8 Best Hip Stretches for Flexible and Mobile Hips
So many of the students I meet with have tight hips that limit their mobility and range while exercising. The hips are the connection of some of our largest muscles that we use everyday. Connecting our torso and our legs, it’s easy for a number of places in the hips to grow tight without proper care. There are many benefits of stretching regularly, including decreasing injury, helping recovery time, and of course improving range of motion.
What we call “the hips” is not just one muscle. It’s a ton of muscles working together.
Gluteals - The glutes include the gluteus maximums, the gluteus medius, and the gluteus minimus. These muscles of the butt help with extension, abduction, and external rotation.
Hip Flexors - Located in the front of the joint, the flexors allow you to flex your hip and bring your knee up toward your chest. These muscles include the iliopsoas (or iliacus and psoas), the rectus femoris, and the sartorius.
Adductors - The adductors are the muscles of the inner thigh that help bring the leg inward. They include the adductor longus, adductor brevis, adductor magnus, gracilis, and pectineus.
Hip Rotators - The internal and external rotators give the hips the ability to rotate. They include the piriformis, obturator internus, obturator externus, and gemelli.
As you’re using these muscles in many activities, it’s important to do some hip mobility exercises before workouts or between exercise, and some stretching after. This is especially true if you’re playing a sport where the legs are used heavily or if you are doing hip exercises. Here are a few of my favorite hip stretches to hit different parts of the hips!
1. Knee to Chest
This is a relatively gentle stretch that I often use at the beginning of a mobility or stretching routine. You’ll stretch the hip flexors, glutes, lower back, and the hamstrings doing this. It’s relatively gentle, so don’t expect any intense stretching sensations to know you’re doing it right!
Lie flat on your back on the ground or a mat with your feet flat on the floor and knees bent.
Using your hands to help, pull the knees up toward your chest.
Using the breath to guide you, pull the knees slightly closer to the shoulders with each exhale.
Hold your position for 15-20 seconds, take a rest, and repeat.
2. Seated Hip Flexor Stretch
You can also do this stretch lying flat on the floor, but I find the chair version to be the best introduction. It can target the lower back and glutes especially.
Sit in a chair or somewhere where your knees can be bent at roughly a 90 degree angle to have your feet touching the floor.
Cross your right ankle up over your left knee or thigh, and sit up tall.
Gently lean forward, keeping the back straight and reaching the torso forward and down until you feel a stretch in the glute area.
Hold for 15-20 seconds, and switch to the other side.
3. Lunge Twist
The lunge twist is one of my favorite stretches hands-down. It’s on my list of the best stretches for surfers, best stretches for soccer players, and more. It works your glutes, flexors, hamstrings, quads, thoracic spine, shoulders, obliques, chest, and more. If you can incorporate one stretch into your routine, this is it.
Start in a lunge position with your left foot forward. Extend your right leg back as far as you’re able.
Place your hands up near your left foot, and lift your right hand up toward the sky.
Open your torse and hold the position at the top for a few seconds before returning to the start.
Repeat 10 times, and switch to the other side.
4. Cobra Pose
Coming to us from yoga traditions, the cobra pose or prone press-up is a great stretch for your torso and hip flexors. It can be coupled with a downward facing dog as a counter-stretch to target the lower back and hamstrings a bit.
Lie flat on your stomach on the ground or a mat. Place your hands just under your shoulders with your palms firmly on the floor.
Press up slowly, straightening your arms. Try to keep your hips pressed to the floor while lifting your torso. Hold the stretch for a big inhale and exhale, and return to the floor.
Repeat 10-15 times, using the breath as your guide and moving slowly.
5. Seated Twist
Like the lunge twist, the seated twist is a movement where we twist the torso. We hit the flexors, glutes, and piriformis, as well as muscles in the spine, abs, shoulders, and neck.
Sit on the floor or a mat with your feet out in front of you. Pick up your left foot and place it to the right of your right knee.
Keeping the back straight and neutral, begin slowly twisting to the left. You can place your right elbow on the inside of your right knee to help get an extra push.
Remember to breathe, and hold the stretch for 10-15 seconds.
With this stretch, it is important to come out of it very slowly. Return to center in a slow and controlled motion, and switch to the other side.
6. Doorway Hamstring Stretch
Any hamstring stretch will help relieve tension in the hips and increase hip mobility and flexibility. This is a variation of a hamstring stretch that I find to be useful and accessible for people with any level of flexibility.
Begin by laying in an open doorway, flat on your back. Put your left leg through the doorway, with your right leg at the door frame.
Lift your right foot up the wall, placing your heel on the wall where you are able. You can move your body toward or away from the wall to increase or decrease the stretch. I recommend starting gently, doing the stretch on each side, then seeing if you can move closer to the wall fo rthe second round.
Hold the stretch for 10-15 seconds, repeat on the other side, and then do the stretch slightly closer to the wall.
7. Runner’s Stretch
Although called the runner’s stretch, this stretch is a great one for anyone with a tight psoas. This is the muscle that allows your to lift you leg up toward your torso, and can get tight easily.
Begin in a lunge position with your right foot forward. With your left knee on the ground, reach your right foot a bit further forward than a normal kneeling position.
Keep your torso upright as you move your hips forward and toward the ground. You should feel a stretch through the front of the left hip/groin.
Hold for 10-15 seconds and switch to the other side.
8. 90/90 Stretch
Finally, we have the 90/90 stretch, which hits both the internal and external rotators. You may need to sit near a bed or table to help support you, but if you’re able you should try to make it an active stretch and hold your torso up with your core muscles.
Sit on the flooor with your legs in front of you. Bend your right knee and bring your lower leg out to the side, making a 90 degree angle at your hip and knee. Your right leg should be forward and crossing directly in front of your body.
Move your left leg back, likewise forming a 90 degree angle (hence the name 90/90!). Your left leg should be pointing out from you, with your lower leg pointing directly back.
Try to keep your back straight and lean forward if possible.
Hold for 20 seconds, and switch to the other side.
For more mobility exercises and routines, check out my Stretching and Mobility Programs.
More Hip Exercises
More Stretches
