When we are looking to improve the functionality of the hip joints stretches and corrective exercises only help to reinforce our bad habits. Looking instead at what we are doing and change our behaviour patterns. I’ve seen my hips lessons improve and change my students very quickly, some see changes after only one lesson.
Often we blame the hips, back or neck as being the problem especially if we have been to stretch classes to ‘fix’ the problem or tried other corrective exercises with little or no ongoing relief. Blaming the bad hip, bad knee or bad back for the discomfort, pain or stiffness.
Let’s look at a few things you can do right now to make changes.
How do you sit?
Bring yourself forward on a chair and separate the knees shoulder-distance apart, directly above the feet. If you keep your knees together you are tightening in the hip joints, stiffening the lower back and which likely pulls you into a slumping forward posture. The chair height must be so that the hips are a little higher than the knees. Please avoid bucket-type seats, like the old primary school chairs. As these force the knees to be higher than the hips and scrunch up the hip joints.
To have some functionality in your seated learning to sit with a dynamic pelvis, meaning that the position you sit gives the pelvis independent freedom so that it can move forward into extension without stiffening your back. This movement is one of the first to teach my new students. Without being shown how to you may find that you are gripping and fixing your deep hip flexors and compressing the hip joints.
How do you stand?
When you are standing:
Do you shift weight slowly from side to side?
Do you practice this every time you are standing like a gentle slow dance with a relaxation response in the non-weight bearing leg?
If not, then you are standing forever without any end, on two legs, neither one will ever be able to relax. Meaning that both of your legs and that includes all the muscles around your hip joints are getting tighter.
You can learn a lot about side shifting in standing. While standing quietly, more weight should be over the heels, not the ball of the foot. Be calm, patience and present within yourself as you stand. Don’t be thinking what’s next or jumping ahead of yourself. Even a little bit of impatience (as in I can’t be here I have other things to do) while standing will tighten the muscles surrounding the hip joints and may move your weight into the ball of the foot. While standing be aware if you are grabbing in the hip joints and let it go. Above all don’t sit into one hip, resting all the weight on the hip because you are balanced over one leg. Stand tall on the standing leg don’t push the weight too far to the opposite side.
How do you walk?
Where you engage in walking there needs to be a little shifting of your weight from side-to-side There needs to be a relaxation response (one leg free) in the non-weight bearing leg. Do not thrust your moving leg in front of you as many people do. By doing this you are placing undue stress on the hips, ankle and knee. It tightens the low back and pushes your head forward. Not the most elegant and efficient way to walk and a major cause of hip pain.
Want to make real changes?