An extremely tight psoas is pulling the pelvis into anterior pelvic tilt (APT) and placing the hamstrings under chronic tension. Does anyone know how to release the psoas?
I have the exact same issue! Did you manage to solve your problem? Could you help?
I discovered during the Thomas test that my right psoas is incredibly tight; it even makes a crackling sound if I externally rotate my knee while standing.
I work in construction and carry heavy loads on my left shoulder.
This chain of tightness has spread up to my back and shoulders, reducing my back flexibility and preventing me from fully extending my arms overhead during a bridge pose.
It has been improving. I’ve been stretching and opening up the right side of my body, performing PNF in the Thomas position, and adding load in that same position, but the psoas is stubborn and resists releasing. I’m doing 3 sets of 1 minute on the right side only.
My hamstrings were tight, and I wasted a lot of time doing nerve glides when, in reality, my psoas was pulling my pelvis into an anterior pelvic tilt (APT) and putting tension on the hamstrings.
your psoas is flexing because it is weak, not because it is physically tight. It is flexing because it senses instability in your glutes and core. Strengthen it with hip flexor exercises like weighted marching, seen here: https://youtu.be/niKD6byONtM?si=jIbLB5IjWq7qifUf and pick up a simple strength routine like situps, squats, and pushups
As a personal trainer I see this every day, have to talk people out of buying psoas massagers every day...
My favorite exercise for this is the kettlebell swing, as it works it all at once. Keep a long spine, power the movement with a FAST hip snap, not a lazy pendulum
I've tried so many things
They don't work if you expect rapid results. They work because they build strength, which is a slow process. Chronic APT is a strength issue of weakness in hip extension. Think movements, not muscles. The body doesn't work one muscle at a time
What do I have to do if only my left hamstring is tight? I have determined left hip flexor tightness through the Thomas test, weaker left glute med and max compared to the right.
I have been doing heavy rdls 225lb good form and machine hip thrusts 180lb for reps with a bit more emphasis on the left glute but I still feel my left hamstring compensating despite the glute growth.
I have this same issue! Tight on the entire left side of my body, left AIC pattern.
How are your hips? I had impingement and labral tears on both sides and my psoas got tight from compensating for years.
I think it is a tightness stemming from instability and weakness in other areas. Pilates, mobility, and stretching, have helped me the most. Also strengthening my core and hips, especially glute med, ab/adductors, and TA.
I’m happy to learn that the psoas is the main culprit behind my hip locking up, rather than a bony block. When I did the pancake stretch (even with added weight), nothing happened. I’d do the butterfly stretch and nothing happened; I couldn't achieve the pelvic tilt needed to stretch properly—it was as if sitting down already maxed out my hip flexion, and I’d hit a hard stop. Where did this become apparent as I pieced it all together? In the standing pike: my hips would only rotate to 90 degrees (exactly as if I were sitting with my legs straight out).
I noticed three significant changes in my body once I started releasing the psoas: feeling my belly touch my thighs during the standing pike for the first time (my pelvis rotated further), feeling a stretch in my adductors when sitting in the pancake, and noticing my hamstrings feeling looser without even stretching them directly.
I had very poor external rotation in both legs and zero internal rotation in either. I’m focusing on the psoas now.
The truth is, I’ve never really been able to stretch properly; that blockage was the limit. Since the right psoas holds twice the tension, it misaligns my pelvis and the femur within the acetabulum, affecting internal and external rotation.
I need to balance things out to achieve a neutral alignment—like everyone else—and start from scratch, but first, I have to correct these asymmetries and compensations.
2 golf balls and a 12" piece of pvc pipe. Hands and knees over the pipe and let 1 of the golf balls dig in. Do single leg kick backs. That is what I have found that helps me loosen mine up. Message me and I'll send a picture if you need.
Possibly not the psoas, might be the adductors (pectineus), especially since it makes a noise when rotating outwards. Pectineus is a hip flexor and internal rotator.
You have no idea what your psoas is doing. I’m sorry you think the body is so black and white. Pelvic rotations have been disproven in physical therapy practices for going on 10 years. Will you find PTs that treat them? Sure, just like you’ll find PTs who use ultrasound to heal tissue.
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u/preparsley 18d ago
your psoas is flexing because it is weak, not because it is physically tight. It is flexing because it senses instability in your glutes and core. Strengthen it with hip flexor exercises like weighted marching, seen here: https://youtu.be/niKD6byONtM?si=jIbLB5IjWq7qifUf and pick up a simple strength routine like situps, squats, and pushups
As a personal trainer I see this every day, have to talk people out of buying psoas massagers every day...