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Exercises for Mobility and Functional Strength
If you have tight hip flexors, you can expect to have problems with your hip joints and lower back, if not now, then almost certainly at some point in the future. 
Most of the problems that you can experience in your lower legs are likely to originate from posterior compartment muscles, the two main ones being your gastrocnemius and soleus. Together, these calf muscles allow you to push off the ground with every step you take. 
In this third installment of exercises for healthy shoulders, I'll take you through a few simple stretches and one foam rolling exercise that can help keep all of the major tendons and ligaments that surround your shoulder joints functional and well perfused with healthy blood flow. These exercises are excellent for preventing and addressing common shoulder problems like impingement and adhesive capsulitis (frozen shoulder). 
Clearly, it's best to stretch all of your major muscles. Stretching promotes healthy blood flow and fluid exchange, which keep your muscles well nourished and relatively free of buildup of waste products, which lead to optimal function and lower risk of injury. 
To review, ligaments and muscles go from one bone to another. The main difference is that ligaments stabilize joints, while muscles allow you to move them. 
Below the layers of skin, fascia, and muscle that surround your shoulders are a series of ligaments that meld together to form a capsule, one per shoulder; it's job is to prevent your shoulder from dislocating, while still providing enough give to allow a wide range of motion. 
In case you haven't noticed, I'm a huge fan of foam rolling. Once you get the hang of it, foam rolling can be like getting deep tissue work from a skilled health practitioner, only you can experience it at anytime, and you can linger for as long as you want on areas that need extra attention. 
Like your hip, your shoulder joint is a classic ball and socket joint that affords great flexibility. But with great range of motion comes greater potential for injury. Makes perfect sense, right? With a wide range of motion, the soft tissues that surround your shoulder joint are more likely to experience strains and even small tears than the ligaments and muscles that surround less mobile joints like those in your elbow and fingers. 
One of the most important principles taught in chiropractic school is that every joint in the body is affected by the health of adjacent joints.
Your hip abductors are muscles that lie on the upper and outer portion of your buttocks. These muscles - called your gluteus medius and minimus - allow you to move your lower extremities out and away from your midline. They also allow you to rotate your legs inward so that the toes of one leg face your opposite leg. Join more than 100,000 readers worldwide who receive Dr. Ben Kim's free newsletter
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