Tight Hips? Try These 3 Movements
A lot of us have tight hips, whether it be from sitting for work, sitting in the car, how we stand, etc. Specifically the hip flexor muscles, the iliacus, psoas major, and the rectus femoris located at the top of our thighs, that help balance our pelvic area and create movement with our legs. When we are in a seated position, these muscles are in a shortened or contracted position, resulting in them becoming accustomed to this shortened position.
While static stretching is always beneficial, dynamic movements can help open up the muscles as well and help increase range of motion. The combination of the 2 will help progress the flexibility of those muscles and keep them mobile. Doing dynamic movements is recommended before a workout, and static stretching being saved for afterwards. This being because static stretching focuses on lengthening the muscle which is technically not what we want before a workout, and can actually make us more prone to injury. We do want our muscles “warmed up”, meaning increasing the blood flow and mimicking the style of movements we will be performing.
Doing these 3 movement before a workout (especially if focussing on lower body), or if you have been sitting for a number of hours, will help open up the hips and release tension:
“Windshield Wipers”
Lean back onto the hands and try to keep both legs at 90 degrees while doing this stretch. If you cannot bring knees all the way to the floor as shown in the photo thats okay, bring them to what you can and keep trying to progress. This is a great stretch for the hips as it focuses on internal and external rotation.
Hip Circles
This is a great warm up for the hips as it focuses on full rotation of the hip while keeping a stable lumbar spine and core engaged. When doing this exercise you will want to go both directions, ensuring the hips are stable and not moving side to side at all as you go.
Glute Bridge
A good movement for an actual workout as well. However before doing deadlifts or squats I would highly recommend putting bridges in your warm up. One of the best movements to practise engaging the glute muscles and strengthen the core. As mentioned in the beginning the hip flexors help balance the pelvis, as well do the glutes. Having strong glute muscles and making sure they are firing properly will keep our pelvis in proper positioning and help relieve the tension of our tight hip flexors. Strengthening the core will also help ensure we are sitting with proper posture, either way less sitting and more standing is what we need!
Try doing 2-3 sets of 10 reps of each of these exercises per day or every other day if you are experiencing tight hip flexors or low back pain, as tight hips can also be one of its main causes.
Now not everyone may be able to perform these exercises, these are just a generic recommendation that usually work in most cases. For an individualized program or more specialized training email me at info@trainingbyrobyn.com or visit my connect page at www.trainingbyrobyn.com :)