A Simple Exercise to Ease Hip Capsule Tightness

Your hips are large, weight-bearing joints that take a lot of stress, especially during sports and exercise. To combat any pain you feel and to increase your range of motion, it’s time to do some hip capsular stretches.

People often complain of tight hips. Tight hip capsules are more likely found in individuals who sit for long periods of the day in front of a computer or at a desk. Also, those with little need to squat during the day will have tightening of the posterior hip capsule.

Here’s a simple exercise you can do in your own home to break up any tightness you’re feeling in your hip capsular and improve your mobility.

1. You need a strong exercise band and a firm, heavy object to attach it to.

2. Attach one end of the band to your stable object and slip the other end up as high as you can on the front of your hip. Avoid placing the band on an area that’s too tender.

3. Walk yourself forward to get good tension on your hip and then drop down into a lunging position. Rest the knee of the hip being stretched on a towel or some other object to keep you from being drawn backward.

4. Flex your glutes forward while the band puts tension on your capsule.

5. Then move your hip around to get the stretch into the corners a bit.

6. Spend about 2 minutes finding the corners and putting tension to break up any tightness in your hip capsules, making sure to bounce in and out of the corners.

7. Make sure to keep your back flat, flexing your glute, and moving in and out of the corners.

8. Then drop back close to your heel and put weight to your knee. That weight pushes your femur back to work in conjunction with the tension of the band to loosen gummed up capsules.

9. Slide your hip out a little bit to find the corners. This works wonders to increase your hip flexion.

10. Once you get comfortable with that stretch, move your foot out a little bit to get even deeper.

Don’t be surprised if you’re sore for 48 hours afterward because you might have broken up some scar tissue. You can perform this exercise for 2 minutes every other day. And don’t perform the stretch again if you feel acute pain or the soreness doesn’t dissipate after 48 hours.

Contact Pleasantview Physiotherapy Clinic to help you move past your pain and get back to living life to its fullest.