Movement Rehab Insights (TLDR): Hip flexor pain when squatting usually comes down to some combination of tight or weak hip flexors, weak lateral glutes, limited ankle or hip rotation mobility, overtraining, or compensation from an old injury. Adjusting your form, stance, and squat variation, progressing load gradually, and building hip flexor and glute strength usually resolves it. If it’s sharp, spreading, or not budging after a few weeks, that’s the sign to get it professionally assessed.
The hip flexors are a group of muscles in the front of the hip that help bring your thigh closer to your chest or torso. You use them in an open-chain position for things like lifting your leg to climb stairs or get in and out of a car. As well as in a closed-chain position for movements like squatting.
The tricky thing with hip pain is that the hips are closely connected to the spine, the pelvis, and the leg. So pain in the front of the hip doesn’t always mean it’s coming directly from the hip itself. That’s why, if you’re experiencing hip flexor pain with squatting, it’s important to look at not only the hip flexor itself but all the other areas that surround and impact the hip flexor muscle. This way you can find a solution that resolves the pain long term.
Causes of Hip Flexor Pain with Squatting
Hip flexor pain with squatting is rarely caused by just one thing. It’s usually a mix of a few of these showing up together. Here’s what we typically look for when someone comes to us with this pain.
Structural Causes for Hip Flexor Pain When Squatting
- Tight or weak hip flexor muscles. A tight muscle is also usually a weak muscle. Therefore, if you are somebody who sits a lot during the day or feels like, in general, you have tight hip flexors, you could also be experiencing hip flexor muscles that are also weak. If your hip flexor muscles are weak, they’re likely not contributing in the ways that you want them to when you’re performing a squat.
- Weak lateral glute muscles. The lateral glute muscles play a big role in providing support and stability for the lower chain. If these muscles are not pulling their weight, your hip flexors or other structures around this area could have to pick up the slack. This may lead to pain over time.
- Decreased ankle mobility. If you have stiff or tight ankles, this could affect your form when squatting. Decreased ankle mobility can cause you to lean more forward in your trunk when performing a squat. This could cause more pinching or pain in the front of the hips. Here’s a quick way to check yourself: perform a squat, then perform a squat with your heels elevated (on a plate or a couple of dumbbells). If the squat feels noticeably better with your heels elevated, tight ankles could be contributing to your hip flexor pain.
- Decreased hip rotation. Having adequate hip internal and external rotation is important for squatting and many other lower body exercises. If you lack hip rotation in either direction it can affect how you move. This can cause extra stress in the front of the hip.
Other Causes of Hip Flexor Pain When Squatting
- Overtraining. Increasing volume or load faster than what your hips are prepared to handle could also lead to pain. Make sure your program allows time for proper progressions. This can help make sure your body has time to adequately adapt to the load and stress being placed on the body to prevent injury and pain with lifting.
- Compensation from previous injuries. If you’ve ever experienced injuries in the past to the lower half of the body, this could be affecting how you move. When performing a squat this can affect how forces and load are being absorbed. Without even noticing it, you could be slightly shifting to one side when performing a squat. Or there could be muscle groups that aren’t properly activating or helping out like they should. This could lead to compensations and cause hip flexor pain when squatting.
Ways to Prevent Hip Flexor Pain When Squatting
Once you know what’s likely driving hip flexor pain, preventing it usually comes down to a handful of adjustments rather than a complete overhaul of how you train. Here’s a few places to start.
Check in on your form:
An anterior pelvic tilt isn’t inherently bad. However, if you’re noticing anterior hip pain and also have an anterior pelvic tilt, it may be something worth looking into. Sometimes an anterior pelvic tilt can lead to hyperextension of the lumbar spine or lower back. This hyperextension can sometimes cause anterior hip pain when squatting.
Explore different stance positions:
Try placing your feet a little closer or wider apart. You can also play around with having your toes in a more forward position or pointed more outwards. Generally speaking, having your feet slightly wider than hip width apart with a slight rotation of the toes outward creates more space inside the hips and decreases anterior hip pain when squatting. Everyone’s anatomy is different, so it’s worth finding what actually works for your body.
Gradually increase load and volume:
Pain tends to show up when you do too much too soon. When your tissues haven’t had time to adapt. Making sure to progress slowly over time with appropriate increases in weight and volume. This can help decrease risk of flaring up hip pain.
Incorporate hip flexor strength and mobility work:
Although we talked about hip flexor strength or mobility usually not being the only cause for anterior hip pain, it can be helpful to add in some isolated hip flexor strengthening and mobility exercises. If you’re looking for some movements to get started with, you can check out this hip flexor strength and mobility playlist.
Support the stabilizing structures involved:
The glutes, deep core muscles, foot, and ankle all play a role in how forces are distributed to the lower chain. When one or more of these structures isn’t pulling their weight, this can affect how stress lands on the front of your hip.
Consider a different squat variation:
A front squat or goblet squat naturally keeps your torso more upright compared to a low-bar or high-bar back squat. With a more upright torso there’s less pinching at the front of the hip.
When It’s Time to Get It Looked At
A little hip flexor soreness that eases with smart adjustments is normal training feedback. Here’s a few signs it’s worth having someone take a real look at instead of troubleshooting on your own:
- The pain hasn’t budged after a few weeks of the adjustments above
- It’s sharp or pinching rather than a dull ache
- It’s starting to limit how much you can squat or how you move outside the gym
- It’s spreading into your groin, low back, or down your leg
If you’re experiencing any of the symptoms above, instead of continuing to guess, these could be reasons why it may be better to get evaluated by a movement professional.
How Rise Performance and Physical Therapy Can Help with Hip Flexor Pain When Squatting
At Rise Performance and Physical Therapy in Denver, Colorado, we don’t just look at your hip flexors in isolation. We make sure to take a look at how you’re moving as a whole to make sure that we leave no stone uncovered when it comes to you feeling better and getting back to doing the things you love.
Your assessment for hip flexor pain will include looking at things like: ankle mobility, hip mobility, testing hip and glute strength, as well as digging into your training history and actually taking a look at how you’re squatting.
Ready to find out what’s actually driving your hip flexor pain? Request an Appointment, available in person in Denver or Wheat Ridge, or virtually through Virtual Rehab Coaching if you’re not local.
