As I write this, I’m sitting at the desk in my home office. I’m willing to bet you’re seated while reading it too; on the bus, at work or settling down on the couch.
The modern world involves a lot of sitting down, but our bodies aren’t built to stay still for long periods. Being at your desk all day can actually cause the muscles in your hips to weaken, leading the joint to become stiff and leaving you at a higher risk of injury.
That’s why it’s important to balance time spent on your backside with some movement, like this three-move hip-strengthening routine from physiotherapist and Complete Pilates clinical director Helen O’Leary.
“Symptoms [of weak hips] can include pain in and around the hip, difficulty extending your leg behind you and feeling generally stiff and sore in your hips at rest,” she tells me.
“Keeping the mobility in your hips will help you with your balance and your function as you age, reducing your likelihood of falls.”
How to do Helen O’Leary’s three-move hip-strengthening routine
- Wide side-to side: 3×4-6 repetitions on each side
- Donkey kick: 3×10-15 on each side
- Single-leg Romanian deadlift: 3×10-12 on each side
1. Wide side-to-side
Sets: 3 Reps: 4-6 on each side
- Lie on your back with your arms out to the side, and your knees raised so you can place your feet flat on the ground. Let both knees tip over to one side.
- Exhale and bring your knees back to the starting position, then let them tip over to the other side of your body.
- Repeat this four to six times on either side.
Expert insight:
This exercise is designed to increase your hip mobility, but O’Leary says you will also enjoy a bonus back stretch when doing it. She also has a couple of other top tips for getting more out of the movement.
“You can do this move with your feet flat on the floor, or placed on the edge of the sofa if you want to work a bigger range of movement,” O’Leary says.
“When you tip your knees over to one side, reach the top knee down towards the floor and imagine…
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