Movement Prescription: Reduce Front Hip Tension

Published: Wed, 05/09/18

Hey

Students in the Core Restore class provided the inspiration for the following front hip opening sequence.*

*This, by the way, is one of the major differences between the CORE RESTORE METHOD and most of the general, fitness - driven core classes: there's nothing general about core restore.

We learn to recognize + analyze our unique, individual movement patterns, and then come up with equally unique + individual movement prescriptions that help us get better. This is why each class and each session is distinctly unique - both on and off the mat content is tailored specifically to the current group and their movement challenges.

Now back to today's topic.

For the last several weeks Core Restore students have been learning to move from the hips. For about the same length of time they have been discovering that moving from the hips is not as easy as it sounds...

One of the reasons for that - plain and simple - are tight front hips.

Why?

You already know the answer...

Are you sitting down to read this?

Sitting in a chair with your weight distributed over the hamstrings displaces the heads of the femurs into the tops and fronts of the hip sockets. Couple this change in the mechanical orientation of the hip joints with chronic, sustained seated hip positioning and your hips are bound {and bound up!} to become tight and stiff.

Tight and stiff fronts of the hips lead to no hip extension when you walk.

No hip extension when walking can lead to unhealthy changes in gait (shortened gait, shuffling, hip swiveling or shimmying, upper body twisting to name just a few!) that can potentially lead to hip, knee, and spine damage, as well as SI joint pain.

All of that shimmying, shuffling and twisting leads to sensation of imbalance + instability through the torso - which we tend to correct artificially, by tightening any large postural muscle we can find. Yes, even the jaws...

So just like that, lo and behold, stabilization through global tension is born.

Some call that "STRENGTH"... but you and I know better!

Learning to move efficiently - minus unnecessary tension (let's face it, when ever tension is necessary?) - can be a challenge, especially in a culture so hung up on a quick fix.

But, we've got to start somewhere...

Here is a place to start: a movement prescription for tight front hips.

It works for runners just as well as it does for sitters!

Important reminder before you get going: there are no moves / exercises that are right for everyone. Pick and choose what is appropriate for you to do today. If something from above doesn't make sense, leave it out - and shoot me an e-mail - let's take a look at it together.

While this sequence is created to work as whole to deepen your awareness + improve mobility of the front hip area, even one of the following exercises will make a profound difference. Start with Step 4 - Proprioceptive Reset if that's the case.

In class, we use a variety of props:

~ a core ball: this is a soft spongy ball about half - a - foot in diameter, designed specifically for abdominal work

~ yoga therapy balls: these are pliable rubber balls designed for body work

~ soft weighted balls (also called toning balls) to work on areas that need a softer touch

~ bricks, blocks, blankets for support and padding.

Step 1: Start with your belly on the Core Ball.

This will help to down regulate {calm} the nervous system, which, in turn, can help you work the connective tissue without experiencing too much discomfort. Global Shear on the ball also helps to mobilize some of the abdominal muscles and allow for easier access to the muscles at the front of the hip.

Lying face down, set the core ball underneath the low belly - between the pubic bone and the navel. If this feels extra tight you can either experiment with rocking the hips side to side - this tends to ease the sensations - or replace the ball with a folded blanket and use that as a starting point.

Options here include side to side rocking, breathing, contract - release, or breath holds.

Step 2: Release the quads.

Lying on your belly, set a ball {or a ball set - sometimes we use 2 instead of 1 ball - this tends to lessen pressure and therefore sharp sensaitons} under your front mid - thigh.

Start with several long breaths to help your muscles relax.

From there, options are: stay and breathe (especially if sensations are quite strong); contract - release (tighten the muscles of the quad, then release); flossing (bend and straighten the knee).

Step 3: Work the Hip Flexor Group.

We used a soft ball in that same prone position to massage our hip flexors.

Lying face down, set the ball just to the outside of the pubic bone - right where the thigh connects to your torso - and roll up along the inside of the pelvis and up toward the belly button.

A word of caution: this area can be very sensitive to work, so if you feel uneasy about Step 3, instead spend more time with Step 2 - giving your nervous system a chance to get accustomed to pressure in this area.

Step 4: Proprioceptive Reset.

Anatomically, some of the front hip muscles originate from the spine.

This structure is designed to function as internal suspenders connecting spine and legs.

This next exercise will introduce you to the sense of your hip flexors as internal (and very springy) suspenders:

Put a couple of chip foam yoga blocks (or books that you don't love anymore) in a doorway, and then stand with one foot on that platform, with the other leg swinging freely from its suspender.

Keep your hips level, and let your hanging leg relax into a gentle swing that requires little or no effort.

Imagine a suspender attached just behind your respiratory diaphragm ( the area of your bottom back ribs), and your hanging leg suspended from there, swinging freely through your pelvis.

Explore this movement for several moments, maintaining relaxed upper body and even breath.

Now step down from your platform, and compare the feeling in your legs and hips while standing and walking.

Repeat on the other side (just so you don’t walk in circles for the rest of your day.)

Step 5: Try out a lunge.

To lengthen front of the hips muscles stack your lunge this way:

Start on hands and knees.

Step your right foot forward – I keep a bolster around to prop up my back knee.

Verticalize the front shin.

Lift your torso to vertical, and bring your hands to your hip bones (technically, this is the front of your pelvis.)

Stack your rib cage over the pelvis, keeping both in a neutral alignment.

This last step is crucial – if your pelvis + rib cage are tipping and tilting, you are compressing your lumbar spine to create the required shape without getting the benefits. Why suffer needlessly!?

For extra jazz, tuck your tailbone under – this is where my back knee usually starts to complain.

Let me know how that goes!

un-hurt un-sore un-stuck

See you on the mat!

Julia + TEAM SATORI