Hips: Panacea mobility drills?

[Biren Patel]

Perhaps the word panacea is a stretch. I see that for the shoulder girdle and joint, we have drills like dislocates, which Coach cited in the Robb Wolf podcast as one the most important exercises one could do. Then there are other very powerful movements like wall extensions. Both are simple, but incredibly effective medicine.

What sort of similar movements exist for the pelvic girdle and hip joint? Or rather, what movements would you consider to be on par with dislocates? What comes to mind are hip extensions.

[David McManamon]

Nothing comes to mind on par with dislocates for the pelvis - dislocates are fantastic because they work the joint through a wide range of motion and are applicable to all levels of strength and flexibility.  Stretching your adductors, abductors, quads, hip flexors, hamstrings, glutes and lower back in one stretch is quite a stretch, especially if that stretch should be applicable to all levels of flexibility and strength.

[Daniel Burnham]

Shoulders require more care and structure because of their inherent stability. This allows more freedom of movement but also makes them more susceptible to injury.

Hips are relatively much more stable so less dedicated mobility is required. stretches and squat drills that open the hips and work on internal and external rotation cover most of the hip mobility needs.

[Mikkel Ravn]

I can smell it...

Someone on this board is about to pioneer broomstick hip dislocates.

[David McManamon]

I rather hastily made a video demonstrating two circular hip movements with perhaps vague similarity to shoulder dislocates:

http://youtu.be/ju7NmNBrOlQ

 

Starting on your back does not offer much resistance until you arrive at pike where the stretch can be made active.  Starting in pike and moving through middle splits/pancake on the floor will make many people feel that the floor is a very unforgiving stretching partner.  Both these motions can be varied in a lot of ways.  Watching the video I note that my hips came off the floor, I better revisit this stretch a few more times later today to get the movement right, very useful for your straddle press if you can move your legs through the optimal line.

[Blairbob]

Good ones.

Standing leg swings. Back and forth, side to side.

Hip circles.

Standing leg lifts to front, side, and back. These used to be in the Leg WOD's. Stand lift to front, rotate to side and then behind and come back to front. Do not bend supporting leg or leg in the air.

Lying leg circles. Lie on back, swing leg around in a circle clockwise or clockwise. These really help my hips and lower back (Right QDR).

Asian squat. Single leg side squat/cossack squat.

Internal/External hip rotation of 45 degrees.

[Biren Patel]

Thank you for the replies, everyone. Dmcmanam, thanks for the video - I will definitely give those a shot!

swhitley,  squat seems too easy. Though Westerners may find squat a good mobility drill due to the sitting culture. My dad used to tell me stories that back in the 60's and 70's in India, he and all the other guys would set out in the morning to find a nice patch of grass and they would all s*** together while...squatting! You better hope that you don't get tired and fall back during that

[Scott Pelton-Stroud]

Coach Sommer mentioned in BtGB that training Straddle L-Sits created a lot of stability within the Hip joint.

[Andrew Graham]

I can think of an exercise that would be almost equivalent to the dislocate!

 

step 1: from a standing position sink down into a front split as far as you can go and rotate from left to right...the load in this movement will be your body! e.g start so that your left leg is forward and your right leg is behind, now rotate your body round to the right so that you move through the middle splits into front split on the opposite side! This little gem covers full hip flexion and extension and abduction at the same time!

 

Step 2: After doing the desired reps each side and your sitting back into the front split, bend the front knee and externally rotate the hip so you are now sitting in a pigeon pose. put your hands behind your head, clasp your fingers and lean forward trying to get your sternum to touch your shin bone without flexing the lumbar spine. This is a great movement for actively stretching the ext.rotators of the hip.

 

Now, i know i've left out internal rotation, but to be honest, if you have full external rotation and you can get into middle splits...you shouldn't have any internal rotation problems unless there some sort of pathology there.

 

NOTE: if you can't get into full front splits or mid spilts...you can do this by hangin from a jump stretch band like this:

 

cheers
 

[Alan Tseng]

Bridge mobility, pike mobility, and pancake mobility exercises

[Jon Douglas]

Coach Sommer mentioned in BtGB that training Straddle L-Sits created a lot of stability within the Hip joint.

I really like the lunge/straddle L combo for hips.

[Jeremy Huston]

My favorite hip exercise is weighted pancake.  Sit in straddle with a weighted bar overhead -- arms locked with hands about 1.5-2 shoulder widths apart (it's not meant to be a shoulder dislocate).  Bend forward at the hips, keeping the bar above the shoulders with straight arms and back straight.  The weight helps push into the stretch, and holding the bar with straight arms behind the back helps keep the back straight.  Relax into the stretch for a second and then use hamstrings and groin muscles to pull yourself back upright.  Do this about 5 times.

 

Be careful and start light.  This isn't a position you want to be in when muscles snap or if you can't get back up.

 

I couldn't believe how quickly this opened my hips up to the point I can lay my torso on the floor.  I like to do 3 sets and just lay in the bottom position for 60 sec at the end of the 3rd set.