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There has been a lot of debate in recent years about what stretching actually does, and whether or not it is necessary. Current belief holds that oftentimes muscles feel “tight” because the brain is sending the message through the nervous system to stiffen muscles around a joint due to perceived weakness or lack of stability.

Many times, my patients are surprised to find that as their strength and stability increase, their feeling of “tightness” decreases.

What does stretching actually do?

It has been proposed that what is actually happening when we feel “increased flexibility” from stretching is that we are increasing the nervous system’s tolerance to moving into a new range of motion.

Mobility drills can be considered a form of “stretching” as they increase your available or useable joint range of motion. When performed dynamically, they are a great way to warm up before for your workouts.

As I’ve previously written, a part of the body that often seems to feel sore and tight is the hip. In this article, I want to share three hip mobility drills that can help to address that.

Before jumping into the drills, however, let’s take a moment to review the anatomy of the hip.

Anatomy of The Hip

The hip is a ball-and-socket joint. The “ball” is formed by the head of the femur, and the “socket” is the acetabulum of the pelvis. The muscles in the front of the hip are collectively referred to as the hip flexors. The hip flexors are listed here in order of greatest contribution to smallest contribution:

Psoas major and Iliacus (often referred to as Iliopsoas)
Rectus Femoris
Sartorius
Tensor Fascia Latae (TFL)
Pectineus
Adductor Longus
Adductor Brevis
Gracilis

The muscles in the back of the hip are referred to as the hip extensors. They are:

Gluteus Maximus
Biceps Femoris, Semitendinosis, and Semimembranosis (the hamstrings)

Other Contributors to “Tightness”

In a previous article, I discussed how weakness or lack of coordination in the pelvic floor and deep central stability system can lead to “tightness” or increased risk of injury to the low back, hips, and legs. We need to incorporate exercises for deep central stability into our training programs.

Additionally, in this article, I explained how a feeling of “tightness” in the hip flexor muscles may actually be weakness of the muscles surrounding the hip.

Hip Mobility Drills

The following drills are a good adjunct to your training program assuming you’re also incorporating deep central stability (core and floor) training into your current strength training program.

These drills can be performed as part of your dynamic warm-up. Spend as much time as you like on each one. Perform these drills within your comfort level, moving slowly and respecting your own body’s current joint mobility.

You should not feel any pain in your hip or knee. If you do feel pain, please see a licensed physical therapist for a consultation.

Dealing with an injury or chronic pain can be frustrating and scary. You feel helpless and out of control, and just want your body to function like it used to.

Trust us, we understand. After working with thousands of women in our community we realize that fear of injury or pain is holding a lot of women back from reaching their potential in the gym.

Fear of injury can put a huge damper on your motivation to train consistently. You may find yourself asking:

What’s the point of going to the gym if I’m in pain afterward?
I can’t work out as hard as I want to, so why work out at all?
What if I hurt myself again?

For many women, it’s enough to make them want to throw in the towel completely.

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