Stiff hips are a pretty limiting thing, and when you are in possession of one or two of them you know very well how small the sandbox of your daily possibility can become.
Now there are always situations that are the exceptions to the rule, but by and large the situation of a hip that is less free or comfortable than we would like it to be is not going to be solved by the common tried and true hip stretches that you will find in just about any gym class, fitness magazine or YouTube video.
Why?
Because the typical hip stretches out there look at the hip in the same light that our ancestors did in terms of the sun moving around the earth each day.
Yes, it is very understandable for anyone to think that the sun revolves around the earth.
But, despite how it appears…that just isn’t how it works.
Just we on the earth, despite our daily view, revolve around the sun…our sockets tend to revolve around the balls of hips.
Said another way; your hips are asked to shift and pivot on a ball and leg that is still, far more than move the ball in the socket at any point in your daily life.
This is because our hips are attached to legs, not arms, and they are typically on the ground holding us up. Not in the air reaching all over the place.
Our hips function far more commonly with our legs steady under us, and our pelvis, torso, and all the rest of us above shifting around on top of them.
Again, the sun does not move around the earth… the earth moves around the sun.
It is probably because of this understandable misunderstanding that many of us have be taught to address our hip stiffness or discomfort in the exact opposite way of how it typically functions. We are taught to crank our ball in our socket, and just hang out there until it gives up.
Think the average pigeon stretch that is so often done by so many. Sometimes this really does work… and other times it really doesn’t.
Regardless, in the long run this strategy absolutely does not work out. Unfortunately, this approach tends to actually be very rough and in the long-run injurious to our hip joints. What many folks will find is that either this approach of cranking the ball in the socket is not effective at all for them…or if it is, eventually it will end up being very aggravating.
What once solved a problem causes a new one…
If you have read this far I can only assume that the traditional approach to hip stretching has not worked, or is not working out for you as well as it once did.
You are probably now a card carrying member of the club that is sick of doing the same old thing, and getting the same old result…
Because of that, I recommend you take a stab at some of the things mapped out in the videos below. The first is a very basic movement that helps folks sense and then shift their sockets over their legs. Despite how basic is may be or seem, it does tend tone very impactful…
The second video is the next level, but in some ways the same thing. It is though much harder than the exercise that I go through in Part 1… but I know you are up for the challenge.
If you have any questions about the above, please do not hesitate to reach out.
Regardless, I hope you find the above helpful, and I hope you are comfortable, able and well.