Last week we started working on lunges - in most classes anyways.

And we've discovered some rather interesting things.

Things such as:

~ my leg simply doesn't want to step forward

~ ooooh - ooooh - ooooh - my hip doesn't open like this

~ shoot, I keep falling over. Oh, my balance!

~ no, I can't lift my torso to vertical. No ways!

Have you ever run into any of these lunge-related difficulties?

Of course many of us, yours truly included, love us those lunges to stretch the stubbornly tight hip flexors (more correctly - tight psoas - muscles that connect thigh bones to the spine).

Short and tight psoas are definitely no joke!

Besides just being annoying,

A psoas that won't release can compress the disks in the spinal column, contributing to degenerative disk disease, prolapsing discs, and damaged spinal ligaments.

It can keep the hamstrings and the calf muscles short, leading to knee and hip osteoarthritis, bursitis, tendonitis, as well as foot pain / problems.

It can prevents hips from extending (as in lunge and while walking) and gluts from building. That would be the reason why lifting the torso up to vertical in a low lunge might feel like an insurmountable task.

It can thrust the ribcage forward, altering the relationship between ribcage and pelvis - this, in turn, will lead to shallow and labored breathing, as well as pelvic disorders and mid-back pain.

More?

Psoas runs the entire length of the digestive system, so tension in psoas can also create a "standstill" in the intestines.

Even more?

Psoas houses the lumbar plexus - a dense collection of nerves responsible for innervating abdomen, pelvic floor, deep hip rotators, and most of the muscles of the thigh. Contracted psoas can and will contribute to chronic pain below the deck.

If fact, symptoms of psoas syndrome include:

Lower back pain

Pain in the lumbosacral region (between lower back and buttocks) when sitting or changing positions

Pain when trying to stand in a fully erect posture

Pain in the buttocks

Radiation of pain down the leg

Groin pain

Pelvic pain

Limping or shuffling gait

Now the lunge feels like a knight in shining armor, doesn't it?

Which leads us to the next question: are you actually stretching your psoas or compressing your lumbar spine as you lunge?

Let's talk about that next week, shall we?