Stop Bullying Your Psoas: It’s Not the Problem
Have you been told your psoas is the root of your back pain, hip tension, or pelvic tilt? Maybe someone even suggested digging into it with a hard plastic tool like this to release it?
(Hint: EHHNNK 🚫)
Here's why the "bullying" this muscle is not the best approach—and what you should do instead.
Your psoas is deep—really deep.
The psoas is a deep, structural muscle that runs from your lower spine, through your abdomen, and attaches down at your inner femur. To even attempt to reach it, you’d have to push past core muscles and more delicate organs like your intestines, bladder, and, for women, reproductive organs.
Here’s the problem: The fascia around these organs is thinner and more delicate than in other areas of the body. Applying intense, concentrated pressure (especially with a hard plastic tool) is more compression than that tissue was meant to endure (plus, you may still not reach the psoas).
Your psoas isn’t the only problem.
I know that I annoyingly repeat this all the time, but everything in the body is connected. (When this is no longer a fact, I'll stop saying it )
If your psoas is tight, it's likely overcompensating for imbalances elsewhere--likely in a whole series of muscles or throughout an entire fascial chain. The psoas may be unable to "let go" because it's desperately trying to keep your spine/pelvis stable due to a lack of support or movement from other areas. So if you focus solely on cranking away at your psoas, your problem will likely persist—or worse, your psoas may lock down even harder.
Instead of treating your psoas like an evil Disney witch, try releasing:
1. Quads (especially the mid to high quad area)
2. Adductors (inner thighs): These influence your pelvic tilt more than ANY other muscle, especially high up towards the tendon. Plus, the high adductor is near the insertion of the psoas and you can more easily affect the fascia from that angle)
3. Core (with a softer tool, like the Coregeous ball or my personal favorite, the RAD Centre ball)
When you approach your body as an integrated system—instead of attacking just one muscle—you’ll get better, lasting relief.
(There are short how-to videos for those listed above sprinkled throughout my Instagram page (@thefasciaremedy), or you can also learn how to expertly release fascia head to toe on your own with Roller Remedy.)
