen, down your leg and out your toes
Breathe 8-10x
Flex the foot, press the heel gently into the ground and slide it back in to the starting position
Do the opposite side
Kneeling psoas lunge
From standing, bring your right foot forward and come into a lunge.
Check in with your feet, make sure the heels are in line with the toes and not rotated out or in
Check in with your hips, make sure the hip points are in the same horizontal line and one hip isn’t forward or backward of the other
Hands can rest on your hip
Keeping the hips in this even position, tuck your tailbone under, as though you’re trying to point it forward through your thighs
Hold this position, for 4-5 breaths.
Repeat 3X
Do the other side
Try these and let us know what you think. Click here to let us know feedback.
Not every exercise is for every body.
Be kind to your body.
Happy hips!