Tight Hip, Twisted Core: The Key to Unresolved Pain - by Koth, Christine and Pimas, Masha (Paperback, Aug 13, 2019)

Iliopsoas, iliacus, psoas, hip... the hip I knew about. I found Ms. month's book informative, easy to understand, and useful. The exercises are easy to follow and apply. As an ice hockey goaltender in me early 60s, it natural to feel some aches, pain, and stiffness in the hips and lower back. Understanding how our body is built, then why the pain occurs, naturally leads to curiosity for relief, and this book delivers. Applying the simple terms and using supporting diagrams for direction, has made my life after play, much better. Using this information has also assisted me in making changes in daily activities, so I move a lot more easily. I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in having more mobility and less pain in all of your physical activities.

Many years ago, a therapist released my iliacus. It was probably one of the most memorable moments I've ever had. It was super tight and I squirmed as he dug his fingers into there. But within a week of that release, my 400m time dropped from a struggling 2 min to 1:30. What a difference a more relaxed hip makes in running! It was then I truly experienced what a tight iliacus (among other hip flexors) could do for athletic performance. Fast forward a few years, and I had studied a number of rehab disciplines. Some had knowledge of the iliacus, many did not and simply grouped them under the big category of hip flexor. But also I learned a number of things about muscles and treating movement. It is wonderful that many of these concepts that took me years and many courses to learn are all summarized in this book. Also, many current techniques and concepts are highlighted, which are unfortunately not covered in many other texts. They tend towards older techniques and concepts. Things like prolonged pressure, which is something I learned recently at a workshop, and lighter pressure than you would think. So not only do you get a lot of information about the iliacus, you will also get a lot about current thinking on techniques to treat muscles in general. Nicely covered is a deep dive into the iliacus and its function and what happens when dysfunction occurs and other structures are affected. There is a great section on how the iliacus is involved with other conditions like hip arthritis. Many diagrams are provided which, through simple illustration, show the iliacus's action on the various structures of the body, and what happens to you when you have a tight iliacus. As a bonus, the book also covers some other areas, like organs and blood vessel effects, nerve effects, as well as emotions and their role in muscle tightness. I highly recommend this gem - you'll get all you'll want to know about the iliacus and a lot of other great material as well.

I'm a competitive powerlifter and this book has helped so much. After reading just the first chapter I was able to identify my iliopsoas. Then I immediately ordered a psoas release tool off of Amazon and started laying on it before and after training. Not only is pain now gone, but I can squat deeper. Which this book suggests you avoid. But that's the sport I do, so now I've learned that the least I can do is tend to this muscle group diligently. Now when I get bodywork, we don't spend the whole session on hip release. Great info, everybody who is in sport should know this.

I've had a lifetime of foot pain and several years of recurring knee pain, hip pain, lower back pain, arch pain, metatarsal pain, and plantar fasciitis. The pain would move from one area to another, go away inexplicably, and then come back again over and over again. Most recently, I've had excruciating hip and glute pain that prevented me from walking, and a feeling that one leg is longer than the other. The traditional medical community basically failed me. The podiatrist only considered my feet. A sports orthopedist had no interest in a middle aged woman who didn't have an extreme sports injury, and PT only focused on a one body part at a time -- hip OR knee. I started a journey to find out what was happening in my body and why. I first discovered the work of Katy Bowman (Move Your DNA). Aha! Interesting ... alignment and load can create pain and issues in different parts of the body. Her work is fascinating and entertaining, well worth exploring, but a little science geeky and not as approachable as I would like. Then I accidentally came across Tight Hip, Twisted Core on Amazon and bought it immediately. Every page, every symptom, every diagram was like looking in a mirror. I read it as fast as I could. It's easy to read, conversational, and the science is easy to grasp. I couldn't wait to get to the "fix". Even before I got to the section on the exercises and pressure points, I tried just applying pressure to the recommended areas and painful tissues with my thumb. Instant relief! I even watched as I pressed an area on my upper thigh, felt an energy flow into my foot, and saw my ankle swelling go down before my eyes. I am a believer! I ordered the small orange ball that is available with the program (also Amazon). I just received it so have not yet done the movements with the ball, but I have done the pelvic alignment exercise several times today and have no pain at the end of a long day at my desk. The movements are so gentle, easy and short that they will be easy to incorporate into my day. I'm looking forward to what a more regular application of the program will bring. I will put off investing in the Hip Hook until I see what kind of relief I can get using the ball. If this sounds like your story, I encourage you to read this book.

Well written, easy to absorb info: the author displays a wealth of hands on knowledge gained through experience and shared with enthusiasm for the better health of all.

Well written and good visuals.

This book resonated so much. Bells going off in my head the entire way through. Finally an answer to all my hip and back problems. Thank you Christine. An excellent, easy to read book with clear, easy to understand explanations as to the problems and a simple way to fix them.

Easy to understand, this comprehensive book provides good depth to help resolve problems in the body related to tightness in the hips.

Hip pain

For most of my life I’ve suffered back pain and abdominal pain. So with massage therapists and physios, chiropractors, etc. have finally starting to get better. Over time these therapists have helped work through all the muscles mentioned in this book. The old left short leg syndrome with heel lift, then fascia late, hip flexors, etc and biggest step forward release the Psoas, but wait the greatest step forward is the Iliacus. Once releasing this the psoas relaxes, then the back and abdominals just go loose and pain free. So instead of spending years and lots of money trying to fix back and pain... just follow this book, and also give it to your therapists. The more that read this the more everyone will have relief.