I’m a marathon runner who spends a lot of time sitting behind a desk, writing about running (among other things), so if I didn’t have tight hips, I’d be superhuman. Far from just causing the occasional lower back ache, poor hip mobility and tight hip flexors can lead to injuries and muscle imbalances, so I set out to change things.
Until now, I’d often opted for the simple pigeon pose stretch at the end of a run to address my tight hips. However, since returning to work following my maternity leave and spending more time sitting down, I noticed my hips were tighter than ever. It might also be down to the fact that I now spend a lot of time hauling a toddler around, plus, many women notice changes in their hips after childbirth.
I stumbled across a TikTok video by student physiotherapist Mirch, who shares helpful exercise tips. In the video, Mirch demonstrates five different hip mobility exercises, designed to improve the flexion and mobility of the hips and loosen tight hip flexors. I gave them a go for a month, and my hips have never felt better.
What are the exercises?
You won’t need a lot of additional equipment for any of the exercises; however, it might be helpful to use one of the best yoga mats, especially if you’re doing them on hard floors. Mirch also uses a dumbbell for the single-leg deadlifts, although this isn’t essential. If you are looking to increase the intensity of your home workouts, check out the best adjustable dumbbells.
Here are the exercises:
- Hip CARS (controlled articulated rotations)
- Lunge hip rockers
- Deep hip rockers
- Heel touches
- Single-leg deadlifts with internal rotation
It goes without saying, but if you feel any pain during any of the exercises, stop immediately and seek professional help. While they will be suitable for most people, if you are returning to exercise following an injury, especially to your back or hips, it's worth checking with a doctor or physiotherapist beforehand.
I did these 5 hip mobility exercises for a month — here’s what happened
I typically run three to four times a week, and did the exercises mentioned above every time I got in from my run for a few weeks. I spent a minute or so on each exercise, so five minutes in total. Here’s what I noticed:
My lower back pain was coming from my hips
I had a horse riding accident in my teens and broke my coccyx, so when I experience the odd bout of lower back pain, I put it down to this. However, I was surprised to find that after four weeks of really honing in on my hip mobility, my lower back felt much better.
The most significant symptom of tight hip flexors is pain in the lower back. The hip flexors connect the lower back to the thigh bones, so when they are tight, they can pull the pelvis and put excess strain on the area, causing pain.
My right hip was tighter than my left
It didn’t take me long to notice that my right hip felt a lot tighter and stickier than my left. This could be down to previous injuries — I sprained my right ankle a few years back, or down to a slight muscle imbalance, but it helped me really focus on taking deep breaths and working into the tighter hip.
At the end of the month, I felt tons better
By the end of the month, I could really feel the difference in my hips, which were nowhere near as tight. I found that the moving element of the stretches really worked into my hips in a way that the pigeon pose didn’t, really helping to work on loosening the hip flexor muscles.
I was able to move with better form when strength training, and could move into a much deeper squat, plus, my running gait felt freer, especially on days when I was training back-to-back.
If you’re sitting down reading this, you probably need to work on your hip mobility, so what are you waiting for? Get up and give these a go — you won’t regret it.
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