This video, I'm going to show easy hip strengthening
exercises for seniors and beginners. Stay tuned.
Hey, everyone. Doctor Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in
St. Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
easy hip strengthening exercises with seniors and
beginners in mind. So, no awkward positions and no
equipment is needed. All of these exercises work just a
little bit differently. They're going to target different
muscle groups. Put the hip through different motions. To
get the best results, go through them all and use what
works best for you. As a bonus, all of the exercises can be
done at home and can be done daily but make sure to put a
recovery day in there if you are building a lot of soreness.
So, with that being said, let's get started and strengthen
those hips right now. Let's start with a set of seated
exercises that you can do right at the edge of a chair. The
goal of these exercises is to put the hip through different
motions. Engage more muscles that support it to hopefully
build more strength and stability. I'm going to go over
the easier exercises and when you feel ready, progress into
the more challenging The first one is known as a seated hip
march. I'm going to start seated with very good upright
posture right at the edge of a chair. With this one, I'd like
to tighten my core for a little bit more support and take my
hands off to the side right here and grip the chair. The
first movement pretty easy. I'm going to have my legs at hip
width apart, knees bent roughly at 90 degrees, feet flat.
You're going to take one knee and march it and drive it
upward towards the ceiling as much as you can. The focus with
this exercise is to engage the top part of the leg, the
quadricep muscle, and the glute off to your rear right here.
The glute is a big stabilizer of the hips. So, you really
want to focus on engaging that muscle and with these
movements, if you start to notice pain with any of em,
don't go to that point back off very slightly because with the
repetitions, you should gain more pain-free range of motion
to build into it over time. So, let's get into a comfortable
race right here and hold this one for 5 seconds. All of these
exercises so I don't have to keep repeating it we're going
to do 5 second holds for 10 to 15 repetitions on both sides so
I'm going to hold this one comfortably five seconds I'm
going to relax and then repeat it on the other side and with
each repetition challenge yourself to drive up just a
little bit more to engage those muscles if that feels like it's
a little bit too easy we can then progress into a straight
leg raise so I'm going to straight my knee out as much as
I can have my heel on the floor, toes pointed upward
towards the ceiling. With this one, we want to start off with
really focusing on engaging that quadricep muscles. So,
really tighten this front part of the leg. Once we feel that,
I'm going to then raise my toes upward to the ceiling as much
as I can. You're going to feel a lot fire across the legs. I
pretty much feel it into my calf right here into my
quadricep and also into that glute. From there, I just relax
and then repeat it on the other side. Next, I like to put a
little bit more of a swing in there to hit the muscles just a
little bit differently so let's get back into our original
position with our legs hip width apart knees bend at 90°
this time around I'm going to do my knee march right here
lifting it up but I'm going to slightly swing my knee outward
just a couple inches and then hold this position I'm going to
relax and then I'm going to repeat this until I can't go
out any further you're really trying to focus on driving that
hip outward into external rotation. When you can't go out
any further, you're then going to work back towards the
starting point and then switch to the other side. You're going
to notice that one certain spot just hits it the best. Maybe
you have just a lot of tightness, achiness, possibly
even pain building in that position. Treat that like your
weak link and focus on throwing more repetitions in there to
challenge those muscles and hopefully build more strength
and pain-free range of motion. From there, like to then put a
little bit more on the muscles and take it to the next level
by focusing on what is known as an isometric exercise and for
this one we're going to use our hands this one's really going
to challenge those muscles so let's start off by getting back
into our original position (hips) I should say my legs hip
width apart knees bend at 90 degrees I'm going to overlap my
hands right here and put them right over my knee. The goal is
drive your knee upward into your hand but resist against
it. Again really focusing on the front of the leg, the
quadricep, and engaging those glutes. You're going to do this
one five-second hold, relax, repeat to the other side, and
repeat 10 to 15 times. You can also do that leg swing with
this one. If you do remember one certain spot that was your
weak link, do this and throw some repetitions in because
you'll notice that it makes it a little bit more challenging
and hopefully you'll strengthen those muscles at that point.
Another movement that you can do that's really going to focus
on taking the knees in the rotation external rotation or
outward and also inward is to go back to our original
position right here, knees at 90 degrees. Take your hands,
put them on the outside of your legs. The goal is to drive your
knees outward as much as you can but resist against it.
You'll notice the muscles get hit just a little bit
differently with this one. I really feel it on the outside
of my glute and with this one, five-second hold. You're going
to relax 10 to 15 times. Next, let's focus on internal
rotation to again hit the muscles just a little bit
differently. I like to take my hands, make fists, and put them
together. If you do have a lot of sensitivity with your hands,
maybe you have arthritis, you can substitute it by using
something like a basketball, a therapy ball, or even just a
thick pillow kind of wedge in between your knees but you're
just going to put your hands together like this and fist.
Put them on the inside of your knees and then squeeze inward
for a five-second hold. Relax 10 to 15 times. Go through all
of those move if you feel like one is targeting your hips just
a little bit better at that point throw more repetitions in
and if you feel like you have some more energy you can do all
of these movements for another set or two so here's the hip
strengthening exercise that you can do in bed or on a floor I
call this one the dead bug bridge I really like this one
because not only is it going to focus on our back but also the
front muscles because when you put both of those together
you'll get the best results strengthening and building
stability across our hips. So, let's start off lying flat on
our back in bed or on a floor. I'm going to bend my knees at
90 degrees, have my legs hip width apart. Take your hands,
overlap them, put them over one side's knee. Doesn't matter
which knee, we're going to do this on both sides. The
movement from here is very easy. I'm going to try to drive
my knee to my shoulder but resist against it. When you do
this, you're going to notice that the muscles right here on
the top part of the legs start to fire. This hits the hip
flexors and the psoas muscle, a big instigator of one-sided
lower back pain and also hip pain. I try to hold this one
comfortably for 5 seconds. I just relax and then repeat it
on the other side. I try to do this three times on both sides
and with each repetition, challenge yourself, build into
it just a little bit more. From there, I'm going to build into
the dead bug which is going to target the abs and the core
muscles just a little bit so for this one I'm going to
slowly straighten one leg at my knee and lower it down to the
bed or the floor the key with this exercise though is not to
let your foot or the leg touch the bed let it hover just
slightly above you'll feel a ton of muscles start to fire in
the core hold this one comfortably for five seconds
you're just going to relax and then you're going to repeat it
on the other side on the next repetition I'm going to
challenge the hip just a little bit more. So, instead of going
straight with it, what you want to do is turn your foot inward
like this and then take your leg inward as much as you can.
You'll really feel it fire in the glutes and across those
hips. Again, a five-second hold, you're just going to
relax and then repeat it on the other side. On the final
repetition, I'm going to then do the opposite. So, I'm going
to lower my leg but this time around, take my toes and foot
outward and then take my leg outward as much as can, you
really feel it on the inner part of the leg and thigh with
this one. Five-second hold, you're just going to relax and
then repeat it on the other side. So, with this one, if you
do feel like you have a little bit more energy or if you feel
like one movement is just really attacking tightness or
achiness around your hip, you can throw some more repetitions
in. From there, I like to build into the bridge which is going
to hit the posterior chain. That is the back side. So, our
hamstrings on the back of our legs our glutes, that big hip
stabilizer, and our lower back. So, I'm going to start off
lying flat on my back, legs hip width apart, knees bent, feet
flat. Let's tighten the core muscles and squeeze our glutes,
take your hands, put them right on your hips, and slowly drive
your hips upward towards the ceiling until your body is in a
nice straight line from your knees to your hips to your
shoulders. If you're unable to get into this position, let's
say you can only go up just a little bit because of weakness
or pain, do the best you can over time hopefully you'll gain
strength and flexibility to get into this position but I feel a
ton of muscles start to fire core back glutes and legs hold
this one comfortably for five seconds you're just going to
relax and then repeat this one up to ten times if you would
like to take this one to the next level you can do what is
known as a clamshell bridge so for this one I'm going to put
my feet together and then Take my knees outward as much as I
can putting the hips into external rotation. You should
feel a very gentle stretch forming on the inner part of
the leg, into the groin, into the hips. Once we feel that,
we're just going to do the same movement. We're going to drive
our hips upward towards the ceiling. I really feel it into
my glutes and on the outer part of my hips. It usually feels
really good. I like to hold this one for 5 seconds. Relax
and again, you can do this one for 10 repetitions, but go
through all of these move if you feel like one is just
offering you more relief or just hitting the hips a little
bit better really targeting weakness or achiness at that
point throw more repetitions in and if you have the energy you
can always throw in another set or two so here's a set of hip
strengthening exercises that you can do standing for this
one we're going to use our chair again and use one without
wheels I'm going to go over three different movements the
first one are known as compass exercises because we're mimic
going in the directions of a compass. So, let's start
standing, have very good upright posture, keep your back
straight. Take your hand, grab off to the side of the chair
for support. Let's tighten the core and squeeze the glutes to
begin with. The first movement, let's go north. So, I'm going
to straighten one leg at my knee, have my toes pointed
upward towards me and kind of like a kicking motion. I'm just
going to go forward with it like this moving through my hip
and through my waist. So, we're not trying to bend or anything
like that. We're really focusing on trying to keep the
back straight and moving through our hip. Try to drive
those toes upward towards the ceiling as much as you can.
You're going to feel a lot start to fire. In the leg and
also into the glutes. Again, always focus on targeting those
glutes because that is a big stabilizer of the hip. Hold
this one comfortably for 5 seconds. You're just going to
relax and then you're going to go south. Go back as far as you
can. With this one, I like to point the toes away from me
also. Five-second hold, you're just going to relax. Next, go
east that is just taking the leg outward as much as you can
for this one you're going to notice a lot more muscles
starting to fire on the inner and outer part of the leg five
second hold and then we're going to finish by going west
just driving that leg inward as much as we can you're going to
notice that one certain direction is probably the
hardest and for most people it's probably going north but
any direction that you feel is just a little bit harder to do
maybe it's addressing a lot of tightness and weakness at that
point throw more in but I try to do at least five repetitions
in all directions. Next one I'm going to focus on is what is
known as a hip hiker which is going to help strengthen the
glutes a little bit more but also target a muscle off to one
side called the quadratus lumborum. It pretty much runs
from the top of the pelvis to the bottom of the ribs and when
this becomes strained and inflamed, you can get a lot of
one-sided lower back pain and hip pain. This one is really
easy to do. So, I'm going to start again my back straight
with very good upright posture. Take one hand, just grab off to
the side of the chair for support. What I want to do is
have my hips level like this and I'm just going to start to
raise one hip upward towards the ceiling as much as
possible. So, we're not trying to bend into this. Again, all
of the movement through the hip, lift that hip upward as
much as you can. You'll feel a ton start to fire in the glutes
and also into that quadratus lumbar muscle. Hold this one
comfortably for 5 seconds. You're just going to relax and
then you're going to repeat it on the other side. Try to do
this one nice and slowly for 10 to 15 repetitions and with each
repetition, try to hike that hip up just a little bit more
to challenge those muscles. Last, we're going to focus on
the squat. The squat is arguably one of the best ways
to strengthen the legs and the glutes to build hip stability.
So, for this one, I'm going to start facing my chair. My legs
are going to be hip width apart, toes out like this. Put
all of your weight onto your heels. Again, let's start off
by tightening our core and also squeezing the glutes a little
bit. From there, I'm going to keep my back straight and then
lower my bottom towards the floor by bending through my
knees. Go down as far as you feel comfortable. Do not go to
the point of pain. What you want to focus on is really
engaging those muscles especially the quadriceps right
here on the front part of the leg and the glutes. What you're
going to do is hold this position comfortably for five
seconds You're just going to relax. On the next repetition,
challenge yourself to go down just a little bit more. The
more that you go down, the harder this will be but I try
to do this one nice and slowly for about five to 10
repetitions and then from there, if you feel like you do
have a little bit more energy, you can throw in more
repetitions and with all of these exercises, you can always
throw in another set or two. If the exercises help, please
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