The BEST Hip Mobility Guide on the Internet: Tools & Exercises to Improve Hip Motion While Getting Strong
Most "hip mobility" exercises are a series of basic stretches and "dynamic flows" - this is NOT that. Enjoy finally walking & running normally + kicking bags in half.
Content:
What is Mobility vs Flexibility?
Why stretching is not a complete solution and tends to fail
What prevents hips from accessing full range
Pelvis position
Femur movement
Methods:
Breathing Positions
End range eccentrics
“PAILS & RAILS”
Long Range Isometrics
Yielding Plyos and Impulses
Unilateral Strength Exercises using Gait Rotation concepts
Programming Considerations
None of the above is medical advice. Please consult a physician before doing anything demonstrated here. Hybrid Athlete Training is not responsible for any harm caused by exercise you engage with regardless of affiliation with this product here.
Mobility Defined
Mobility and flexibility often get used almost interchangeably. Sometimes this isn’t done on purpose but ultimately anytime someone says they have “mobility” issues they essentially only think they have a “flexibility” issue.
The most common area in question being the hips. (This post will cover this area specifically obviously)
Practically speaking - everyone (specifically men) struggles with the following:
Reaching a deep squat.
Touching their toes.
Lifting their legs above their waist.
What some may not realize is that these are all almost the same thing.
It is reaching top end ranges of the pelvis and femur while maintaining muscular control of them.
This requires more than just muscle lengthening capacity - the ability to control these motions into those end ranges is what makes mobility more expansive than just flexibility.
Stretches never do the real trick
To be flexible means to tolerate long muscle lengths. It is to allow the nervous system (mostly) to permit access to a lengthened position of the tissue. This can be done by pushing the individual into stretched positions like below:
By pushing/pulling the hamstrings into length the brain will slowly shut off its “stretch reflex protection mechanisms”. However, this is not what is always what is being asked of the body and joints during tasks that we desire mobility from. In addition, this effect is often not very long lasting when used in isolation.
What is being asked is to squeeze a certain opposing muscle to shorten as much as possible while another is asked to lengthen, typically this is also done while some level of force production is required. Thus active control is the key to mobility and not just passive lengthening - the oppositional musculature must be strong and neurological control must be adequate.
While stretching is not a bad thing - nor is it completely useless - it generally is not the panacea for most athletes movement or orthopedic issues despite being the only answer most people have to offer. It should also be noted that “not stretching enough” is commonly a misguided retroactive diagnosis for many peoples injury concerns. Stretching is essentially not an effective injury reduction protocol - it can be useful for those needing to prepare for actual high stress training which will yield real benefit later but this is not the needle mover when it comes to joint health.
When various aspects to achieving tolerance AND muscular control at end range is developed then mobility gains in range of motion, strength, joint length-tension relationships (Feeling “achy” or “tight”) and increased movement options + athletic solutions during activity will finally settle in and stick around.
Stretching and mobility comparisons have also been discussed on the podcast here if you need more context into why stretching is not high stimulus enough for most average problems.
“Everything is Rotation”: How the Hips Move
The hips are essentially designed to move through what has been termed the “gait cycle”. Gait is simply the process of walking or running - the cycling of our lower (and upper) limbs and thorax in a rotating pattern which allows us to move and cover distance. Our ability to walk and run on two legs extremely efficiently is one of our most effective evolutionary adaptations.
Understanding this is important as you realize that function and form are always intertwined and this means that by understanding gait we can understand hips normal healthy function & movement - then applying those lessons and needs to our exercise selection.
The Gait Cycle Explained
Gait traditionally is broken into several phases as shown here:
A very simple way to look at it in relation to mobility is:
Early-stance (heel strike into early loading)
Mid-stance (loaded leg)
Late-stance (terminal → toe off)
This simplified model of movement is looking at what the stance leg (the leg in contact with the ground and producing/absorbing force) is doing. The “swing” leg (leg not in contact with the ground) is not unimportant but is not needed to understand what matters here.
The central concept to learn here regarding the hip function is that while its easy to think that the leg is simply hinging forward and backward in order to walk or run, in reality, all of this movement forms from *rotation* of the hip - up and down the lower limb (as well as torso).
Foot Movement
Foot pressure and its reactive movement/change in shape is intimately related to the gait cycle as the base of support and reciprocally affects how the hip translates over the leg. Starting with an understanding of these mechanics is a better way to begin to look at the gait cycle as its the point of contact and interaction with the ground.
The foot is frequently touted as problematic if it is “flat”. However, it’s ability to flatten, or “pronate”, is key to the function of transferring your weight forward and producing force.
The foot, tibia (and fibula), femur and pelvis are all being loaded and unloaded through this cycle where the foot lands on the heel in a more supinated (arched) position during early-stance, pronates (flattens) as you translate weight forward to the forefoot in mid-stance and supinates again as the toe propels off the ground as you complete late-stance movement.
Supination is where the leg rotates OUT (external rotation) and pronation is where the leg rotates IN (internal rotation).
A lack in this ability to flatten or unflatten the foot can either create or be derivative of a lack of rotation in the hip during gait (or any motion).
Pelvis Position
The resting position of the pelvis has a reciprocal relationship with the rest of the leg. While the leg position can alter the orientation of the pelvis - it’s often the orientation of the pelvis which provides movement options and strategies for the lower limbs.
Proximal to Distal Principle
Commonly when looking at mobility improvements, the individual will attempt to first move the limb (distal structure) around the thorax (proximal structure). As a rule of thumb - it is the proximal structures position that gives way for the distal structures potential for movement.
Much like how a small alteration in angle close to the center of a circle creates a larger disparity in space between two points the farther out you go from the center, the pelvis and ribcage operate the same way.
(We have covered similar material on the shoulders and ribcage here as well for reference.)
The position of the pelvis will determine if the hips are biased into internal or external rotation and thus how much the limbs translate between those two relative positions during gait.
Though there is nothing wrong with a natural anterior pelvic tilt (as many claim), the ability to control and manage the tilt of the pelvis will be an important element in creating movement options with the hips as it will either open or close off space for the femur to move within.
We will often want to actually move the pelvis over the leg rather than tryin go move our leg around the femur in order to actually free the space for the leg to travel when building maximum hip mobility.
Note: It’s really common that “tight hamstrings” that don’t go away no matter how much you stretch is due to the pelvis always being tilted forward and thus the hamstrings are always being stretched. They feel “tight” because they are already being somewhat stretched due to your skeletal position but not because they lack adequate length but rather because you may lack adequate pelvis control. (Solutions covered in the exercise list further down.)
Tibia + Femur Movement (Knees actually “rotate”)
When the foot is supinated during early-stance it encourages an external rotation of the tibia (lower leg) and then reflexively creates an external rotation of the femur (upper leg).
This then follows the pronation of the foot during mid-stance which prompts the leg to internally rotate.
This is again followed by external rotation once more when the leg releases from the ground during late stance.
This rotation of the femur is really more than just the leg rotating under the pelvis and is really more of the pelvis rotating over the ball of the femur in the hip socket.
The Knee Rotates
Note: Sit down with your knees bent. Place your heel on the floor and swing your ankle bones left and right around the heel of the foot like you’re putting out a cigarette with your heel. Place your fingers on the top of the shin bone and you will realize the knee has rotational elements (as does the elbow).
Hamstrings Help Rotate the Leg
Some under discussed musculature that is intimately involved in internal and external rotation of the femur/tibia are the inner hamstring (semitendinosus) and the outer hamstring (biceps femoris).
You can see below how the position of the musculature as it would shorten would pull the inner or outer tibia (lower leg) around to rotate the limb. As the foot is grounded and secure on the surface of the floor it ends up pulling the pelvis to rotate over the femur a bit more than the actual femur and tibia rotate relative to the ground - however the relative orientation to each other is the same regardless of which is technically moving through space.
For this reason, despite the fact that the hamstrings are not directly loaded against gravity as much during gait - they play a pivotal role in rotation of the lower limbs and pelvis around each other and thus cannot be ignored even when looking at hip rotation and not just stretching them to touch your toes.
The Glutes & Rotation
We can also see above how the insertion points of the glute max attach at the center of the pelvis and on the outside of the femur. This is why the glutes are LENGTHENED when you internally rotate the hip/femur and SHORTENED when you externally rotate them. A full contraction of the glutes therefore rotates the hips outward - and by contrast (and this is important…) that means that full internal rotation of the hip requires stretching the glutes.
Perform the movement above with your legs while standing. Turn your knees out and let your weight shift onto the outside edge of your feet while pushing your hips forward.
You will feel the glutes squeeze tight.
Perform the opposite motion and try to touch the knees together (notice how the feet should pronate) and no matter how hard you try you will not be able to squeeze the glutes any more in that position.
Now you understand that the hips and the gait cycle - which is typically thought of as lunging forward and backward - is really just rotation of the ball of the femur in the hip socket.
What’s also very important to note is that even when getting maximum hip internal rotation you generally DO NOT feel a massive stretch in the glutes. This is because it is often not a “tight muscle” that is your mobility problem if you struggle with hip rotation - it is MOTOR CONTROL.
You need to learn how to load and unload the glutes (below).
Adductors + TVA/Abdominals
The inner thigh obviously works in opposition to some of the rotational capabilities of the glutes and thus are essential to gait and all movement of the femur laterally, especially.
Due to the phenomenon surrounding “booty bands” and “pushing your knees out” the adductors are often less well trained if ever properly developed.
Another muscle less appreciated is the TVA, or transverse abdominus. What does this matter? Because it is essential to exhalation and the breath cycle. As we cover details on the practicals below you will see how breath matters in mobility.
Mobility Methods
So you’re finally here. If you have read the above, you have earned the right to cover how we can apply this engineering knowledge into practice with a plethora of tactics addressing the elements noted above.
Mobility Target Factors:
Ribcage & pelvis positions, motor control, and antagonistic relaxation
Lengthened muscle positional strength
Full end range exposure/tolerance + “capsule space” and up/downstream cooperators
Fluid access under “speed”/impulse
True full hip ROM = Rotation under load
Breathing & Position Control
See the shoulder mobility post as a compressed back of the ribs can inhibit the ability to create posterior pelvic tucks.
All exercises below should be done as RELAXED AS POSSIBLE. Deep full exhales are key followed by slow silent inhales through the nose expanding the chest/back. (The lungs are not in the belly so we aren’t using them to expand the stomach.
They can take some concentration and practice. Almost everyone who says they are “doing it” but it’s not doing anything *at all* is never ever doing them well. Patience, focus, and self awareness are key in order to make this work.