Hi everybody. Dr Kinney here, your chiropractor for hip pain in Belmar, NJ. So today I want to show you three really good stretches for the hip.
There’s three main aspects where the hip is anchored into that ball and socket joint. The back of the hip, the side of the hip, and the front of the hip. So we’re going to try to show you three stretches so that you can get at all three of those areas of the spine and really get yourself a good hip stretch.
Back Hip Stretch in Belmar, NJ
So the first one is going to be gluten piriformis. Those are the ones in the back of the hip. They kind of help anchor that ball into the socket joint. So what I’m going to do is lay on your back. The hip that you want to stretch, you’re going to cross over the knee, you know, the ankle over the knee.
And so you’re gonna grab through and just pull. Now if you’re doing that right, you should feel a really nice stretch across the back of your glute, back of the hip, into the lateral of the hip. You’re going to hold this for 5 to 10 deep breaths. You never want to hold your breath when you’re stretching. And then you’ll switch sides and do the opposite side.
Lateral Hip Stretch in Belmar, NJ
Last week when I was working out I actually pulled my TFL. This is a really hard muscle to pull, but I did it! It’s the tensor fasciae latae muscle that goes all the way down the lateral aspect of the leg.
So how I was stretching this, laying on my side, you drop your leg off the side of the couch or the side of the bed, lower than the level of the bed. So you don’t want it to be even. The lower you drop it, the more you should feel that stretch and the whole lateral side of the leg.
So if you’re doing that right, your hips should be stacked, and you should feel a nice stretch on the lateral side.
Hip Flexor Stretch in Belmar, NJ
The last stretch I love is your hip flexor stretch. So this one you’re going to stand up. The leg that you want to stretch, you’re going to put back. So you’re going to just step backwards, but you want to tilt your hips forward a little bit and then kneel down into it. If you’re doing that right, you should feel the stretch all in the front whole side of the hip. Even down into the front of the leg. Again you want to breathe into those stretches. And that’s going to really help to stretch out all the areas of the hips so that all of the muscles of the hip are really nice and loose.
