Hip mobility may not be the most exciting topic to get conversation flowing around a dinner table. But with more (and more) of us spending prolonged periods sitting and less time standing, finding out how to loosen stiff hips is certainly a conversation worth having.
Stiffness in your hips can be brought about by a number of reasons. Along with extended periods of sitting—whether it’s behind a desk or on the couch—repetitive movement patterns, like completing heavy squats in the gym, deadlifting or running, can also cause tightness in this area.
The upside is that the powerful practice of yoga can help you find some relief. For example, this 15-minute yoga flow features deep hip-opening stretches, which are bound to leave you and your hips feeling a whole lot lighter. And better yet, you don’t need any equipment to get going—just one of the best yoga mats to help cushion your joints for the floor-based moves.
What does the 15-minute yoga flow entail?
This hip mobility routine has been compiled by Sommer Sobin, who has been a yoga teacher since 2000 and is the co-founder of Thousand Petals Yoga.
The yoga-based stretching workout is designed to enhance joint mobility by specifically increasing your lower body’s range of motion and blood flow. “We’re going to open up the hips, lower body, and welcome in a sense of ground calm,” Sobin says.
The quick 15-minute session includes several popular yoga poses loved for targeting your hips and the surrounding muscles. This includes:
- The 90/90 hip stretch, which will open up your hip flexors, external rotators and glutes.
- The happy baby pose, which stretches out your inner thighs, hamstrings, and groin, along with your back and hips.
- The much-loved down dog, which will give you a super satisfying stretch for your whole body.
- The World’s greatest stretch, which primarily targets the hip flexors, hamstrings, glutes and thoracic spine.
- Pigeon’s pose, which is a powerful seated stretch that will help mobilize the hips, glutes, and hip flexors.
No matter whether you’re new to yoga or consider yourself a fully-fledged yogi, this practice is suitable for all levels.
Each move is held for a few deep breaths before switching sides, and Sobin demonstrates how to complete each of these stretches while instructing you how to do so. So if you’re completing this in a gym or at home where other people are working, it’s worth having a pair of the best workout headphones to hand so you can zone out all outside noise and listen in.
All stretches included in the session are types of dynamic or static stretches. Dynamic stretching—like the 90/90 hip stretch included in this workout—refers to moving through a full range of motion to help increase the flexibility of the muscles and warm them up.
While static stretching—like the pigeon pose featured in this session—refers to holding a stretched position for a period of time.
The good news is that both types of stretches come with their long list of positives. Long-term static stretch can result in a greater range of motion compared to dynamic or ballistic stretching, according to a review published in the Journal of Sport and Health Science,
Whereas an article published in the Arthroscopy, Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation journal suggests that dynamic stretching can help with injury prevention.
