Why your hips feel tight, and what actually helps
Tight hips are rarely short muscles. They are usually hips that have forgotten a position. Three drills that remind them.
Giulia ContiMobility and pilates, 1 min read
“My hips are tight” is the sentence I hear most at the desk. Usually it comes from someone who sits all day and squats three times a week.
Here is the surprise: in most people the muscles are not short. The nervous system simply does not trust the end of the range, so it stops you before you get there. Stretching harder does not fix that. Using the range, slowly and often, does.
1. The 90/90 switch
Sit with both knees bent at ninety degrees, one in front, one to the side. Rotate slowly to the other side without using your hands. Ten slow switches.
2. The supported squat
Hold a post or a band, sit into the bottom of a squat and stay there. Breathe. Two minutes a day, in pieces if you need to.
3. The half-kneeling reach
Kneel on one knee, squeeze the glute on that side and reach the same arm up and over. You will feel the front of the hip. Five slow breaths each side.
How often
A little every day beats an hour on Sunday. That is why Mobility is thirty minutes, three times a week, at lunch.
