Strengthening Your Hips
This month, Coach Brian demonstrates several movements that will help strengthen and loosen your hips.
Three Movements to Strengthen Hips
- Strengthen Gluteal Muscles:get on all fours, then lift your foot up behind you, one foot at a time. Focus on contracting your gluteal muscle. Pull in your abdominal muscles while you do this exercise. Repeat until you feel a burning sensation in your gluteal muscles.
- Reverse Crunches:lie on your back, raise your knees together toward your chest. Repeat, using slow and controlled movements.
- Hip Lifts:lying on your back, feet on ground with knees up. Lift your hips up off the ground, engaging your glutes and lower back. For advanced work while in this position, lift one foot up, holding it as long as you can, then the other foot, while keeping hips raised.
- Stretch anterior muscles.Rest one knee on ground, and on the other leg place your foot on the ground. Push forward for about 60 seconds. Repeat on the other side.
- Stretch gluteal muscles:Go on all fours, front foot goes in front of the back knee. Drop forward onto the front knee, as far as you can based on your flexibility, for about a minute. Repeat with the other leg forward. This stretch also helps those who have pain in their sciatic nerve.
great thank you!
OK, Brian, these are great. When you’re working with your abdominals as in the reverse crunch, are you supposed to work to burning as well. Sometimes when I do these I don’t feel a burn as much as I feel like a cramp or a slight constriction. Is that what I’m supposed to be going for or should I push through and really go for the burn?
Hi Brian,thank you for this hips exercise its an amazing.
Hi Brian,
The last exercise I am a bit concerned about. I have had a torn meniscus in one knee for 2 1/2 years. I do not really have problems with it because I am very careful. I am wondering if bending one knee and leaning over it could it hurt my knee? Also I have been doing aqua aerobics in deep water for 18 months. There are a lot of exercises where I have to spread my legs out to the side which can sometimes aggravate my knee. In the last month I have missed out on a few classes because of other commitments. When I miss classes I find my knee is a lot better.
What do you think?
Patricia
Hi Blossom, if you’re in any doubt about an exercise please avoid it. Focus on what you can do without pain. This also goes for being in the water, if going sideways causes pain then I’d avoid it. I’d continue with the water work with the modification, and judge whether the pain returns or not. Keep me posted. Brian