groin pain

It's always tricky to stretch a muscle that is injured at its insertion / origin. You want to stretch it, but you don't want to tear the insertion off the bone. Glidewalking does provide a stretch for the psoas muscle with every step you take. This is a big bonus except if you have an injured psoas. Then you have to manage the situation carefully. Begin by trying to release the psoas (gentle, gradual stretching as in a mini-lunge, warmth, massage that releases the psoas, acupuncture, etc.). Then keep the gains you make by glidewalking a moderate amount, shortening your stride to stretch the psoas only slightly. As this becomes well-tolerated, increase your stride gradually, till your psoas tolerates a normal stride, which in turn will maintain a healthy muscle length. At the other end of the spectrum, you also want to spend some time allowing the psoas to have lots of slack and not be stretched. Stretchlying at night with one or more pillows under your knees is a good time to do this. Then when you get up, stretch your body out and get up slowly to give the psoas time to adjust to a longer length. You don't want to stretch the psoas all the time, nor do you want it to adapt to a short resting length, for example by sitting all day long without getting up to walking around and stretching. In my experience, a tight psoas also correlates with anxiety and stress - look into how you can address any unnecessary stress in your life. Good luck!

Once the groin pain is diagnosed it is important that the affected area be rested immediately. Any further movement or stress will only aggravate the condition and prolong recovery. It is also important to keep the injured area as still as possible.