Tight and/or weak psoas (litmus test: have strong ab rectalis/core but can't do unanchored sit-ups?)

Any sufferers?

Pretty curious phenomenon that I've been looking into that seems to be a bit of a blind spot in the fitness community. Combat sportspeople, runners, dancers, yogis, all sorts of people with active lifestyles you'd expect to have strong cores, and who in many cases have BF% of 12 or less, with defined 6-packs - report being unable to lift their upper halves off the floor without somebody holding their feet. Basically, what is thought of as a standard situp 'from scratch' - just lay down and do it, anywhere, as you would pushups or planks or squats or any other bodyweight/equipment-free calisthenics.

The reason behind that isn't any great mystery - it's because this movement is controlled less by the abs than by your hip flexors, particularly the psoas. The point of bafflement is how some people's psoas get so disruptively weak & tight, even if they stretch regularly and have strong cores, and generally know what they're doing and perform the right exercises with proper form to avoid injury.

It seems to be quite a widespread problem, with many anecdotal reports on bodybuilding websites, Reddit and Quora, etc. - but there's a surprising dearth of authoritative medical or sports science literature on the issue, at least that I can find published online. That is, science-based advice on preventative and curative measures for people inclined to be severely afflicted.

I can sit in plank, correctly, for an entire Iron Maiden song, and then rip off a few dozen pushups (again, correctly ) and as many crunchs. Couldn't do a single sit-up, though. Not without my feet either being pinned or jerking wildly off the floor, and even then it feels like my weight distribution is such (top-heavy with my chest and shoulders having gained a deal of muscle with my recent strength training) that my hip flexors are impossibly over-taxed, and I can barely make much headway past a full crunch. Can now do a couple after doing some psoas wall holds and other flexion based exercises and stretches but, man ...uphill battle.

 

I'd never really given hips much thought as something to isolate and focus on strengthening before, tbh.

 

I feel like the polite thing is to return the favor with some useful advice.

https://bentcarrot.com/

 

No you have to use like three, rubberbanded together at the pointies. Make yourself a nice little fulcrum there. Nahmsayin?

 

So...an MRI and first week of physical therapy later, we have a prognosis.

Turns out I probably always had pretty tight hip flexors to begin with, and then within the last year or so developed stenosis (pressure on the spinal cord which can pinch nerves, weakening the lower back and causing overcompensation elsewhere) and slight disc bulge from having a more sedentary job, all of which exacerbated that existing tightness. I teach on a hybrid model; some days are in-person and I can get up and stretch my legs, but remotely on Zoom I'm sat in a metal folding chair with a laptop on a rickety wooden folding TV dinner table (not an ideal setup) for 1hr 45 minutes straight per class.

So all that strengthening I was doing, with things like kettlebell goblet squats? Totally counterproductive, just made things worse. It was never a weakness issue, just tightness. All that unnecesary strengthening also...tightened.

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Oh and validating what @Boxed Ears said - on doctor's orders I'm now more or less forbidden indefinitely from doing any situps or crunches.

 

All-day-long multiple card RBR sessions likely don't help much, either.

 

Seems he's been MIA for a month now..