There are more ways to measure fitness than just how much muscle you have or how visible your abs are. Mobility is one area where everyone can improve, and unlike carrying around large quantities of high-maintenance tissue (i.e. muscle), which isn't always the healthiest thing to do, a mobile person is a healthier person. If you suffer from tight hips or lower back pain, you should try this quick stretching routine – your future self will thank you for it.
Performing stretching exercises like this one will help support hip mobility, improve posture, increase flexibility and fix muscle imbalances. Tight hips can be caused by sitting for long periods, poor posture when standing and a tilted pelvis. Having this for prolonged periods can increase the risk of injury as there is a greater demand for muscle tissues that aren't moving correctly. If you wish to know whether you have tight hips, you can do a tight hip flexors test known as the Thomas Test.
This gentle, 10-minute hip flexor stretch routine will help loosen tight hip and back muscles. In the video above, we're shown several stretches that should be held for 1 minute each. Try to relax the stretched muscles and ligaments; if it feels too tight, try moving into a position that only slightly challenges the limbs, and breathe. The exercises are as follows:
- Low crescent lunge
- Kneeling quad stretch
- Runner’s lunge
- 90/90 stretch
- Happy baby
- Low crescent lunge
- Kneeling quad stretch
- Runner’s lunge
- 90/90 stretch
- Laying butterfly stretch
Experiencing chronic back pain and weak hip mobility, we have a 15-minute T3-exclusive yoga flow from Alo Moves instructor Ashley Galvin that might help alleviate the situation. If you want to focus on improving leg and glute strength, try this 10-minute resistance band workout. Although the above workout uses no equipment, one thing you can use to help strengthen your muscles is a set of resistance bands, and we have a list of the best resistance bands to choose from in case you need some inspiration.
