In this video, I'm going to show you the best hip exercises for
instant pain relief that you can do at home, using no
equipment. Stay tuned!
Hey, everyone. Dr. Rowe coming to you from SpineCare in St.
Joseph, Michigan. In this video, we're going to go over
some great hip pain relief exercises. Exercises that hit
the hip just a little bit differently. It's going to focus
on targeting different muscles in different areas. So, go
through them all, take what works best for you. As a bonus,
all of these exercises can be done at home, do not require
any equipment and may give quick hip pain relief, even in as
little as 30 seconds! So, let's get started and fix that hip
pain right now. With this, I'm gonna take one of my favorite exercises
known as the rock back but add a little bit of a twist
to it to focus more onto the hips into the hip flexors. What
I'm going to do is start off on all fours like this. You can do
this one in bed or on the floor. If you do it on the
floor, you might want to put a pillow or towel underneath your
knees for extra comfort. The first part, I'm going to get
into position. So, I'm going to bend my elbows like this and
place my upper body weight onto my forearms. My hands go
together. Elbows bent slightly away from the body. This should
feel like a very good stable anchor point for the upper
body. From there, I'm going to take my feet, put them
together, and then slowly start to take my knees outwards.
Slide them out. The more that you slide them out, the more
intense the stretch is going to get. This puts a lot into the
hip, into rotation, but you're also going to feel the inside
of the legs, right here, into the groin and pelvis start to get a
very good stretch. So, really focus on that. Once you hit a
very comfortable stretch, what I'm going to do from there is
then rock back. So, I'm just going to take my butt towards
my heels as much as I can and this will really intensify that
stretch. So, only go to your comfort level but challenge
yourself to rock back as far as you can. From there, what I'm
going to do is hold this position for about five to 10
seconds and then I'm just going to then go back up and then
rock forward. Rock forward with your body weight as much as you
can. The more that you go forward, the more that you're
going to feel a very good stretch into the front of the
legs right here into the hip flexors. Once we hit that
comfortable stretch, this is how we're going to take it to
the next level. I'm going to lift my feet up like this and
then I'm going to then take my feet outwards. This will put
the hips into internal rotation. You'll really feel
those hips activate. So, really challenge yourself to drive
those feet out as much as you can. Again, hold this for about
five to 10 seconds. From there, you're just going to put them
back, put the feet down, and then slowly go back into that
original starting rock back position. You want to do this
nice and slowly for about five complete repetitions and with
each repetition, try to just go into it just a little bit more.
Stretch more into it because at that point, you're going to get
a lot more things loosened up and hopefully get a lot more
pain relief. So, here is a great exercise for stiff,
tight, achy hips. I call it the wall opener. We're going to go
next to a wall. What I'm going to do is position my body where
my back is flat. You can lower your head down towards the
floor too and put a pillow underneath it for extra comfort
or just hold it up with your hands but we want to have the
knees at 90 degrees, our feet flat against the wall. From
there, what I'm going to do is just slide my heels up towards
the ceiling until my knees are straight. What I want to do
from there is then turn my feet outwards and then I'm going to
slowly lower my heels down towards the floor, kind of like
an arc motion. The more that you go down, the more intense
the stretch is going to be felt into the inner part of the leg,
into the groin, into the pelvis, into the hips. So
really focus on that. Once we had a very comfortable but deep
stretch, let's hold this for 20 seconds. From there, you're
just going to relax, go back to that starting point. On the
next repetition, try to build into just a little bit more.
Stretch more into those muscles because it hopefully will help
with stiff, achy hips. With this exercise too, you may
notice that one side goes down just a little bit further. So,
let's say that my right side here is not going down as far
as my left. What I can do is press down just a little bit to
get more of a passive stretch into that side to bring them
both into balance. That's really important. Try to keep
everything in balance but you want to do this one nice and
slowly for about 3 to five complete repetitions. Here's a
great hip exercise. I like to call the hip smasher. It's a
two-part exercise that's not only going to focus on getting
quick pain relief but putting a lot of good mobility into the
hips through internal and external rotation. You can do
this one in bed or on the floor and the First part, we're going
to focus on what is called the butterfly smash. This is going
to help take our hips into external rotation. So, if
you're having a lot of trouble bringing your legs outwards,
this may help. Let's start off on our back just like this. You
can lower your head down during this exercise by just placing a
pillow or towel underneath it for extra comfort. So, I'm
going to take my feet. I'm going to press them together
and then from there, lower them down into the bed or the floor.
So, I'm pressing into 'em, lowering them down at the same
time. So, this will help isolate the hip. From there,
I'm going to take my knees and then drive them outwards and
down. When you do this, you're really going to feel the hips
start to activate. You'll also feel a good stretch into the
groin into the pelvis. Really focus on feeling that. Try to
take those knees down as much as you can. Once you hit a very
deep but comfortable stretch, let's hold this for 20 seconds.
From there, you're just going to relax, take a breather, and
then on the next repetition, challenge yourself to try to
take these knees down even further. Do this for 3 to 5
complete repetitions. In the second part, we're going to
focus on a little bit more internal rotation or taking the
knee and hip inwards. This is a really good self traction that
usually results in a very deep but comfortable stretch. So,
I'm going to bend my knees like this. My feet are going to go
flat on the floor or the bed. I'm going to take one leg up
like this. The outside of that ankle is going to go on the
outside of the other side's knees. So, my left ankle is on
the outside of my right knee. From there, I'm going to create
an initial tension by pressing into it so this won't slip. You
might want to take a pillow or towel to place in between the
knees or the ankle too just for a little bit extra comfort.
From here, what I'm going to do is use this top leg to swing my
knee inwards while I keep that foot flat. When you do this,
try to keep the bottom right here as flat as possible too
but the more that you go inwards, the more that you're
going to feel a very deep stretch right on the outside
the leg into the hips. So, really focus on that. Try to
drive that knee in as much as you can and once you hit a very
deep stretch and I really feel it right now. It really feels
good. I'm going to hold this for 20 seconds. From there,
you're just going to relax, take a breather, and then
repeat this for three to 5 times. Each repetition, try to
stretch more into it and when you're done on one side, always
switch to the other to keep them both in balance. So,
here's a hip exercise that's a little bit more challenging.
It's known as a squatting knee tap. I really like this one
because not only is it going to help stretch a lot of things
but it's also going to help strengthen them. We're going to
start off in a squatting position. Pretty much my body
weight is on the ball of my foot and also onto my toes just
like this. From there, I'm going to put my hands in front
of me like this for another anchor point. So, it's kind of
like a four-point stance right here. The movement is very
easy. What I'm going to do is take one knee, pivot it forward
towards the center of my body and just tap the floor just
like this. So, we're putting a lot of good internal rotation
into the hip by doing this. Just hold this for about two to
three seconds While doing this movement too, what we want to
do with the other knee is then drive that out. So, we're
putting the hip into external rotation. That's another reason
why I like this exercise because we're getting a lot of
good internal and external rotation at the same time. What
I'm gonna do from there is come back up and then just simply do
it on the other side. When we do this, every repetition, I
want to swing more in it. Really drive those knees and
stretch those hips because it's only going to help loosen up
everything into the legs, into the hips, into the pelvis, and
possibly the lower back. But do this one for about 10 to 15
complete repetitions. We can take this one to the next level
by putting a little bit more rotation into it. So, I'm going
to get back into my original four-point stance. I'm gonna
take one arm, make a fist like this and then with my whole
back from my pelvis to the upper back, rotate upwards
towards the ceiling. When you do this you're really going to
get a deep stretch into the hips so only go to your comfort
level you want to hold this for about five to 10 seconds you're
just going to come back down relax and then do it on the
other side but do this nice and slowly for about 10 complete
repetitions on both sides. So, if you stuck around to the end of
the video you're going to be rewarded with a great hip pain
relief exercise that's so easy you can do it on a couch while
watching television. I'm going to show two different exercises
and all of the positions that I'm going to get in, you're
going to want to hold for 20 seconds. So that way I won't
have to keep repeating it. With the first exercise, we're going
to do what is known as a seated figure four, or if you're into
yoga, a seated pigeon pose. Let's go right to the edge of a
cushion. I'm going to straighten one leg like this. I'm going to
put the other side's ankle on top of our shin. From there,
we're going to slide that ankle til it's over the straight
leg's knee and then we're going to take the straight leg and
then bend the knee until it's at degrees. When you look down,
it should look like a figure four, which gives the name or I
should say the exercise, it's name. From here, we're going to
put our hands on our hip and then with very good upright
posture, pivot through the waist through the hips, lean
forward. So, we're not rounding the back but instead we're
pivoting through the hips. The more that you lean forward into
this exercise, you're really going to feel it on the bent
sides hip right here. So, really focus on that. Again,
hold this for 20 seconds and then you're just going to relax
and then, you're going to repeat this up to five times
with each repetition. Try to bend into it just a little bit
more. Challenge those muscles and hopefully, again, that will
target the hip just a little bit more. We can take this one
to the next level by incorporating some dynamic
movement into it to challenge those muscles even further. So,
let's get back into that position of pivoting forward
like this. Put our hands up like this and then, this time
around, I'm going to add some rotation into it. So, I'm going
to bend away. What you'll notice is, this hits the
muscles just a little bit differently. So, give that one
a try. Go back to the middle and then go towards it. Which
one hits it a little bit better, throw some more
repetitions in there. For the next part, what we're going to
do is target a little bit more into the hip flexors. So, I'm
gonna put a pillow on the floor and then I'm gonna put one knee
down just like this. The back of our foot is going to be
supported on our cushion. The other leg knee, I should say
the other leg's knee is going to go at 90 degrees and what I'm
going to do is put my hands on my hips and then pivot it forward
at the waist. When you do this, you're going to feel a very
good stretch into the front of the leg right here. That's the
hip flexors. So, really focus on that. Once we hit a very
deep stretch, let's do about three to 5 repetitions of this
with each repetition just trying to go forward just a
little bit more. Again, we can take this one to the next level
by incorporating some dynamic movement. So, let's go forward
with it. Put our hands up like this and then do that
rotational component similar to what we just did. Go all the
way towards the right and then go all the way towards the left
and notice if that just hits it a little bit better. We can
also target off to the side right here with the muscle
called the QL or quadratus lumborum which is a big
instigator of lower back pain. So, I'm going to start with
very good upright posture. Put one hand over my head just like
this and then I'm going to pivot my whole upper body away
from that side's hip. Again, you'll notice it pretty much
stretches on the side here going into the hip. Give this
one a try and then go towards the other side. Notice if it
hits it just a little bit but you want to do that for three
to five repetitions. All those together, whatever hits it
better, throw more repetitions in, target the spots and
movements that needed the most and I hope that gives very
quick hip pain relief. If the exercises helped, please
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please leave them below. I'll get back to you as soon as I
can. Thank you so much for watching!