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Hip Health: Strength & Mobility at LIFT Fitness & Physiotherapy
Updated: Jun 28, 2022
It is so important for you to do your MPR assessment prior to starting your strength training program.
In order for your trainer to create the BEST program for your specific needs, it is super helpful for us to know how to train your hips rather than discovering weaknesses or imbalances throughout each session.
Building Healthy Hips
Our guide to healthy hips is as follows:
Mobility, Stretching and Strength
Let’s take a quick second to talk STABILITY!
When training your hips don’t forget that most strength exercises can be done unilaterally which means one or single leg. This will help greatly with achieving greater hip stability as well as balancing out your body from side to side. Often, we have a dominant side. Think of the hip that stabilizes you while you kick a ball for example, compared to leg that actually kicks the ball.
If you were to try to balance on one foot, I bet the leg that kicks the ball won’t be able to balance you for as long. This is where those unilateral movements come in as they allow each joint to work independently of the other. Think of a deadlift for example, if one side is stronger or more stable than it may take more of the load when you perform a deadlift. If you were to do a single leg RDL; however, each hip has to take the load on its own without allowing for your stronger side to compensate.
HIP HEALTH
STRENGTH & MOBILITY
Mobility: Pre-Exercise
Adductor rocks
Quadruped rock
90/90s
HIP CARS – this was on hands and knees
Cossack Squat
So Now What?
Strengthening
Band – Hip Strengthening Exercises
Band knee drives
Seated band pull-a-parts
Clam shells
Squats
Stretching Post-Exercise
Frog
Seated forward fold
Hockey stretch from BOSU to Bench
Side lying hip stretch
*You can mix and match some of these pre and post exercise movements! Just keep in mind that it is best to do your movement-based stretches before you exercise in order to warm up the muscles and get the joints ready. This means that your static, or long holding stretches would best be done after intense exercise or on their own, while you're watching TV for example, to help tell your muscles it’s an okay time to relax.
Note - Even with all the information above we are just scratching the surface of building healthy hips, other modalities such as foam rolling, and seeking out professionals such as physiotherapist or chiropractors can also make huge impacts on our overall hip function.
*I use the term exercise because these movements can be beneficial before or after a workout, a hockey game, a run and many other forms of exercise besides your typical gym sesh.
