stretches for achy hip/bum area

[shelleymcb]

when I do a longer run on the treadmill (over 50mins) I notice a dull pain in my hip area but it is in the back/bum area, so not lower back pain. any ideas for easing this? I also noticed this when I ran outside & this was a 20-30 min run. it sort of feels as if it needs to click back to where it was & settle in. hope that makes sense.

could it be that I am just getting tired & need to hold myself more upright? (just thinking out loud here) or perhaps I need to strengthen this area?

thanks for any advice.

shelley

[CaroleC Graduate]

Hi Shelley,

Try looking up stretches for the piriformis muscle. This stretches the bum cheeks areas and is a really good stretch. The piriformis sits under the deep seated glute muscle and can irritate the sciatic nerve, giving you literally "a pain in the a***". These are really good stretches anyway, even if you don't get this pain. sportsinjuryclinic.net/spor...

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I think Carole is right and you need to look for stretches for the lumbar region and piriformis. The two in my book both start with you lying on your back, first hug one knee to your chest (the other leg should be extended, relaxed) and hold for 30 secs, then pull the ankle slightly across your body to shift the stretch to the hip. Repeat on the other side. Then hug both to your chest, and rock from side to side so the area below your waist gets a kind of massage from body weight.

The other way to stretch and loosen an area is to work the muscles that oppose it, which for the lower back has to be the abdominal muscles. Situps can strain the back but crunches performed with care can target just the tummy muscles on their own.

Hope you feel better soon!