At move freely we see a lot of people with lower back pain, knee pain, and hip and groin pain that can be caused by poor hip mobility. If this is something you are struggling with, keep reading!
Sports and athletic performance can also be improved by maximizing your hip mobility. Squats, deadlifts, Olympic weight lifting, running and jumping will all get better if you can improve your hip mobility.
Here are our top 5 hip mobility drills:
At move freely we see a lot of people with lower back pain, knee pain, and hip and groin pain that can be caused by poor hip mobility. If this is something you are struggling with, keep reading!
Sports and athletic performance can also be improved by maximizing your hip mobility. Squats, deadlifts, Olympic weight lifting, running and jumping will all get better if you can improve your hip mobility.
Here are our top 5 hip mobility drills:
1- Foam roll your glutes, TFL and Quads.
Foam rolling is a good way to prepare your tissue for the exercises that you are about to do. Don’t spend too much time on this, you want to get through this routine in 5-7 min max. Studies have shown that 20 seconds of foam rolling on each muscle is as beneficial as over 1 min so stop wasting time rolling for hours and just quickly to 20 seconds on each area.
2- Banded hip mobilisations.
Bands seem to be getting used for everything at the moment and hip mobility is no different. Using a band to traction the hip helps create more joint space and an extra stretch on your muscle tissue around the posterior hip (back of your hip). This can be a game-changer for a lot of people!
3- Hip aeroplane.
This is my personal favourite and the best hip exercise that you are not doing. The best thing about the hip aeroplane is that it’s both hip mobility and stability exercise at the same time. It’s active, you have got to control the movement and keep your body balanced as you work on your range of motion. Physios tend not to think about this side of mobility, if you are always passively stretching your body doesn’t necessarily have the ability to control the movement under load. If this happens you won’t be able to transfer this mobility to the activities you actually want to do. Like squats, or being able to pick things up in your garden without overworking your back.
4- Elevated pigeon pose.
A variation on the classic yoga position. This allows you to get the very deep stretch on the back of your hip but also maintain a good spine position and work on 3D movements through your back – bending forward, sideways and rotating.
5- Foot elevated hip flexor stretch
This works on the front of your hip and leg. Stretching the Psoas, TFL and quads mainly. The secret to this is to contract your glute muscle and try not to hyperextend your lower back (this might be the most butchered stretch on the planet). Do it often and do it well!
I hope that you have enjoyed these exercises. Please let us know if you need any advice on them, our contact details are below.
As always pass this on to friends or family who might find it useful.