5 Types of Hip Stretches for Back Pain Relief

Stretching your hip muscles can help your back. Chronically tight hip muscles have the power to pull the pelvis out of alignment, and indirectly affect your spine as they do. The pelvis is a key structure when it comes to back health. In fact, one study found that performing hip exercises for chronic low back pain is more effective than conventional therapy at reducing pain.

1

How Stretching Your Hips Helps Low Back Pain

Man stretching

Xavier Arnau / Getty Images

The spine is wedged in between the two hip bones that form the back of the pelvis. Not only that but hip muscles, which in some cases can get so very tight, attach onto the pelvis. Their condition helps determine the position of the pelvis, and therefore the chronic position of the spine.

At the very least, the tension and/or spasm in muscles that cross over the hip and attach onto the pelvis can contribute to imbalance, in terms of how strong and flexible each muscle group is in relation to the others. But muscle imbalance in the hips and the spine may make for pain, limitation, and/or posture problems. It can also increase the healing challenge put to you by an existing injury or condition, for example, scoliosis.

If you already have a spine injury or condition, you may find it’s all too easy to irritate it when your muscles are tight.

2

Develop Your Hip Stretching Strategy

Photo of a young active woman stretching her hamstrings.
Take a Pix Media / Getty Images

Releasing tight hip muscles is an indirect approach to relieving back pain. Because of that, you might consider taking a strategic approach based on where you’re the tightest.

One thing to keep in mind as you create your hip muscle stretching strategy (and pick out the exercises you’ll do) is that, in general, the muscles that work your hips are categorized according to their location: front, outer, back, and inner. To a great extent, the muscle’s location determines the type of movement it can produce.

For example, your quadriceps are a group of four muscles that are located at the front of the thigh; one of the group members, the rectus femoris, flexes the hip, which brings your lower extremity (thigh, lower leg, and foot) forward, in front of you. On the other hand, your hamstring muscles are located at the back of the thigh. When they contract, they extend the hip and flex the knee, bringing it behind you.

3

Quadriceps Hip Stretches

Standing quad stretch

Verywell / Ben Goldstein

Your quadriceps are located at the front of the thigh. One of the quadriceps muscles, the rectus femoris, crosses over the hip joint in the front, which means it produces hip movement: in this case, hip flexion.

The rectus femoris is unique from most of the body’s muscles because it is what is known as a “two-joint muscle.” This simply means that along with crossing over and affecting motion in your hip joint, it also crosses over and affects your knee. (The rectus femoris extends, i.e., straightens, the knee.) The exercises in this article are limited to the hip portion of this muscle.

Quadriceps Stretching Action

To stretch your quadriceps at the hip, the idea is to do the opposite movement to flexion—that is, extension. You can perform extension moves at the hip while standing, lying on your side, lying prone (on your stomach), and kneeling. Even basic stretches done at a pain-free level where you can feel a small bit of challenge and that are held continuously for approximately 30 seconds may translate to better posture and less back pain.

4

Hamstring Hip Stretches

Reclined Big Toe Yoga Pose

Siri Stafford / Getty Images

Like quadriceps, the hamstrings are two-joint muscles, but they reside at the back of your thigh. They attach at the sitting bones, which are located on the underside of your pelvis. When the hamstring muscles contract, the effect is a pulling of the back of the pelvis down toward the back of the thigh, or a bringing of the lower extremity back behind you. Either way, this move is called “hip extension.” 

You use your hamstrings when you walk, run, and climb stairs. You might also use them in sports that require explosive jumping such as basketball. Some studies show that hamstring tightness contributes to low back pain.

Hamstrings Stretching Action

To stretch the hip portion of your hamstrings, perform hip flexion movements while extending your knee. It doesn’t matter if you’re an experienced athlete or a beginner—there’s a hamstring stretch for every type of person.

5

Outer Hip Muscle Stretches for Low Back Pain Relief

Confidant woman in seated spinal twist yoga pose

Cavan Images / Getty Images

Muscles on the outside of the hip help to stabilize your body posture. They play important roles in walking and standing, as well as the overall balance of the pelvic position. For this reason, it’s important to keep them in good working order.

While on the topic of outer hip muscles, consider spinal rotation for a minute. You may believe that when you’ve got your spine in a twist, it’s all happening in the back. In a well-functioning spine, this is not completely true. The hip joints play an important role by adapting the pelvic position to support and increase the rotation. Their construction allows for swiveling action to take place, which may increase your twisting range of motion as well as keep your back safe.

But if your outer hip muscles are tight, your rotational range may be limited. This is another reason why stretching your outer hip muscles may be a good idea.

Outer Thigh Muscle Stretching Action

To stretch your outer thigh muscles, the idea is to bring the leg in towards the midline of your body. Generally, this means you’ll cross your lower extremity in front of your body. A number of strategies, including using various positions, can help you achieve just the right stretch.

6

Inner Hip Muscle Stretches

Easy inner thigh stretch.

Ameliafox / Deposit Photos

Inner hip muscles (also called the groin or adductor muscles) help you balance while standing and locomoting. They also work with the outer hip muscles to keep your pelvis aligned horizontally.

When chronic adductor tension causes pelvic tilting, which may be viewed as one hip higher than the other, your sacroiliac and/or low back may be affected.

Many people are tight in their groin muscles without realizing it. Perhaps they never venture to stretch this area.

Inner Thigh Muscle Stretching Action

To stretch your inner thigh muscles, bring one leg out to the side while keeping your trunk still and in good alignment.

6 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
  1. Lee SW, Kim SY. Effects of hip exercises for chronic low-back pain patients with lumbar instability. J Phys Ther Sci. 2015;27(2):345-348. doi:10.1589/jpts.27.345

  2. Falk Brekke A, Overgaard S, Hróbjartsson A, Holsgaard-Larsen A. Non-surgical interventions for excessive anterior pelvic tilt in symptomatic and non-symptomatic adults: a systematic reviewEFORT Open Reviews. 2020;5(1):37-45. doi:10.1302/2058-5241.5.190017

  3. de Sousa CS, de Jesus FLA, Machado MB, et al. Lower limb muscle strength in patients with low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysisJ Musculoskelet Neuronal Interact. 2019;19(1):69-78.

  4. Athawale V, Phansopkar P, Darda P, Chitale N, Chinewar A. Impact of physical therapy on pain and function in a patient with scoliosis. Cureus. 2021;13(5):e15261. doi:10.7759/cureus.15261

  5. Frigo CA, Wyss C, Brunner R. The effects of the rectus femoris muscle on knee and foot kinematics during the swing phase of normal walking. Appl Sci (Basel). 2020;10(21):7881. doi:10.3390/app10217881

  6. Jandre Reis FJ, Macedo AR. Influence of hamstring tightness in pelvic, lumbar and trunk range of motion in low back pain and asymptomatic volunteers during forward bendingAsian Spine J. 2015;9(4):535-540. doi:10.4184/asj.2015.9.4.535

By Anne Asher, CPT
Anne Asher, ACE-certified personal trainer, health coach, and orthopedic exercise specialist, is a back and neck pain expert.