DIY Workout Recovery, Mobility and Massage - Tight Hips? Open Your Hips + Improve Active Range
This week’s article is short and sweet with a practical mobility and massage power move to try at home or work, before a workout or maybe a run. If you sit a lot of the day or notice your hips feel stiff, don’t have good movement in relation to rest of your body and spine, or just want to try something to see if it gets your hips and rest of your body moving better then give this a go! Think of this movement snack as a way to signal the rest of the body to cue the hips and vice versa…integrating.
Did you know that the hips are a ball and socket joint at the head of your femur (top of leg bone) and acetabulum (bottom socket of hip/pelvis bone), but the hip/pelvis bones themselves have 3 parts to themselves as well? The hip joint connects the leg to the body and is made up of the thigh bone (femur) and the pelvis (made of three bones: ilium, ischium, and pubis). The femoral head forms the ball of the hip joint, while the acetabulum forms the socket. The acetabulum is a deep, circular socket made by the ilium, ischium, and pubis. The hip joint is supported by the joint capsule, muscles, and ligaments. The femur has a fibrocartilagenous lining called the labrum that increases the depth of the socket. The upper part of the thigh bone includes the femoral head, femoral neck, and greater and lesser trochanters. The trochanters are attachment points for muscles and tissues. Articular cartilage covers the weight-bearing bones, allowing smooth movements and reducing friction.
The number and arrangement of bones and tissues allow the hips to both move quite a bit while providing TONS of stability for the rest of your frame above and below at the same time while doing things like walking, sprinting, jumping, squatting, and movements that require them to play lesser roles. Like the shoulder we discussed in a previous article, the hip can perfrom flexion, extension, abduction, adduction, external rotation, internal rotation and circumduction. We will focus on movement of the rest of the body and pelvis in relation to the hip joint but will also try to get movement through the hip itself in this video.
The technique in the video is a great one if you spend a lot of time sitting or holding positions/postures for a long time or notice the hips and areas above and below feel stiff when you get up.
Give it a whirl on a break or before your next run and see if this works- and if it does, awesome!- if not, as always, shoot us a message and let us know what is going on. We can likely help.
Hip Flexor Dynamic Gliding Stretch:
Half kneeling, dynamic weight shift forward and back for increased hip flexor stretch
Spine peel down (flexion)as far as comfortable, then segment spine up into extension, lift chest to ceiling
Opposite hand to opposite outside knee for increased twist, swing other arm forward and back feeling the stretch into the hip flexors of opposite side as well as through the obliques, chest, anterior shoulder
Step leading leg out for better balance-circle pelvis over your knee, make circle small or big
Alternate reaching back to tap foot
Remember, there is no specific movement that has to be done like in the video, this is also about exploring in positions and finding the spots that give you the most tension (as well as relief) and moving through those areas best for YOU. Also note that sometimes you may need to add movement to bake things in a bit more as far as sustained relief.
Any questions with this self mobility drill or if you need some help with other aches and pains, drop us a line here.
Want to learn more about active rang of motion (AROM), check out Why active range and mobility is important
If you’re a new client and would like an assessment and manual treatment or are returning, use code MT15 when you book any manual or massage treatment on our scheduling page.