Weekly Hip Stretch – Side to Side
This week is an opener.
We’re just doing some gliding of the pelvis on top of the femur bones, looking to increase range of motion in your abduction and adduction (moving the leg away from the body and moving it in towards the midline).
Illuminate me…
But really, we’re looking to get some nice openness and movement of the thigh bone in the hip socket by thinking about moving the pelvis, instead of our usual, which is moving the thigh bone. We’re trying to accomplish an even, coordinated movement to ultimately help the hips be more open, aligned and move more efficiently.
Try it…
We’re going to be standing with the feet slightly wider than the hips with the feet turned out. Then we’ll come into a small squat with the torso upright — not hinged forward. Make sure your sit bones are really sitting back, with a crease in the front of your hips. Sit bones are behind the heels and knees are forward of the toes.
As you shift the pelvis from side to side (details in the video), you want to make sure a few things are happening:
you’re not moving up and down as you shift from one side to the other. The hips should move in the same horizontal plane the whole time. This takes coordination between the two hips and tells us whether one is more restricted in the movement. Try to work through that restriction gently until the flow of the movement gets easier
one hip may want to rotate forward or back as you move. We want the hips to be square to the front throughout the movement. If there’s something pulling or pushing the pelvis forward, minimize your range or reduce the depth of the squat as you gently work through the restriction.
one hip may want to hike up or down as we shift. Again we want to be able to stay in the same plane and bring stability to the pelvis as we move. Only work in a range of motion where you can achieve that stability.
As always, go slowly and listen to your body.
Wishing you happy hips!