I Had Stiff Hips For Years…Until I Did This

Strong and mobile hips are the foundation of a well functioning body. However, modern life has a way of quietly stealing that from us. Hours of sitting, moving in straight lines, and rarely using the full range our hips were built for.

So, in this video, I'm going to show you two hip mobility drills that not only help fix my stiff hips, but will also help with things like squatting deeper, moving more smoothly, and most importantly, keeping your hips feeling strong and mobile for the long term.

But just before we get into the exercises, it's important to understand why your hips are stuck in the first place. So, put simply, your hips have three main jobs: hip flexion, external rotation, and internal rotation. Now, the problem is when you don't fully use all of these ranges over time, the hips lose access and start to get stiff as a result. So, you try hip flexor stretches, maybe some 9090s or pretty much any glute stretch you can find. But the truth is those are really just band-aid solutions to a much bigger problem.

So take the first move in this video for example, hip airplanes. By actively loading the hip with our body weight and moving through external and then internal rotation, we're actually practicing rotation in a real world setting. So if you are doing this right, you'll feel a strong stretch mixed with muscle tension on the outside of the hip in internal rotation and in the inside of the leg when you go to external rotation. And now I do recommend standing next to a chair or wall and using that for balance. This way you can put all your focus on hip rotation instead of worrying about falling over. So to get the most out of this, really take your time and you actually don't need much. Even 10 reps per side once a day goes a very long way.

So that's hip rotation taken care of. Now the next thing to do is to unlock the hip flexors. Because here's the problem. You can have great hip rotation, but if your hip flexors are tight or underactive, you'll still feel pinching, discomfort, or a hard block when you try to move deep. So, to effectively open up the front of the hip and actually create lasting change, we need to once again load the hips and put them in a stretched position. And for that, deep lunge lifts are the perfect exercise.

So, if your hips feel really locked up right now, I recommend starting with a shorter stance at first and using your hands for support. As you straighten your back leg, you'll feel a strong stretch running through the front of your upper thigh all the way up to your lower abdomen. And that's exactly what we're looking for. That's the strengthening and lengthening effect in action. So, as this starts to feel more comfortable and you feel like you're ready to progress, gradually lengthen the stance, not to the point where it feels impossible, but enough that tension is still manageable and controlled. Eventually, when even this feels good, the final level is doing these hands-free. But that comes much later. For now, [music] especially if your hip flexors are very stiff, start with the first variation and go for 10 repetitions for two sets. That is plenty at the start.

However, if you want your hips to open up even faster and feel noticeably freer, there is one bonus move I recommend doing. Hip cars, also known as hip controlled articular rotations, are one of the best things you can do to build strength, control, and make sure your hips stay pain-free long term. So, to set this up from an all fours position, lift one leg out to the side, back, and then down. Then, after about 10 controlled circles, pause and switch directions. So, back, out to the side, and down. This is going to do an amazing job at activating those deep hip stabilizers which are crucial for building strong, mobile, and pain-free hips.

But to make sure you get all the benefits, there are two common mistakes you'll want to avoid. Number one, all the movement should come from the hip, not the back or torso. So, keep the core activated and your back as still as you can. Number two, try to push the range as far as you can comfortably. Really trying to open up your hip will help you unlock that new range and build lasting mobility. If you do these two things correctly, you should feel a light burn in the side of the glute. And that's exactly what we're looking for.

So, to recap, the goal here isn't to throw some random stretches at your hips and hope that something magically sticks. First, we restore rotation with hip airplanes because hips that can't rotate will always feel blocked. Then we work on extension and strength with deep lunge lifts. And finally, as a bonus, you can add hip cars, which will help keep the hip joints healthy and moving well over the long term. As for how often to do these, you can do them daily, but for most people, two to three times per week is more than enough to see real improvements.

So, that's it for this one. Thanks for watching. Hope it helped, and I'll catch you in the next video. Take care.