Extreme Tightness in Legs and Hips

Female. 20. Been dancing for 17 years and recently took up running (6 mo.)

I have been a pro-am level dancer for about 17 years. Since that time I have retired and instead taken up running. I have noticed that since I have lowered my activity level significantly from dancing every day to taking a light run 3 day a week, my muscles in my legs have become increasingly tight and uncomfortable. While there is no real pain involved, it is to the point that I feel uncomfortable sitting for a long period of time. The tightness in my hips makes it difficult to cross my legs while sitting in a chair. No matter how much or how little I stretch they still feel tight and uncomfortable. What can I do to relieve this tightness?

Hi Jennifer,
I can recommend adding yoga to your regular routine. As a dancer you will have worked on your flexibility as well as stability in a very dynamic way. Having discontinued this and now taking up running, your body will indeed be at risk of getting stiffer very quickly even with the usual stretches that are recommended for runners. Yoga is popular but from experience it is also very effective on very many levels and from feedback it works well in combination with sports and dancing. I know a few people who are ex-dancers who are very happy having taken up yoga. I can highly recommend Iyengar yoga. It is cheap and with guidance from a teacher you can very quickly develop an own practice at home that you can enjoy for free. You will know your body well and have a good awareness so you can use yoga to help you counteract the developing stiffness in your hips and rest of your legs and anywhere else in your body (and mind)..

Hello Jennifer,

I think Philip is right, give the yoga a go to maintain the flexibility you must have had as a dancer.

Sounds like the reason for this new tightness may not be the lack of dancing but the start of running also. What's your running technique like? You must have good functional control to be a dancer but your symptoms do sound similar to someone who has a slight lordosis and tight hip flexors therefore giving you an anterior pelvic tilt and putting the posterior chain (hamstrings, claves) under stress. Maybe look at some lumbo-pelvic exercises, hip flexor stretches and check your running gait out.

Also if you are not used to the constant pounding of running, you may have some stiffness in your plantar fascia, Achilles and that area of the deep back lie of fascia. Try using a tennis ball to massage the bottom of your feet, see if it relieves any tension in your caves and hamstrings.

Hope this helps.

Ben