Over the past few years, my hips have become very stiff. Long hours at my desk don’t help, and neither do years of sitting with one leg crossed over the other. My right hip is noticeably stiffer than my left. The tightness can show up when I’m squatting, lunging, or running, but it can also happen when I’m just lying on the couch and suddenly my hip locks up.
I’ve done hip mobility exercises before, but this time I wanted to work on making my hip flexors stronger instead of just making them longer. Strong hip flexors are important for keeping the pelvis stable, supporting the lower back, and keeping you safe during high-impact activities like running, jumping, or working out quickly. If they are weak or not working hard enough, other muscles often take over.
Studio Jibby has a 10-minute hip flexor-strengthening routine on YouTube. I was excited to try it because it was short enough to fit into busy days, didn’t require any equipment, and promised to work my hips in a useful way instead of just stretching them.
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You might like a woman doing a hip stretch outside.
This 7-minute hip mobility routine has finally opened my tight hips and released years’ worth of stiffness. “I finally fixed my chronic hip stiffness, but I had to go down a rabbit hole to find these 5 moves Woman doing a side lunge to stretch her hips and groin while smiling in a park
I did this mobility routine that strengthens your hips for “longevity, stability, and control,” and now I can run and squat without pain.
This routine now has a permanent place in my weekly movement routine, along with the best stretches for hip flexors. My hips are feeling stronger than ever, thank goodness.
What is the plan?
10 MINUTE HIP FLEXOR STRENGTHENING EXERCISES – YouTube 10 MINUTE HIP FLEXOR STRENGTHENING EXERCISES – YouTube
This 10-minute workout is meant to make the hip flexors and side hips stronger. There are ten exercises in all. You do each one for 30 seconds then you have five seconds to switch to the next one. There isn’t much time to rest, but it’s only 10 minutes long, so it still feels pretty easy to do.
Some of the exercises in the routine are clamshells, side-lying hip abductions, inner leg raises, reverse nordics, supine straight leg raises, and front-lying leg extensions. You work out your hip flexors, abductors (outer hips), adductors (inner hips), and glutes all at the same time.
I can’t recommend this routine enough if you have trouble with stiff hips. The different exercises will make your hips feel both looser and stronger, especially if you do them regularly.
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Here are the three main benefits I’ve seen after doing this routine for two weeks.
1. My hips felt stronger and less stiff right away.
The biggest change I saw was that the stiffness in my right hip, which had been so stubborn really went away. It only took a few days for movements that used to feel limited, like stepping into a lunge or taking a big step up a hill, to start to feel better I had clearly been neglecting the smaller stabilizing muscles around the hip joint, but exercises like clamshells, side-lying hip abductions, and inner leg raises really worked them out.
Reverse nordics and supine straight leg raises worked the hip flexors in a deeper way by making them stronger instead of just stretching them. At the end of the two weeks, the routine didn’t feel as shaky or hard, which meant my hips were getting used to it. They definitely felt looser, but they also felt stronger too.
A woman with strong abs holding a yoga mat is what to read next.
“I did a 15-minute Pilates core routine every day for 14 days, and my posture isn’t the only thing that has changed.”
A woman in a light and bright studio is doing a quad stretch on a yoga mat while wearing activewear shorts and a crop top.
I have very tight hips but I’m trying to fix that by doing this stretch every day. A man doing the 90/90 stretch said, “I have very tight hips, but doing this stretch every day has helped to improve my mobility.”
2. My posture began to get better
I didn’t see this coming but after a week, I noticed that I was sitting differently at my desk The glute bridges and front-lying leg extensions helped my hip flexors and glutes get stronger, which made my pelvis feel more stable. This made it easier for me to sit up straight instead of slumping or tucking under Being aware of how we’re sitting is a big part of this, but actively stabilizing the pelvis makes it easier for me to notice when I’m starting to slouch.
When your hips are stiff or weak, your lower back often has to do more work. As the routine strengthened the muscles around my pelvis I felt less of that subtle tightness in my lower back that comes on after hours of typing. It didn’t magically fix my desk habits, and I still found the routine harder at the end of the day when everything felt clicky and less willing to move, but it did help me reset.
a woman with strong abs holding a yoga mat
Shutterstock is the source of this image 3. The moves got easier, which felt like real progress.
3. The moves got easier, which felt like real progress.
Some of the exercises were hard at first. The inner leg raises felt stiff and awkward, and I now know that this is because I could only move a little bit. But by the end of the two weeks, I could move through the routine more easily because my hips were a little stronger and looser.
This showed that my muscles were working even with only 10 minutes of exercise a day. The routine still felt harder at night, especially after sitting for a long time, when my joints needed more time to wake up. But the stiffness didn’t last as long as it usually does; it went away faster. That change from tight and reactive to stronger and more responsive felt like the biggest win.
Is this hip flexor strengthening routine worth a shot?
This routine is definitely worth a try if you sit for long periods of time or feel stiff when you move. Instead of just stretching the muscles around your hips for a short time, it works on making them stronger. My hips felt more stable less stiff, and better able to handle everyday movement after two weeks, which is exactly what I wanted.
I do this easy Pilates exercise every day to strengthen my core and improve the flexibility of my hip flexors. It’s not sit-ups, planks, or crunches.
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I’m a registered dietitian and these are the 9 healthy foods I eat to keep my heart healthy. “I’m a Pilates instructor, and I recommend these 5 core exercises to help older clients build strength and improve posture.”
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