5 of the Best Hip Pain Exercises

heel pain hip hip pain strength Nov 19, 2024

Hip Pain is pain around your hip joint and is a very common cause of pain. Hip Pain can be caused by arthritis, bursitis, muscle strains, Iliotibial (IT) Band Syndrome, Piriformis Syndrome, Labral Tears, tendonopathies, fractures, dislocations, impingement and more. Probably the most common causes that I've seen in my practice are tendonopathies, bursitis, arthritis, and IT band syndrome.

Hip Pain can range from mild to severe. Sometimes it's a constant pain and sometimes the pain only occurs during certain movements. The pain can be in the front of your hip, on the side of your hip, on the back of your hip, or feel like it's deep inside the hip joint. There can also be some clicking, grinding, or popping. If the clicking, popping, or grinding is painful, it can be a sign that something is wrong. If it's not painful, it doesn't necessarily indicate a problem, but it can indicate that certain muscles are weak.

Since the hip is a ball and socket joint, it moves in a lot of different directions and there are a lot of muscles that function to move the joint.

The hip flexors function to bring the leg up towards the chest. The major hip flexors are the iliacus, the psoas major, rectus femoris, and the sartorius.

The hip abductors bring the leg out to the side, away from the body. The major hip abductors are the gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, tensor fascia latae (TFL), piriformis, sartorius, and the superior fibers of the gluteus Maximus.

The hip adductors bring the leg closer to the body. The major hip adductors are the adductor longus, adductor Magnus, adductor brevis, pectineus, gracilus, obturator externus, and quadratus femoris.

There are also a bunch of small muscles in the hip that rotate the hip internally and externally.

All of these muscles function to move and stabilize the hip, so if there's a group of muscles that is weak or tight, that can cause pain and dysfunction in the hip.

Hip Pain is typically treated by strengthening the muscles in the hip and core that are weak, improving hip and core mobility, and improving single leg stability and balance.

Here are 5 of the Best Hip Exercises to Start with if you're having any hip pain

1. Sidelying Hip Abduction. Lie on your side with the bottom knee bent and the top leg straight and in line with your body. Slowly lift off the ground and then slowly lower back down. Repeat for 2-3 sets of 10 reps.

2. Prone Hip Extension. Lie on your stomach and lift one leg straight off the ground. Slowly lower it back down. Repeat for 2-3 sets of 10 reps.

3. Quadruped Fire Hydrant. Start in a hands and knees position. Lift one leg out to the side and then bring it back down. Repeat for 2-3 sets of 10 reps.

4. Standing Band Hip Abduction. Stand and place a band around your ankles. Lift one leg straight out to the side and then bring it back to the middle. Repeat for 2-3 sets of 10 reps.

5. Banded Squat. Place a band around your thighs. Squat down as far as you can comfortably and then return to the starting position. Repeat for 2-3 sets of 10 reps.

These exercises can help you build strength and mobility in your hips and help to reduce pain. Try doing them 3-5 times per week!

Tools That Help With Recovery

1. Resistance Bands

2. 6 inch Chirp Wheel (Sit on it and roll)

3. Therabody Massage Gun

Prevention

In order to prevent hip pain, you can try the exercises above! They will not only help you get stronger and improve your mobility, but they can prevent pain and injury as well!

If you're looking for a few more exercises that can help, check out the video below!