Most people don’t think about their hip flexors until something goes wrong… and by then, the signs have usually been building for a while.
Tightness in the front of the hips, persistent lower back ache, or that stiff, creaky feeling after sitting at a desk all day are all common symptoms of weak or underused psoas muscles.
And with most of us spending more time sitting than ever, it’s a problem that’s becoming increasingly common.
The psoas march is one of the most effective exercises available for directly addressing this. Popular with both strength coaches and physiotherapists, it builds strength and control in the hip flexors while simultaneously training the core to stabilise the pelvis, which is exactly how these muscles need to work together in real life.
It’s beginner-friendly, requires minimal equipment, and can be done at home or in the gym.
This guide covers everything you need to know, including how to perform both variations correctly, the muscles worked, benefits, and how to progress the movement over time.
What is the Psoas March Exercise?
The psoas march exercise is a hip strengthening exercise that activates the psoas muscle, abdominals and glutes.
The psoas muscle plays a vital role in connecting the upper and lower body, as well as the front and back of the body. Ultimately, it has a very influential impact on hip flexion and the ability to move freely from the pelvis.
A feeling of “tight” hips can often be related to weak or tight psoas muscles.
The psoas march can be performed in a variety of ways. The Classic position is standing against a wall to keep the lower back as straight as possible to work the hip flexors. The alternative position is lying down on an exercise mat (supine position), again with the aim of keeping the back pushed down against the ground in order to work the hip flexors.
Hip Mobility Exercises (with PDF)
We recently published a guide on the best hip mobility exercises (with a printable PDF), which provides 10 other exercises you can do alongside psoas marches to really bulletproof your hips.
How to Perform the Psoas March
Variation 1 – Standing Psoas March
To do the Classic Standing Psoas March:
- Stand facing a wall, legs straight and arms by your sides.
- Attach a resistance band around the balls of your feet if you want added resistance.
- Place your hands on the wall to provide balance and allow you to keep your back straight.
- Contract your abdominal muscles to provide stability during the movement.
- Slowly bring the left leg up to 90°.
- Bring down the left leg to the standing position.
- Repeat with the other leg and repeat for repetitions.
Variation 2 – Supine Psoas March
To do the Supine Psoas March:
- Lie on your back on an exercise mat.
- Attach a resistance band around the balls of your feet.
- Lift both legs to 90° at the hips with knees bent also at 90°.
- Contract your abdominal muscles to keep your back as close as possible to the mat.
- Slowly straighten the left leg down to the ground while keeping the right leg at 90°.
- Bring the left leg back to its original position, parallel to the right leg.
- Repeat action, this time with right leg.
- Repeat for repetitions.
Add a Resistance Band for Progression
For both psoas march variations (supine and standing), you can use a resistance or therapy band to increase the difficulty. The band will create more resistance and require more activation from your muscles as you lift your knees up. A “loop band” is likely going to be the best type of resistance band to use for psoas marches.
Muscles Worked
Hip Flexors
The psoas march primarily targets the hip flexor muscle group, specifically the psoas major, iliacus, and tensor fasciae latae. Together, these muscles are responsible for lifting the thigh toward the body and play a central role in walking, running, and any movement that requires driving the knee upward.
It’s also worth noting that research suggests 40–60% of people have a psoas minor muscle alongside the psoas major, though its functional contribution is considered minor.
The psoas major is of particular importance here, it’s the only muscle that directly connects the spine to the lower body, running from the lumbar vertebrae down to the top of the femur.
This anatomical position means it has an outsized influence on both hip movement and spinal stability, which is why weakness here tends to show up as lower back pain and poor lumbopelvic control.
Anterior Thigh Muscles
The anterior thigh muscles, including the rectus femoris, pectineus, and sartorius, also contribute to the movement, assisting the primary hip flexors during the knee drive phase of the exercise.
Core
The abdominals and obliques work as stabilisers throughout the psoas march, resisting any rotation or arching of the lower back as each leg moves. This co-contraction between the hip flexors and the abdominals, learning to move the hips while the core holds the pelvis stable, is one of the defining qualities of the exercise and closely mirrors how these muscles need to work together during running, sprinting, and other athletic movements.
Glutes
The glutes are engaged throughout to help maintain pelvic stability, particularly during the standing variation where balance is a factor.
Benefits of Psoas March
Strengthen Hip Flexors
The psoas march is one of the most direct and effective ways to build strength in the hip flexors, including the psoas major, iliacus, and tensor fasciae latae.
Stronger hip flexors generate more power and force during any movement that involves driving the knee up, sprinting, jumping, kicking, climbing, and also support better stability in the hips and lower back during hinging and lifting movements.
Improves Core Strength and Stability
The psoas march trains a quality that most core exercises miss: the ability to stabilise the pelvis and lower back while the legs are moving.
This co-contraction between the hip flexors and abdominals is exactly how the core needs to function during running, lifting, and daily movement… making this a more functionally relevant core exercise than many standard ab movements.
Addresses the Root Cause of “Tight” Hips
The feeling of tight hips is commonly assumed to be a flexibility problem, but it’s often actually a strength problem. Physiotherapy sources confirm that weak muscles frequently become tense, and that strengthening the psoas directly can resolve the tightness that stretching alone fails to fix.
The psoas march targets this directly, building the strength in the hip flexors that allows them to relax and move freely.
May Reduce Lower Back Pain
Prolonged sitting causes the psoas to shorten and tighten, which tilts the pelvis forward and increases stress on the lower back. By strengthening the psoas and improving lumbopelvic control, the psoas march can help address one of the most common underlying contributors to lower back discomfort.
This is why it’s a staple in many physiotherapy and rehabilitation programmes for low back pain.
Provides Better Hip Flexor Activation
Powerful hip flexor muscles let you flex or lift your thighs towards your body. You also need them when bending your body down to the ground. When these muscles are weak or tight, you may experience low back pain or tightness in the front of your hip. This is why it is essential to keep the hip flexors strong and active.
An exercise like psoas marches helps to “wake up” these muscles and ensure they are getting adequately activated.
Functional Movement
The psoas march trains the hip flexors and core in a way that directly mirrors how they work during real-life activities… walking, running, climbing stairs, and sport.
This makes it a more transferable exercise than isolated hip flexor work, and a useful addition to any programme that involves running, sprinting, or hinging movements.
Allows Flexibility in Workouts
There are two variations of the exercise so it’s nice to know that you can strengthen the hip flexor muscles in different ways and still focus on the key techniques involved in the psoas march. With the use of the resistance band, it’s an effective way to build difficulty into the exercise whether you are alone at home or in a group workout.
We find it to be a very effect warm-up for any workout that involves running, sprinting or jumping, as well as hinging exercises, such as a Romanian Deadlift.
Bulletproof your Hips
All of us need our hip flexor muscles to work well when we do everyday activities such as walking, climbing the stairs, running, squatting, sitting up in bed, and so many other daily movements… and weakness or tightness in the hips will subsequently make such activities harder, impacting mobility and activity levels.
Taking the time to strengthening and stretch out the hips frequently, will help keep them functioning as they were designed to.
Technique is Everything
Like any stretch or exercise, technique is everything. Take things nice and slow, ensuring you are focusing on keeping your core braced and stable throughout. You don’t need to push or lift your leg too powerfully… instead keep it nice and controlled at all times.
Progression
The psoas march can be progressed gradually as your hip flexor strength and lumbopelvic control improve. A well-established progression works as follows:
Level 1 — Supine, No Band
Start lying on your back with both knees bent to 90 degrees and no resistance band. Focus entirely on keeping the lower back flat against the floor as each leg extends. Even the bodyweight version is challenging for those new to the exercise.
Level 2 — Supine, Banded
Once you can maintain a flat back throughout the bodyweight version, add a resistance loop band around the balls of the feet. The band increases the demand on the psoas and the core as each leg kicks out against the resistance, while the opposite leg must isometrically hold its position.
Level 3 — Bridging Psoas March
Place both feet on a box with legs extended and lift the hips into a bridge position. From here, march one knee toward the chest and return, keeping the hips elevated throughout. This variation simultaneously challenges the hip extensors (glutes and hamstrings), the hip flexors (psoas), and the core — making it significantly more demanding than it looks.
Level 4 — Standing Psoas March
Progress to the standing variation against a wall, adding a resistance band around the feet for additional load. The upright position introduces a balance challenge and more closely mirrors the demands of running and athletic movement.
Alternatives
Along with psoas marches, another really effective exercise to strengthen the hip flexors is the reverse squat.
This exercise involves lying on your back and bringing your feet towards your chest, with a cable machine (or band) attached to your feet to create additional resistance.
Using a cable machine means that reverse squats are great for those that want to track progress and use progressive overload training to help build muscle efficiently.
Reverse squats do, however, require quite a good existing level of core strength, so that might be a limiting factor.
Bottom Line
The psoas march is one of the most effective and accessible exercises for building hip flexor strength and lumbopelvic control. It’s well-regarded by physiotherapists and strength coaches for good reason… it addresses a genuine weakness in most people’s training, is beginner-friendly, and can be progressed systematically over time.
Start with the supine bodyweight variation, focus on keeping the lower back flat throughout, and add the resistance band only once you can control the movement cleanly.
Work through the progression levels gradually rather than jumping ahead… the exercise is more demanding than it looks, and form will break down quickly if you progress too fast. For most people, including it as a warm-up before running, lifting, or any hip-dominant workout is the simplest way to get started.
As always, if you’re dealing with active hip or lower back pain, consult a physiotherapist before adding this or any new exercise to your routine.
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