The Psoas Muscle: Why Your Hips and Lower Back May Feel Tight
The psoas is one of the body’s most important, and commonly overlooked, muscles. It connects the lower spine to the upper leg, helping you stand upright, lift your leg, walk, climb stairs, and stabilize your hips and lower back.
Because the psoas sits deep within the body, it is not always obvious when it is contributing to stiffness or restricted movement. Long periods of sitting, cycling, commuting, running, pregnancy, feeding a baby, or repeatedly working in a forward-flexed position can all place added demands on this muscle.
When the psoas becomes stiff, overworked, or poorly coordinated with the surrounding muscles, you may feel the effects through your hips, pelvis, and lower back.
What Is the Psoas Muscle?
You have a psoas muscle on each side of your body. Each one runs from the lower portion of your spine, passes through the pelvis, and connects near the top of the femur, or thigh bone. Together with the iliacus muscle, it forms the iliopsoas—one of the body’s primary hip flexors.
The psoas helps you:
Lift your knee toward your body
Walk, run, and climb stairs
Move between sitting and standing
Stabilize your lower spine and pelvis
Extend your hip when walking or standing upright
Maintain balance and control during movement
The psoas is involved in nearly every activity that connects the upper and lower body. That is why stiffness or poor function in this area can influence how the hips, pelvis, and lower back feel and move.
So What?
As a chiropractor, I have many patient’s who need to alter how they sit and stand while at work, and we work on corrective exercises for overall posture. The psoas spends a great deal of time in a shortened position when the hips remain flexed. This occurs while sitting at a desk, driving, cycling, feeding a baby, or leaning over a phone or laptop.
Sitting does not automatically damage or permanently shorten the muscle. However, spending hours in one position without enough movement can leave the hips feeling stiff and make it more difficult to comfortably stand upright or extend the leg behind the body.
Common contributors include:
Prolonged sitting or driving
Frequent cycling or spin classes
Running, especially hills or increased mileage
Strength training without enough mobility or recovery
Pregnancy and postpartum changes
Breastfeeding, bottle-feeding, or holding a baby in a flexed position
Limited hip mobility
Weakness or poor coordination in the glutes and core
A sudden increase in activity
Previous hip, pelvic, or lower-back injuries
The psoas rarely works in isolation. Hip mobility, spinal movement, glute strength, posture, breathing mechanics, and everyday habits all influence how this area functions.
Any of these sound familiar? By doing a simple stretch, you will be able to target this muscle and work towards lengthening it, which will in turn relax its hold on vertebrae, femur, and ilium. This will allow greater mobility of the joints, and minimize stresses on the spine and the nerves exiting at that level (which in large part are the sciatic nerve roots!).
Can a Tight Psoas Cause Lower-Back Pain?
The psoas attaches directly to the lumbar spine, so its movement and tension can influence how the lower back and pelvis function. When one side is considerably tighter or less coordinated than the other, the body may compensate through the hips, pelvis, or surrounding spinal muscles.
For some people, improving hip-flexor mobility and strength reduces tension and makes movement more comfortable. For others, the psoas is only one part of a broader issue involving the joints, discs, nerves, glutes, core, or sacroiliac region.
The goal is not to blame one muscle for every case of lower-back pain. The goal is to understand how the entire area is moving and determine what needs support.
Two Gentle Stretches for the Psoas and Hip Flexors
Stretching should feel controlled and gradual. You should feel a mild pull through the front of the hip—not sharp pain, pinching, numbness, or tingling.
Half-Kneeling Hip-Flexor Stretch
Begin in a half-kneeling position with one knee on a padded surface and the opposite foot in front of you.
Keep your torso upright.
Gently tuck your pelvis, as though bringing your belt buckle slightly toward your ribs.
Squeeze the glute on the kneeling side.
Shift your weight forward until you feel a stretch across the front of that hip.
Hold for 20–30 seconds while breathing normally.
Repeat twice on each side.
Avoid excessively arching your lower back. The movement should come from the hip rather than from leaning the entire body forward.
Supported Pigeon Pose
Begin on your hands and knees.
Bring one knee forward and position the lower leg comfortably in front of your body.
Extend the opposite leg behind you.
Keep your hips supported and avoid forcing them toward the floor.
Remain upright or lean forward slightly if the position is comfortable.
Hold for 20–30 seconds and repeat on the other side.
Pigeon pose can place stress on the knee or hip when forced. Use cushions or yoga blocks for support, and stop if you experience joint pain. A seated figure-four stretch is a useful alternative.
Stretching Is Only Part of the Solution
A muscle can feel tight because it has been held in one position, but it can also feel tight because it is working harder than the surrounding muscles. Stretching provides temporary relief, but lasting improvement often requires better strength and control.
Helpful exercises may include:
Glute bridges
Controlled marching
Dead-bug variations
Side-lying hip strengthening
Hip-extension exercises
Core-stability exercises
The right exercise depends on your movement patterns and symptoms. If stretching repeatedly provides only short-term relief, it is worth looking beyond the psoas and evaluating the hips, pelvis, lower back, and surrounding muscles together.
Small Changes Throughout the Day
You do not need an elaborate stretching routine to support your hips. Consistent movement is usually more helpful than trying to correct an entire day of sitting with one intense stretch.
Try to:
Stand and move every 30–60 minutes
Change positions instead of searching for one “perfect” posture
Take a short walk after prolonged sitting
Alternate between sitting and standing when possible
Avoid forcing a deep stretch immediately after being sedentary
Include both hip mobility and strengthening in your routine
Gradually increase running, cycling, or strength-training volume
The body responds well to variety. Regular changes in position help the hips and spine move through the ranges they are designed to use.
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Stiffness across the front of the hip, difficulty standing upright after sitting, or discomfort when extending the leg behind you can suggest limited hip-flexor mobility. These symptoms can have other causes, so an examination is the best way to determine what is actually contributing.
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Sitting keeps the hips flexed and can leave the area feeling stiff, particularly when you remain in the same position for hours. The solution is not to eliminate sitting- it’s to change positions, move regularly, and maintain both mobility and strength.
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The psoas can influence movement around the lower back and pelvis, but true sciatica involves irritation of the sciatic nerve or its contributing nerve roots. Radiating leg pain, numbness, tingling, or weakness should be properly evaluated rather than treated as simple muscle tightness.
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Persistent tightness may indicate that the muscle needs better strength and coordination rather than more stretching. It can also reflect a restriction or compensation elsewhere in the hips, pelvis, or lower back.
How Chiropractic Care Helps
When hip or lower-back tension continues despite stretching, a chiropractic evaluation can help determine whether joint restriction, spinal mobility, muscular compensation, posture, or movement habits are contributing. The goal is to improve movement, reduce recurring strain, and help your body feel more comfortable during the activities that matter to you.
At the Heights Chiropractic we evaluates how the lower back, pelvis, and hips move together rather than assuming one muscle is responsible. Care may include:
Hands-on chiropractic adjustments
Drop-table or instrument-assisted techniques
Hip and pelvic mobility work
Individualized stretches and strengthening exercises
Posture and movement guidance
Recommendations based on work, exercise, parenting, and everyday routines
Ready to Understand What Is Causing Your Hip or Lower-Back Tension?
If hip stiffness or lower-back tension keeps returning, Dr. Katherine McCarty can evaluate how your spine, pelvis, and hips are working together and recommend an appropriate next step.