Stretches

Before I get to the stretches (there are actually several but I'll give you two basic static ones) let me point out that I'm assuming you could use this but of course I don't know for sure it will help the bench press problem. Just going by what you have said and your vids, I can assume it won't hurt and should help in general.

Another important caveat is these first two stretches are just about passive flexibility. The test I gave you more or less is a crude test of passive flexibility. If the muscle is chronically shortened and tight this will help return it to a better length, etc. But once you have gotten ENOUGH flexibility in the muscles you will not necessarily have to be stretching them as much. However, the hip flexors (psoas) tend to be ones that get shortened and tight so they can need more maintenance than some others. But you do not need to turn into a contortionist.

Conversely, for instance, with hamstrings, you may find them to be really short and tight, do some static stretches after you workouts for a while (and maybe dynamic) exercises before and then find that they are pretty much fine because the will keep their ROM just doing the exercises and using that liberated ROM. Especially if you continue to hit some short dynamic stretches before you workout with some occasional passive stretching.

Now, passive stretching after your workouts can help with recovery. However, continually stretching certain muscles in this way when not needed can rob you of power that you would otherwise possess. A very light stretch can be done without this problem plus some cool down cardio, for a lot of people, helps with recovery just as much. I will say that while the passive stretching is great for when you have the imbalances and you need it but once you don’t need it anymore the help with recovery isn’t necessarily worth the tradeoff in power. This is only true for certain muscle such as the above mentioned hamstings, however. For those, stick with dynamics before the workout (or after is also fine of course) and you’ll be golden.


Passive Stretches (After only except in cases of extremely overactive hip flexors...probably not you in this case).

Here is the first hip flexor stretch. It is from the stretching article This one is more basic and you may be more comfortable starting with this one. The second is the main one that I use.

First basic hip flexor stretch
This stretch is sometimes called the “runner’s start” because the position you are in resembles that of a sprinter at the starting block. It mainly stretches the psoas muscle located just above the top of the thigh.
Crouch down on the floor with both hands and knees on the ground. Put one leg forward with your foot on the floor so that your front leg is bent at the knee at about a 90 degree angle. Now extend your rear leg in back of you so that it is almost completely straight (with just an ever so slight bend) and so that the weight of your rear leg is on the ball of your rear foot with the foot in a forced arch position. Now we are in the position to stretch (notice that your rear leg should be in pretty much the same position that it would assume if you were performing a front split).

Keeping your back straight and in line with your rear thigh, exhale and slowly try to bring your chest down to the floor (you shouldn’t need to bend much further than the line your front knee is on). You should feel the stretch primarily in the upper thigh of your rear leg but you should also feel some stretch in your front hamstring as well. Hold this position for at least 15 seconds. If you wish to also stretch your rear quadricep from this position, you can shift your weight back so that your rear leg makes a right angle with your knee pointing toward the floor (but don’t let it touch the floor). Now, without bending your rear leg any further, try to force your rear knee straight down to the floor.

Now repeat the same stretch(es) with your other leg in front.
For an isometric stretch, you can do this same stretch in front of a wall and instead of putting your hands on the floor, put them in front of you against the wall and then push against the wall with the ball of your foot (without decreasing the “stretch” in your psoas).

Second “advanced” hip flexor stretch

Here is a very good description with pictures. So I don’t have to write it all out. You’ll find that your forward leg will be able to move farther forward over time but you don’t need to be turning it into a front split. A lot of people will call this one “active” since it involves tightening the glutes but it’s not really since you are not solely relying on this contraction to stretch the opposite muscle, at least IMO:

http://muscleventures.com/video/2006/10/hip_flexor_stretch.html

Active Stretch
You can also use an active stretch. I like this very much as well. As for as liberating range of motion I think either one is just as good (passive or active). There is certainly no real evidence to say that active or passive is better. But active is generally safer. Also the idea is that it strengthens the antagonist while stretching the muscle, or at least activating the antagonist. Another good thing is that when the antagonist is contracted it relaxes the muscle you want to stretch (provided the right positioning) so that makes for a nice stretch. In the case of the hip flexors if you do the active it should work very well for activating the glutes. That’s a good thing since tight hip flexors tend to go along with weak or not so active glutes.

So for the active stretch you get down on your hands and knees. Pad under the down knee (don’t be a hero use the pad). Hold yourself up on one hand and reach back and grap the ankle for the side you want to stretch. Then you contract that glute muscle to bring the thigh up. This stretches the hip muscle….here is a good explanation and handy little diagrams:

http://www.cascadewellnessclinic.com...rt/art32.shtml


Dynamic Stretches (Before or after)
Some basic dynamic stretches that I have always used are simple leg swings. These are not “ballistic” these are dynamic. That means that you do it in a controlled systematic way. You start out swinging just enough to where it is comfy and your slowly find and add a little ROM each swing. Here is a good vid of them. That gets the hams and hip flexors but of course you can do either/or.

http://stronglifts.com/dynamic-stretch-exercise-for-your-hip-flexor-hamstring/

Also my favorites:

Walking Lunge
I warm up with this pretty much every time I do “lower body”. This gets the hamstings and hip flexors and general purpose lower body type thing. You basically do walking body weight lunges using a nice long stride and making sure to strike and thust off the heel. Go for the deepest range of motion you can. This means you do it gradually the way you always do dynamic stretches. A little bit lower each “rep”. Take care to keep your torso upright during the whole thing and I like to bring my hands behind my head and push my elbows up toward the ceiling. A good variation of this is “high knee” where you bring your leading knee up as high as possible before bringing it forward and down onto the heel. Everything else is identical.

And lastly:

Butt Kicks

The name should be self explanatory. You bring up one leg to the rear and kick yourself in the butt. It’s best to get a little running motion going. You’ll have to lean forward just a bit.

And yes, you will look silly doing these.