When Ian Root was in his early 20s, he began having persistent hip pain. His construction job — which required him to bend, balance, lift heavy objects and stand for hours at a time — became grueling. He was also a competitive runner, but the discomfort affected his ability to train.
“My hips, hamstrings and lower back were so tight they felt like they’d snap if I stood up quickly,” Mr. Root said.
Massages helped, but the relief only lasted a day or two. Eventually, he saw a physical therapist who explained the source of his issue: His glutes weren’t strong enough to properly move his hips through all those repetitive motions. His hip flexors were bearing most of the burden, making them tight and overworked. The physical therapist gave him a mobility and strength regimen, and after eight weeks Mr. Root was able to resume most activities without pain.
“Most people don’t think about their hips at all unless they have a problem with them,” said Miho Tanaka, director of the Women’s Sports Medicine Program at Mass General Brigham. That’s a mistake, Dr. Tanaka said, because “every sort of function or movement you perform is somehow related to your hips.”
Your hip joint can’t function properly if it can’t move through its full range of motion or if muscles like your glutes and hamstrings are weak. Other joints and muscles will take over, even if they’re not strong enough to manage the load. That can lead to muscle imbalances, pain or overuse injuries from your back down to your ankles.
A little movement can significantly improve your mobility, but it takes more than just holding a stretch. You also need to strengthen the muscles that control your hips.
Small habits can impact your hip mobility.
Your hip is a ball-and-socket joint, which moves your leg in three planes of motion: forward and backward, side to side and rotationally. When you walk, run, jump or bend, muscles including the glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors and adductors contract and extend to move your legs in the direction you want to go. If those muscles are tight or not working properly, that limits how easily you can move your hips.
Sitting for long periods of time is a major cause of tight hips. In a seated position, your glutes are turned off, forcing the smaller muscles of hip flexors and the lower back to provide support. Those muscles become overworked, which is why they may ache or feel strained when you stand up.
“When you’re sitting for eight hours, you’re teaching your body that this is the position we’re supposed to move and live in,” said Ryan Matisko, a physical therapist in New York City.
How you stand can also affect your hip mobility. Leaning more weight on one leg overloads that side of your body and can lead to inflammation of the hip and knee joints. Dr. Matisko suggests checking the soles of your shoes to see if one is more worn down than the other — that’s a sign you’re favoring one leg. If you are, focus on placing equal pressure on both feet when standing.
Make mobility exercises a daily routine.
To test your hip mobility, try touching your mid-calf without bending your knees, or bringing one ankle over your opposite knee while sitting. Struggling with either of those movements can be a sign that your hip joint is limited.
If your hips hurt, even performing basic tasks can feel intimidating. But inactivity can lead to joint stiffness, more discomfort and pain in other areas of the body, said Dylan Kobsar, an associate professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Ontario.
If you don’t have pain, mobility exercises can still improve the range of motion of your joints and prevent future tightness, Dr. Tanaka said.
Start by setting aside five minutes at the beginning and end of your day to focus on exercises that take your hips through each plane of movement, like forward and back leg swings, seated internal rotations and hip controlled articular rotations on all fours. You can also do a few exercises any time you stand up from your desk.
Focus on building strength.
You can target your abductor muscles, which help stabilize your pelvis and allow your hip to rotate outward, with exercises like side planks with hip abduction and banded clamshells. To strengthen your hamstrings, which extend your hip, try banded glute bridges.
Single-leg exercises can help improve balance and control, which is particularly important for adults over 65, said Dr. Kobsar. Try movements like reverse lunges and single-leg squats using just your body weight.
Pauses during an exercise, also called isometric holds, can help you spot areas of weakness or compensation. For example, at the bottom of a lunge, try to keep your front knee from caving inward, which can be a sign of weak glutes.
If you focus on proper form, a consistent mobility and strength routine can significantly improve your hip health.
“It’s not about how much strength or motion or flexibility you have,” said Dr. Tanaka, but how all three work together to keep you moving through daily life without pain.