Here’s a big concept for a common issue. At the bottom of your squat you feel a pinching and compression in the crease at the front of your hip joint. Potentially what is going on is a muscle imbalance the Grandma Guru of Movement Impairments Shirley Sahrmann calls Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome. Biomechanically what happens during Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome is the head of the femur moves forward during hip flexion jamming into the front of the hip capsule causing pain and limiting your range of hip flexion. In ideal movement, as you descend deep into your squat, the head of the femur is drawn posteriorly creating room at the front of your hip joint to accommodate full hip flexion. But if you have short tight hamstrings that are overpowering your glute max creating a bowstring effect while the psoas (hip flexor and low back/pelvis stabilizer) are not doing their job properly you will feel the all too familiar pinch in the front of hip. Curiously, I have seen a secondary pain pattern of chronic low grade non-specific high hamstring ache associated with the Anterior Femoral Glide Syndrome. This cranky hamstring ache does not respond to stactic or active isolated stretching.  So what do you do about it? Down Dog meets the Monster Band.

What you need: 10 minutes, a green or black monster band depending on how big you are.