Seated Hip Flexion

Seated Hip Flexion / Ab Briefcase Exercise Basics

Primary muscles worked: Rectus Abdominus

Synergist Muscles: Psoas

Mechanics: Compound

Equipment: Open Floor Space

How To Perform Seated Hip Flexion

• Sit on the floor and then lean back on your hands so that your elbows are slightly bent and fingertips are facing toward your feet.
• Lift both of your feet off of the ground slightly.
• Now, bring your knees toward your chest while simultaneously crunching your upper body to meet your knees.
• Once your knees contact your chest, flatten your body out so that your legs are straight and your upper body is leaned back.

Seated Hip Flexion Tips

• You can perform this exercise one leg at a time if performing the exercise with both legs is too difficult.
• You can also perform just the lower half of the movement where your knees move toward your chest if you do not have sufficient core strength to simultaneously crunch up with your upper body.

Seated Hip Flexion and Sports Application

Seated hip flexion is great for teaching coordination between the hip flexors and the lower / upper rectus abdominus muscles. You may want to select another exercise if you have hip flexor tightness. Sports movements where seated hip flexion can be seen, albeit with slight variance of positioning and movement, are the breaststroke in swimming and the rowing motion in crew.