Hip Stiffness: What Can I Do to Help?
Hip pain and stiffness is a common ailment in our society. People complain about stiff hips, weakness in the hip flexors and soft glutes. At NRG we believe this derives from a whole range of issues: driving too much or in a poor position, desk-bound jobs, a sedentary lifestyle, stiffness in the musculature above and below the hip, fear of moving, incorrect movement patterns, poor physical preparation for training, and lack of recovery.
Here are two mobility exercises to improve your relationship with hip flexion (bringing your knee to your chest), extension (taking your leg backwards away from the body) and hip rotation.
The Pigeon
Taken from a yoga position, the pigeon targets not only the stiffness of the muscles around the hip but also the relationship between the head of the femur and the capsule it lies in. An easy test to see whether this movement is for you: sit down on a chair and put the side of your right foot on your left knee. Was it a struggle? Is your right knee pointing towards the ceiling? If yes, this is for you.
Start on the floor on all fours. Take your right knee and place it on the other side (outside) of your left knee, then slide your right knee as far back as you can, keeping your left foot on its side. With your upper body, start with your chest up; when you are ready, drop down onto your elbows and hold the position. Breathing matters here - keep it rhythmical and consistent. If you hold your breath, your abdomen stays tight and inhibits the hip position. Progress the stretch by pulling your left foot higher - the perfect position is 90 degrees from the rest of the body.
Timings: hold the bottom position for a minute, then repeat flowing from chest up to chest down for 10 reps. Both sides, 3 rounds.
The Low Lunge
Our second exercise targets the hip flexors, the mystery muscle psoas, and hip extension. We spend a lot of time slouched in a chair - at work, in the car, at home. Sat like this, your hips are flexed at 90 degrees and sometimes cannot relax effectively, causing stiffness and pain in the hip flexors as they never fully switch off. The fix is bringing the body out of that 90-degree angle and taking the hips behind the body.
This is a more dynamic movement than the pigeon, and it requires a little exploration from you. Start on one knee, the other leg resting behind you. Keeping your weight on the back leg, lean the hips forwards but keep the body upright. With the same-side arm as the back leg, bring the arm overhead and lean away from the back leg. When you are comfortable, squeeze the glute of the back leg as hard as you can - feel the tissues tighten around the front of the hip and keep stretching. If your body starts to tighten up, release the glute squeeze, take three heavy breaths, and go again.
Timings: hold for a minute each leg and repeat 3 times. But explore - find what angle works for you and how to manipulate your hip for the greatest stretch. Everyone is different.
Struggling with hip stiffness? NRG Sports Therapy is a sports injury clinic in Bloomsbury, Central London. Book an injury assessment and we will build you a plan to get you moving pain-free.
