So, when you think of your hips, what area of your body do you think of? Yeah, so do I. But it turns out that your hips — or at least your hip flexors — are also on the front part of your body, right where the top of your legs meet your trunk. Just look at the picture on the right.
Why are they important? Because they hurt if you don’t take proper care of them. Mainly you need to stretch them. Most muscles work “one way” and you stretch them by moving them the “other way”. Your hamstrings, for instance, pull backwards and you stretch them by bending forward. You hip flexors, on the other hand, work both ways so you need to
stretch them both ways. Your hip flexors pull your legs forward, so you need to stretch them backwards. They also pull your leg backwards, so you need to stretch them forward. See the two pictures for the two types of stretch.