Why Do My Hips Feel Tight If I’m Already Super Flexible?
If you’re hypermobile and your hips constantly feel tight—especially the front (hip flexors) and back (hamstrings)—you’re not alone. It’s one of the most common complaints I hear from clients. Often, they’ve been told by well-meaning trainers or instructors to just keep stretching… but instead of getting relief, they either feel the same or worse.
Here’s the twist: when I assess their hip mobility, they typically have incredible range of motion—think ballet-dancer levels. In fact, I’ve rarely met a hypermobile person whose hips are genuinely stiff. So why all the tension?
Stretchy Doesn't Always Mean Strong
Here’s where things get interesting. When your body tells you a muscle feels “tight,” that doesn’t always mean it needs to be stretched. Especially for folks with hypermobility, those tight-feeling hip flexors and hamstrings are often already long—and working overtime.
A classic hypermobile standing posture tends to involve:
Knees that lock backwards (which lengthens your hamstrings)
Hips pushed forward (lengthening the hip flexors)
A tilted pelvis (further stretching those same muscles).
This positioning makes it tough for your core and glutes to do their jobs as the main stabilizers of your hips and spine. So, your hip flexors and hamstrings jump in to help—even though they’re not designed for that role. It’s like asking a highly skilled accountant to run the HR department… using an ancient computer and a painfully slow internet connection. Cue frustration, fatigue, and yes, that tight feeling.
So What Can Help?
When muscles feel tight because they’re overworked and under-supported, our goal shifts: instead of stretching more, we focus on offloading those muscles, putting the body in better alignment, and building real strength.
1. Offload Overworked Muscles
We start by re-training your stabilizers—like your deep core, glutes, adductors, and even your feet—to do their jobs. Sometimes that means going back to fundamental exercises and re-learning how to activate muscles you’ve skipped over. (Not glamorous, but so worth it.) It may also mean checking in on other body parts - like your diaphragm or foot mechanics - that quietly impact your hip stability.
2. Find a Better Position
Once your stabilizers are online, we can begin training your body to hold a more neutral, supported posture. When the joints are better aligned, the right muscles (like your glutes) are more mechanically able to help. That means less strain on the ones that are already doing too much.
3. Build Strength + Reset the “Tight” Message
Muscles that are always “on” need to learn how to relax before they can truly get stronger. That’s where things like massage, self-myofascial release, or hands-on therapy can help. Once the muscle can chill, we build it back up—so it can work hard when needed and actually rest when it’s not.
If your hips feel tight no matter how much you stretch, it might be time to zoom out and look at the bigger picture. By shifting the focus from flexibility to function, you can create more support, ease, and stability in your body—step by step.
