Inside the parameters of the strength and conditioning world, the pendulum of what everyone needs tends to swing between opposite directions. As in many polarizing topics in society, what we need probably lies somewhere in the middle. Hips have become an area of interest in recent years. Do you need better mobility or is it strength and stability? I think this is partially because the age group of people that are strength training has aged. As an older population has entered the gyms, they have more water under the bridge, which tends to bring some limitations. I am glad that we have evolved past the days of your physician telling you to solely walk on the treadmill for exercise. The average age at my studio is 52. I see people who want to move better and be stronger. That was my inspiration for today’s post.
I have frequently stated that getting stronger solves a lot of problems. Increasing lean muscle mass increases your body’s metabolism of calories, acts as a body of armor protecting you from injury, and can improve your overall appearance. The icing on the cake is the feeling of well being that tends to go hand in hand with being stronger. I may be aging myself, but I can still picture the “Godfather of Fitness”, Jack Lalanne, in his blue jumpsuit, displaying more confidence and energy than people a third of his age. As we venture
Jack Lalanne lived to be 96 years old
to get stronger, one of the primary movement patterns that should be incorporated in any strengthening regime is the hip hinge. The hip hinge is when you rotate on the hip axis primarily. The knees should “soften” during the lowering phase, and then extend or straighten as you come out of the movement.
The deadlift is a common example of a hip hinge. This is a movement pattern that we should maintain throughout life. Properly executed, you should be able to load substantial load to the muscles involved in this pattern. Those muscles are the hamstrings, gluteus maximus or glutes, and the erector spinae. I like to consider these muscles the “three amigos”. They should work synergistically together.
I consider the hamstrings, glutes, and erector spinae the true “Three Amigos”
A large part of their job is to maintain stability of the pelvis. It’s when we experience weakness within one of these in the chain that we leave ourselves open to injury. This tends to be the either the hamstrings or the glutes.
A simple drill that I like to have people perform, are variations of the bird-dog. This exercise is a staple in physical therapy. The breakdown happens because people cannot feel the “linking” of their lower body to their upper body through the core musculature. At the studio we have implemented the Ultimate sandbag and mini bands to enhance the feedback people need. Here is an example of that below.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B8ev1HSHaw1/
Do not spend all your time hanging in the camp to get stronger by any means necessary, because stability in the hips without adequate mobility isn’t good also. It’s the ability to create force throughout the hips full range of motion. A good example of this is within the mechanics of a squat. Grab a weight while in a standing position and then see if you can maintain tension within your core as you lower your body into the bottom position of a squat. This explains why some people round their spine in the bottom of their squat as the trunk attempts to increase range of motion that their hips cannot provide. As a coach, I try to put people in scenarios where they’ll sense the breakdown and can work to fix it. As I have mentioned in a prior post, it’s not as simple as yelling at someone to squat deeper.
I have become a big fan of Mobility Sticks. There is a protocol you use that enables the user to become stronger as they perform drills through various ranges of motion. A popular drill we do at the studio is climbing the sticks. This is where you work your hip into internal and external rotation through different ranges. Here a video of that drill.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5D-lOJHdj6/
The bottom line is that for proper hip function, you should strive for both mobility and stability.