Best Hip Stretches To Improve Flexibility
To adequately address all of the muscles of your hips, it’s essential to incorporate a variety of stretches into your routine. By diversifying your stretches, you can ensure that you’re targeting all of the major muscles in this region. In this guide, you’ll learn five of the best hip stretches, each designed to target specific areas of your hips to help improve your hip flexibility.
Flexibility vs. Mobility
When discussing stretching, it’s crucial to differentiate between mobility and flexibility.
Stretching primarily aims to enhance muscle flexibility rather than mobility. This means that stretching is working on creating more length in your muscles.
On the other hand, mobility pertains to how your joints move through their range of motion.
For a comprehensive discussion on hip mobility and specific exercises to improve it, I’ve dedicated an entire post to this topic which you can explore here: Exercises To Improve Hip Mobility
Can't you just do one stretch to work on all of your hip muscles?
The hip joint is a complex structure with numerous muscles attaching to it. This makes it impossible to target all of your hip muscles with a single stretch.
Similar to the shoulder joint, the hip is a ball and socket joint which allows for various directions of movement. To effectively address the diverse muscle groups in the hips, it’s necessary to perform different stretches.
In this guide, we’ll explore five of the best hip stretches tailored to address the major muscle groups in the hips including the glutes, hip flexors, hip adductors, hamstrings, and hip internal rotators. This offers you a full hip stretching routine that you can use to improve hip flexibility.
5 Best Hip Stretches
Hold stretches for 20-30 seconds and repeat 3 times.
1. Figure Four Stretch
This stretch is great for stretching your hip internal rotators.
Start with the modified version and if you feel like you need more of a stretch, you can move to the full version.
When in the full version, make sure your entire spine from your head to your low back/sacrum stays on the ground. If you need to lift your head to do the full version, then stick with the modified version instead.
2. Hip Adductor Stretch With Strap
This stretch is for the muscles of your inner thighs.
Move your leg to a position where you feel a good stretch.
Both photos are stretching the same muscles, they are there to show you examples of different levels of flexibility.
3. Hamstring Stretch With Strap
The hamstring muscle is part of your knee joint but it also extends to your hips.
This stretch is a wonderful way to stretch your hamstrings without straining your lower back.
Only move your leg as far as you can keep your knee straight. Both photos are stretching the same muscles, they are there to show you examples of different levels of flexibility.
4. Low Lunge Stretch
This is a great stretch for your hip flexors, the front part of your hips. Feel free to place a thin pillow under your knee on the ground for some extra cushion.
When you do this stretch, instead of sinking low, keep the torso stacked over your pelvis so you are more upright. Then think about gently dropping your tailbone down and you will feel a stretch in your hip flexor.
5. Supine Glute Stretch
This stretch is great for stretching through the gluteus maximus and the gluteus medius. When doing this stretch, make sure the motion is coming from the hip only and that you are not twisting your torso.
You should feel this stretch through the glutes, particularly in the outer hip region. If you feel pain in the inner hip region while doing this motion then I don’t recommend doing this stretch.
There are the 5 best hip stretches to cover a range of muscles throughout your hips.
Incorporating a variety of hip stretches into your regular routine can significantly improve your hip flexibility.
Remember to perform these stretches mindfully, respecting your body’s limitations. Consult with a healthcare professional if you have any concerns or specific conditions.
Read This Next: Can Your Hip Flexors Be Both Tight And Weak?
