Building the perfect balance of flexibility and mobility in our hips is really challenging. Enter, today’s hip mobility workout!
If you need a refresher on the difference between mobility and flexibility, go ahead and follow this link for a quick download.
TLDR?
Flexibility is the degree to which a muscle or group of muscles can passively lengthen.
Mobility is the degree to which a joint can move through its range of motion without any outside influence or momentum. (No pulling or whacking!)
A lot of dancers have the flexibility part down, but the mobility part? Not so much.
Today’s hip mobility workout is focused on both, loosening up stiff hips and increasing your hip mobility as it moves through its end ranges of motion.
Ready to dive in?
You’ll need a mat and something nearby to rest your hand on for balance (a wall or table will work fine).
Happy Hips: A Hip Mobility Workout
For this workout, you’ll need a mat, a foam roller (or a similarly elevated surface – a stack of books or weight plates maybe!), and something soft like a towel or pillow.
Finally, work through one set of each exercise, then, rest for 90 seconds before repeating the circuit. To complete the workout, perform three rounds.
Internal Hip Lift-Off
Starting our hip mobility workout is the internal hip rotation lift-off.
Sit on your mat with your legs in a comfortable straddle – this does not need to be your full turn-out.
From here, lengthen your spine long so your hips and spine are aligned and your core is braced.
Maintaining this position, slide your left heel toward your hips into a bent position.
From here, again keeping your spine long, rotate the knee down toward the floor.
Then, engage the glute as you rotate your hips a little more.
Finally, release the glute as you return the hips to the floor, rotate the knee back to a neutral position, and slide the leg back out.
Alternate sides as you work through this exercise.
For a visual of this workout, check out this video of Coach Kierstin walking you through the form.
**Perform one set, alternating sides for 30 seconds.**
External Hip Lift-Off
Yep, this is working the opposite sides of your hips as the internal hip lift-off! And let that be a reminder to you: when working on mobility, always train the full range of motion!
For this exercise, you’ll need that foam roller, stack of books, or weight plates.
Go ahead and set that perpendicularly on the bottom of your yoga mat.
Then, lie down on your side, resting your top leg on top of the foam roller. The bottom leg should be bent in front of you at a 90-degree angle.
Your head can rest in your hand and feel free to place the other hand in front of you for balance – just don’t cheat by collapsing forward into it!
Engage your core and ensure that your body from head to toe is in a nice long line. (Of course, this is apart from your bottom leg which should be bent in front of you).
Now that you’re in position, use your inner thigh muscle to rotate the heel of your bottom leg up toward the top of the mat. Your knee should mostly stay in contact with the mat while your shin and foot rotate upward off the mat.
Check out this form video to make sure you’ve set yourself up for success.
Be sure to lift with some power, then, lower the leg with control.
**Perform one set per side, 30 seconds per set.**
Active Lunge Hamstring Curl
Alright, put the foam roller to the side and grab your pillow or towel.
Set up in a kneeling position (one knee on the mat, the other forward) and place the pillow underneath your bottom knee.
Feel free to hold on to a wall or table for added balance support.
Do a quick body scan to make sure your pelvis is in proper alignment with your spine.
From here, shift forward slightly, then, use your hamstring to curl your foot up toward your glute.
This should cause a slight stretch in the quad and hip flexor.
Slowly lower the shin back to the mat and shift back to your neutral position.
As you do this exercise, keep your hips square, and remember, slow and controlled movement is the key to progress here.
Watch this video of Coach Kierstin for a full breakdown of this move.
**Perform one set on each side, 30 seconds per set. Rest for 90 seconds then repeat the circuit.**
Finish Strong!
To complete this workout, perform three rounds of this circuit. Remember, moving slowly through all of these exercises will benefit you far more than rushing through them or pushing your flexibility.
Add this mobility flow into your weekly rotation and I promise you, your hips will be thanking you!
Want more workouts like this? Give these sweat sessions a try: The Stair Down: An Adjustable Stair Workout, Workout Wednesday: The Tabata Workout, 1.5 Times: A Time Under Tension Workout
