How To Mobilize Your Hips (Without Kneeling)

Hip and knee mobility are both very important, but how to improve one if the other is poor? Mobility coach Alisa Zuravskaja shows us how:

Let’s get hip

Step by step:

1. Warm-up: lie on your back with one knee bent and gently pulled toward your chest. Draw small controlled circles with your knee in both directions, keeping your pelvis steady and core lightly engaged. Switch legs and repeat. Then, with both knees bent and feet flat, let both knees drop gently side to side to loosen hip rotation and lower back stiffness.
2. Clamshell and internal rotation: lie on your side supported by your forearm or elbow, knees slightly bent, feet stacked. Lift your top knee (clamshell), then bring your knees together and lift your top foot, rotating from your hip. This strengthens your glute medius and improves internal and external hip rotation.
3. Hip abduction: from the same position, extend your top leg straight and lift it upward, keeping your body still and core strong. Switch sides and repeat both the clamshell and hip abduction sequence.
4. Lying leg openers: lie on your back with both legs extended toward the ceiling. Open your legs out to the sides, then squeeze them back together like horizontal scissors. Keep your lower back anchored and core stable to work your inner thighs and core.
5. Side-lying hip circles: on your side, bend your bottom leg for stability and keep your top leg straight. Draw small or large circles with your top leg, controlling the motion through your hip. This improves joint mobility and glute activation.
6. Inner thigh lift: from the same position, bend your top leg and place the foot in front of you on the floor. Extend your bottom leg straight and lift it slightly off the floor to strengthen your inner thigh and groin. Switch sides and repeat both the circles and adduction exercise.
7. Band stretch: lie on your back with one leg extended up, then gently guide it across your body while keeping your shoulders grounded. Feel the stretch along the outside of your hip and thigh. Adjust the height for comfort.
8. Figure-four stretch and twist: lie on your back, bend your knees, and cross your left ankle over your right knee. Stay here for a static stretch or drop both legs to the side for a gentle twist, holding or moving dynamically. Switch sides.
9. Pancake stretch: sit with your legs wide apart and hinge forwards from your hips, reaching your arms ahead while keeping your spine long. Use a cushion or yoga block under your hips if needed. This deep stretch opens your hips, lengthens your hamstrings, and promotes good spinal alignment.

You don’t have to do them all, of course, but it’s at the very least a good menu to choose from, and doing some is infinitely better than doing none!

For more on each of these plus visual demonstrations, enjoy:

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Want to learn more?

You might also like:

The Most Underrated Hip Mobility Exercise (Not Stretching) ← for a less exercisey way of improving hip mobility

Take care!