Unlock tight hips with these guided hip mobility workout routines designed to enhance mobility, flexibility and vary of movement. This routine will assist scale back ache and muscle rigidity whereas enhancing athletic efficiency, so you’ll be able to transfer higher and squat deeper with ease.
Tight, sticky hips? I’ve been there – particularly after lengthy days sitting at a desk. Spending hours seated can tighten up the hip flexors (these muscular tissues that assist raise your legs and stabilize your hips). When these muscular tissues get shortened and stiff, it may possibly result in lowered flexibility, discomfort within the lower back or trigger knee pain.
Hip mobility refers back to the capability of your hip joint to maneuver freely by means of its full vary of movement. Wholesome hips are each cellular and secure, permitting you to maneuver with management and with out restriction.
You can begin to lose mobility in your hips due to how a lot time you spend sitting, but in addition if you’re not doing sufficient to strengthen your glutes. When the glutes are weak, the hip flexors are inclined to take over — and that’s when tightness creeps in.
To counteract that, I created this guided mobility routine that blends hip mobility workout routines for inexperienced persons with hip strengthening workout routines. It’s not nearly stretching — it’s additionally about firing up these small stabilizing muscular tissues across the hips to unlock hip mobility and help higher motion total.
I usually get DMs asking, “What’s the most effective train for hip mobility?” I’ve discovered that there isn’t one excellent transfer, however a mixture of issues just like the 90/90 stretch, world’s best stretch, glute bridges and even strolling helps loosen up tight hips.
I’m very intentional about mobility work, particularly if I need to squat deeper, transfer higher in my on a regular basis life and keep away from accidents.
That’s why I wish to work mobility exercises into my warm-ups or restoration days. Ideally, I attempt to do hip and knee mobility workout routines 3-5 occasions per week for the most effective outcomes. Should you’re sitting rather a lot, lifting often or simply need to transfer higher, I can’t suggest it sufficient.
Exercise Particulars
Enhance mobility, scale back danger of harm, and get higher vary of movement throughout exercises with these hip mobility workout routines.
I recommend incorporating mobility exercises like this one to your home workout plan 1-2 occasions per week to guard and keep wholesome joints and muscular tissues.
Exercise Tools:
No gear, simply your body weight.
Exercise Directions:
Observe together with these guided Hip Mobility Exercises on YouTube, led by me — your licensed private coach, Lindsey Bomgren.
Your Exercise Appears to be like Like This:
- 7 Workouts for Hip Mobility
- Timed Intervals (carry out train for round 40-50 seconds)
Notice: I’ll cue this within the video, nevertheless it’s vital to actively preserve your physique from tensing up as you maintain every pose. Give attention to respiration into every mobility train, and take into consideration “releasing” the stress in every muscle group to keep away from clenching up.
1. Inner Hip Rotation
Targets: Outer hip, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and interior thigh muscular tissues.
How To Do Internal Rotations
- Sit on the floor, feet out wide on the floor in front of you, toes pointing out 45 degrees (towards the corners of the room). Place your hands behind you and slightly lean back.
- Slowly internally rotate your right hip, lowering your right knee to hover above or tap the mat in front of your body. Inhale, bringing your knee back up and return to the starting position.
- Then repeat on the left hip, lowering the left knee to tap the mat at the midline of your body.
2. 90/90 Hip Stretch
Targets: The muscles around the hip joint — glutes, piriformis, psoas, hip flexors, hip abductor muscles and hip adductor muscles.
A great stretch for both internal rotators and external rotators.
How To Do 90/90 Hip Stretches
- Start in a seated position, right leg in front of you, left leg behind you and both legs bent at 90 degrees. Create some distance between your front right heel and your back left knee.
- Right shin is parallel to left shin (flat on the floor). Slowly lean forward, directly over your right shin (avoid leaning toward your right knee, lean directly into the middle of your shin).
- Think about driving your right knee and left knee into the mat at the same time as you hold this stretch. Hold this position for a few seconds.
- With each exhale, bring your chest closer to the floor.
- Then, shift to the other side so that your left leg is parallel in front of you, right leg behind you. Slowly lean forward, directly over your left shin, stretching the left outer glute and opening the right inner hip.
3. 90/90 Rear Knee/Heel Lift
Targets: Gluteus medius and minimus, quadriceps, inner thighs, lower back, hip abductors, and hip adductors.
How To Do 90/90 Rear Knee/Heel Lifts
- Start in a seated position, left leg in front of you, right leg behind you and both knees bent at 90 degrees. Create some distance between your front heel and your back knee.
- With control, squeeze through your outer glutes to lift your right knee a few inches off the floor. Slowly lower the knee to the mat, returning to starting position.
- Then, keep your right knee pressed into the ground as you lift your left heel off the mat, holding for a few seconds before lowering to the mat, returning to starting position.
4. Hip CARs (Controlled Articular Rotations)
Targets: Hip flexors, hip extensors, hip abductors, and hip adductors.
Controlled articular rotations take the joint through its full range of motion with precision and control.
How To Do Hip CARs (Controlled Articular Rotations)
- Start in a table top position, quadruped on all fours, shoulders stacked over wrists.
- With control, lift your right knee, drawing a large circle with your knee from the front, out to the right side, then to the back, before lowering it to the mat.
- Then, reverse the motion, drawing a large circle with your right knee from back to front, before lowering it to the mat and returning to starting position.
5. Frog Rock
Targets: Inner thighs, outer hips, glutes and lower back.
How To Do Frog Rocks
- Start in a table top position, quadruped on all fours, shoulders stacked over wrists. Spread your knees out wide, knees outside hips.
- Lower to your forearms, shoulders stacked over elbows.
- Exhale as you rock your hips back towards your heels, deepening the stretch.
- Inhale, rocking forward to stack your shoulders over elbows, returning to starting position.
6. V-Sit Leg Lift
Targets: Transverse abdomen (deep abdominal muscles below your rectus abdomen or six pack ab muscles), lower abs and hip flexors.
How To Do V-Sit Leg Lifts
- Start sitting on your mat on your “sit bones,” legs out long in front of you, feet wide.
- Pull your belly button towards your spine, then lean back about 45-degrees, activating your core.
- Slowly and with control, lift your right heel up in a half circle, imagining you are lifting your heel over a box between your legs. Bring the right heel to tap the mat next to your left foot.
- Then reverse the motion, returning the right foot to starting position.
- Then, repeat on the left, bringing the left heel up in a half circle before lowering it to tap the mat next to your right foot.
- Reverse the motion, lifting the left heel up and over to the left to return it to starting position.
7. Cossack Squat
Targets: Hip, knee, and ankle mobility. As well as increases flexibility in the hamstrings and adductors (inner thighs).
How To Do Cossack Squats
- Start in a wide forward fold, feet outside hips, toes pointing forward, fingertips touching the mat.
- Shift your hips back and to the left. Left leg creates a 90-degree angle, and the right leg is straight.
- Rotate your right leg open, so your toes point up towards the ceiling. Feel a stretch in your hips (inner thighs). Then bring your toes back to the mat.
- Shift to the opposite side, crawling your fingers over to the right as you sit back into your right hip. Right leg at a 90-degree angle, left leg straight.
- Rotate your left leg open, pointing your left toes up towards the ceiling.
FAQs
Poor hip mobility is often caused by a combination of muscle imbalances, tightness in the hip flexors or hamstrings, and prolonged periods of sitting. Weak glutes, core instability, and lack of regular stretching also contribute to restricted range of motion in the hips.
Regaining hip mobility can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months, depending on the severity of the stiffness, consistency of mobility work, and individual factors like age and activity level. Once you regularly add stretching, strengthening, and mobility exercises into your routine several times a week, noticeable improvements often begin within 2-4 weeks.
To manage your hip pain better, I recommend focusing on daily mobility exercises and strengthening your lower body and core. Take note of posture and take breaks from sitting too lengthy. Staying in line with these habits has made an enormous distinction in lowering discomfort.
Pink This Hip Mobility Exercise
