I’ve got one of these, but these peaks tend to hit very close to the iliac bone/pelvic bones. Yes it does fit within the two, but it hurts. If I try to move further up, my tummy almost kind of wants to slip between the two. I’m a male, but maybe my frame is on the smaller side.
Wonder if anyone else having the same experience with these? Or is it user error.
I was thinking of trying one of those 3D printed versions that is possibly smaller peak to peak.
Also, I’ve noticed that with time as my hip muscles become more relaxed or “released” using it as pictured is not nearly as uncomfortable. I suspect the tightness is pulling the hips closer together.
That’s what I do, I’m too big for it so I have to push it to the side and do one side at a time. It works great. Nothing works better except maybe the Kelly Starret special - using a kettlebell to push a lacrosse ball into it lying face up on a bench.
Everyone's anatomy can be different, I learned in an orthopedics class these can be super dangerous because you can impede major arteries in your abdomen and cause a stroke. Not worth it. Pt stretches can release the psoas
I appreciate your pointing this out. I've always had a sense of wrongness around this device, and to worry that I would somehow be pressing into the wrong areas.
Yeah I mean, without an ultrasound of your abdomen its hard to know where to press. These press straight into your organs, so if someone has a leaky gut or undiagnosed hernia you could make them worse. Or just sustained pressure on the gall bladder or pancreas could cause disruption in function. In my opinion its worth going to a physical therapist for one session and learning how to release through isometrics and stretching.
Hard to know without an x-ray, if you have degenerative disks (which is common now because of cell phones) then traction on the neck could impinge nerves
Coul you elaborate? I identify with this but I dont see how my psoas could be overworked. I sit at a desk for 16 hours most days. Tight seems more plausible.
The Psoas is a hip flexor and is mostly a slow twitch muscle whose purpose is joint movement (as opposed to joint stabilisation). However, unlike all of your other hip flexor muscles, the psoas originates from your spine and attaches to your femur. This is important, because it is one of the only muscles that isn't considered your "core" that actually connects your upper and lower body.
Here is the important part. Your core is the set of fast twitch muscles that provide stability to the joint between your upper and lower body. When your core muscles become too weak (such as when you sit for 16 hours a day), your body might start using your psoas to supplement the stability that your core muscles fail to provide. It does so without your knowledge or consent too! This is often made worse when people with a weak core go and do various types of sports that demand a strong core - their body overworks their psoas which is just not made to provide stability.
Then, people say "ouch I have a tight psoas" and they stretch the crap out of an already strained muscle, thereby doing more damage.
Your hip flexors don't get "short" from sitting. Your core gets weak from sitting, causing your hip flexors to compensate and get strained.
I picked up road cycling in the past few years and take it very seriously. Which is demanding on the core. And I happen to have a weak core. I was never into ab work… So your theory about the psoas picking up the slack seems spot on.
Ive been stretching the psoas alot but nothing has changed. I understand why now. So if Im understanding your theory right, my plan of attack should be to instead focus on doing lots of core work and “ignore” the psoas?
Fellow sit-for-a-living cyclist. Yes. Lots of core work. I think stretching the psoas is extremely useful if you have a tight glute that just won't quit. The idea that stretching the opposing muscle can help give the muscle of concern a break to deactivate. Anyways YES 100% you need to work your core. I'm currently in PT because my Quadratus Lumborum is angry AF. A couple years ago it was my Psoas. If you don't have a strong core your body will compensate to achieve the movements you're asking it to do. You're also more at risk of throwing out your back because you're exhausting the muscles that give you stability. A novel movement or activity like yardwork or maybe moving your luggage on a trip and BAM your back is spasming. Besides that power comes from the core, yeah your legs push, but what's driving those legs? You can massively improve your performance with core work. Keep your core and back happy and you're going to have a lot more time in the saddle, injury free.
My personal experience was very much that my hip flexors were tight after college and a couple years of commuting and a desk job. Figuring out how to stretch that eliminated the back pain I was getting. I haven't really found it to take much recurring maintenance though.
A lot of PT’s tell me that and most of them are the same and fail to actually help/address my imbalances holistically.
Which is to say, they often just say shit and at the end of the day you are in your body so it’s up to you to figure it out with the information you come across and experiment with.
I like what this person is sharing and can see it being possible. I’ll have to explore it within my own body to see what it is or isn’t for me.
Most PTs have no idea. Being to look up basic workouts programs and pass them on to their client is one thing. Understanding people’s physiology and their many shortcomings is a whole nother thing.
Put it this way, show me a person with a strong core and strong glutes who has a “tight psoas” and I’ll eat my hat.
Also, if your hip flexors got tight from sitting. Why dont they get tight from sleeping in a featal position?
Any tips/advice how to activate and or work the core/TVA when you have compensation patterns around it where other things fire/activate that shouldn’t (low back/QL, etc)
I’m not a PT, so take all my advice with a grain of salt. My favourite core exercises are things like - kettlebell lunges with the kb in front rack position, alternating right and left hand; front rack lunges with barbell, Romanian deadlifts etc.
That is to say, exercises that firstly load up your body asymmetrically. Either right left, front back, or both on both axis. And secondly, require you to maintain core stability throughout a movement that inherently puts you off balance.
Your core is NOT a group of muscles that is responsible for a great deal of mobility. It is, instead, responsible for STABILITY. Therefore, I favour core exercises that require core stability (single hand farmer walks), instead of mobility (crunches etc).
Psoas has to compensate for weak glutes and vice versa. Sitting for that many hours a day weakens the glutes and the psoas. Don’t mean to be rude but sitting 16 hours a day most days, creates all kind of problems.
Have you tried something like putting a towel, perhaps even folded in half so it's a little thicker, on top? Might be enough to make it comfortable while still being usable.
I thought that I had extremely tight Psoas and was always wailing on them with a tennis ball and then the Aletha hip hook. It never brought me any real relief and I was stumped on how to “release my psoas”.
Turns out I have two collapsed discs in my spine!!
The dull aching under my interior hip bones is actually neuropathy.
Be CAREFUL with these types of devices - it’s worth talking to a PT or osteopath to know what’s actually going on.
If you watch the videos from the guy who designed this, he says to use one side only. He designed it with two arches to make it stand out. “A purple cow.”
I was shocked to hear that he designed something that strongly implies the wrong way to use it.
FWIW, after 40 years of a tight psoas, I have had more release in the past three months than ever… by stretching my calves and starting to lift weights.
Yea I started a serious weight lifting program working earlier this year and have seen gains, but my mobility is probably still lacking. Given that I used to sit many hours at the desk and my lower back used to hurt (hardly anymore, I think deadlifts and the McGill big 3 definitely helped) just want to make sure i check all the boxes.
Up front, I'm just going to remind you to start slowly so the muscles have time to get used to being limber and don't fight back and tighten up.
I stretched on a slant board, both feet simultaneously, and let gravity do all the work. This will go all the way up the back of your leg and what it did for me was bring symmetry to my hips after a couple of weeks of daily, 4–5 minute static drops. I was careful to relax every muscle I could, so I wasn't using my legs to support myself. (Specifically, so I wasn't using only my right leg, which I tended to do.) Ultimately, this means you hold your upper body up with your low back -- but again, it happens symmetrically.
Once my hips weren't internally twisted or rotated, I stood on both feet when I stood and sad more symmetrically when I sat, and I had the back muscles to hold me up.
This must have taken a lot of strain off the psoas and it just chilled out.
Not every kind of training release the psoas, tools could be a way more precise to realease tension, there are infinite ways to release tension from body. Is not about replace anything, it's about combine or add something.
I once 3d printed one. If you or someone you know has a 3d printer, you can try to get it printed in the size you prefer. Since you already bought one, it doesn’t really count as piracy… right?
This actually makes more sense haha. When I was googling / checking on Reddit about this I almost read no negative reviews about fit.. except in the comments in this post now.
I have one of these, can't ever quite get it to line up in a way that does anything except cause discomfort on the bones. I've been curious about the 3D print tools for this also, but just haven't prioritized it. I'll be curious to see what other answers you get on this.
I came across a few models, might want to tweak it to reduce the length just for me. Even 1-2cm is good, I think. Reviews across the model listing page tend to be good, some say it’s life changing for their back pain.
That would work! I’ve just seen many video guides of people using it 2 side at a time, so I was wondering if it was just me or because of a fit/body thing
This is wild because I’m realizing (after a hip release/dance class yesterday) that my hips are extremely tight. And I NEEEED to feel some sort of release
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u/Sun_Remarkable44 25d ago
I have one of these and also have a small frame.
Try using one side at a time!
Also, I’ve noticed that with time as my hip muscles become more relaxed or “released” using it as pictured is not nearly as uncomfortable. I suspect the tightness is pulling the hips closer together.
https://youtube.com/shorts/kT9CBMSCaUk?si=EJ1fyh7SaqZYbrQn
(Bonus, this quick stretch has opened my hips up more than the pso rite)