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The Hips Don’t Lie

Strong hips improve balance, stability, and overall mobility

When Shakira sang ‘Hips Don’t Lie’, she was 100 per cent correct. We tend to carry a great deal of tension and stress in our hips that can cause pain and reduce mobility. Creating and maintaining hip strength and mobility is something we can all benefit from. Healthy hips not only make our everyday functional moves more efficient, but they also allow us more range in our workouts.

These are some of the exercises I include in my classes and do myself every week. The key is consistency. Slip some of these movements into your weekly body-movement regime three times a week and enjoy the rewards.

*Those with hip replacements, please connect with your medical care team on what hip movement patterns are best suited for you.

FROG POSE ROTATOR

3 sets, 10 reps per leg

Kneeling on a mat with engaged core, rest on your forearms with elbows under shoulders and widen your legs.
Rotate feet at ankles so the insides of both feet are facing downwards.
Alternating legs, gently rotate hip inward allowing the foot to leave the floor.

WINDSHIELD WIPERS

3 sets, 10 reps

Sit on the floor with your legs extended in front of you, hip-distance or wider. Bend your knees with your feet flat on the ground. Sit tall with arms behind for support, engaging your core, and keep your back straight.
Moving from the hips, let your knees fall to one side as far as comfortable.
Continue moving your legs side to side.

HIP FLEXOR STRENGTHENER

3 sets, 10 reps per leg

Loop band around the front of both feet, stand tall with core engaged and feet hip-distance apart so band has tension on it.
Keeping your hips stable and engaging core, lift knee in front of body while actively pressing down in the supporting leg.

ROUND THE WORLD

3 sets, 10 reps per leg

Stand tall with feet hip-distance apart, holding on to pole.
Lift knee in front of body and hold.
Keeping leg bent at knee, open leg out to the side.
At the hip, circle leg behind body so heel is lifted behind your glutes and then draw leg back in front of body to repeat.

Photography by Scott Harrald