Sports Hernia Exercises & Stretches - Ask Doctor Jo

A sports hernia is basically a strain or tear in the soft tissue of your lower abdomen or groin area. A sports hernia is usually caused by sports where you plant your feet and twist with maximum effort, like soccer, wrestling and football. These stretches & exercises should help. See Doctor Jo’s blog post about this at: http://www.askdoctorjo.com/sports-hernia

First you will do transverse abdominis (TA) recruitment. For TA recruitment, go to top of your hip bone, slide your fingers towards your belly button, and then cough. The muscles pushing into fingers are the ones you want to contract. Breath in and slowly blow out like you are blowing out candles while you are keeping the muscles engaged. This will help retrain the muscles to work correctly. Do this about 5 times.

Now you will do some stretches for the hip flexors. Start in a kneeling position. Place the knee of the hip flexor you want to stretch on the ground, and take the opposite leg and bend it in front of you at a ninety-degree angle. You might want to place a pillow under your knee to protect it. You will be in a lunge position with the knee of your injured side on the ground. Now drive the knee of the uninjured side forward away from your body. Hold for 30 seconds, and do this 3 times.

Next you will stretch your quad muscles. Place the knee of the quad you want to stretch on the ground, and take the opposite leg and bend it in front of you at a ninety-degree angle. You might want to place a pillow under your knee to protect it. You will be in a lunge position with the knee of your injured side on the ground. Then grab the ankle of the side you want to stretch and pull it up towards your buttocks. Hold for 30 seconds, and do it 3 times.

Then you will stretch your groin/inner thigh area. This is a simple butterfly stretch. Sit on the ground, and put your feet together pulling them towards your body. If you need more of a stretch, you can place your elbows on your inner thighs, and apply gentle pressure downwards. Hold the stretches for 30 seconds, doing 3 of each set.

Now you will stretch your inner thigh/adductor muscles. In a tall kneeling position, put the let you want to stretch out to the side of your body. Point your toes forward, and try to keep your leg straight. Lean downward and away until you feel a stretch. Hold it for 30 seconds, and do it three times.

Finally, you will do a hamstring stretch. There are many ways to stretch them, and you can check out the hamstring stretches video for other ways to stretch them. The most important part of this stretch is to keep your back straight. Many people try to curl their backs to be able to touch their toes. Your hamstrings are attached to what is called the ischial tuberosity, or your butt bone. So if you bend at your back, you are not going to get a good hamstring stretch. Try to bend at your hips. Hold the stretch for 30 seconds and do it three times.

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