4 Ways to Instantly Unlock Your Hips
Do you wake up with tight hips or a stiff lower back? It’s because you have tight, damaged or untrained hips.
Sitting, standing and being active can all wreak havoc on your hips. They’re important anatomically because they are quite literally the center of your body. There are a lot of muscular and boney attachments that meet, rotate and stabilize at your hips. If your hips are whacked it can affect your entire body.
What makes it even worse is that your hip flexors, adductors and abductors are all minor respiratory muscles. That means that when you’re stressed and breathing like crap they’re going to tighten up and feel worse. To break that cycle you need to learn how to both mobilize your hips while purposefully breathing them open.
Try this simple series of stretches to feel better. During each exercise breathe deeply through your nose into your diaphragm (basically your top 2 abs) and exhale completely.
1. Hip Flexor Stretch with Pressed Dowel-
Keep your back glute tight, stand tall and press a dowel or something into the ground. That will engage your core and force your hips to align in a neutral position. That’s the only way your hip flexors can return to their natural length.
2. Deep Squat with Full Breath
Hold onto something and squat as deeply as you can while keeping your heels on the ground. Breathe deeply and exhale fully. For an added stretch try to keep a lot of tension in your lats.
3. Pigeon to Chest Elevated Pigeon
Press your hips into the ground and extend your back leg as long as you can make it. Slowly progress to the full position by finding the appropriate angle for your knee.
4. Scorpion Stretch
Spread em. Sorry. Spread your knees as wide as possible and push your butt back while keeping a neutral spine.
The combination of these 4 moves will unlock your hips in record time.