All the steps you need to fix your hips

My Tips for Freeing Tight Hips and Activating Strong Glutes

As a fitness professional who has worked with countless clients struggling with hip discomfort and mobility limitations, I’ve experimented with exercises to truly open up tight hip joints and strengthen sluggish glutes. Through years of learning what works (and what doesn’t!), I’ve developed a targeted approach using specific stretches and activation drills.

When addressing hip mobility, most focus on wide-legged poses. But in my experience, “the biggest problem I see with the hips is hip internal rotation - that’s the ability to rotate your hip inward” and externally rotate outward. Limited mobility here negatively impacts alignment and strains joints above and below. So I coach clients to test rotation - “how high is my knee from the ground” internally and externally to assess imbalance.

If lacking internal rotation, I cue squeezing the inner thigh to deepen the stretch, pushing against the hand for added intensity. For tight external rotators, I’ll “put your foot on top of the chair...and imagine bringing your chest towards your foot.” This bow stretch opens tight outer hip muscles beautifully. My favorite exercise for both is the “hip 9090” - rotating from an internal to external 90 degree position for well-rounded mobility.

Just as essential is firing up lazy glutes - “most people who have...pain in their lower back do not know how to use their glutes.” My #1 glute activation go-to is prone hip extension: “curl your heel Towards the Sky...and try to lift the knee of the bent leg off the ground.” Feeling that booty burn helps establish a mind-muscle connection missing for many. I also love bridging variations - squeezed glutes should do the lifting, not passive spinal extension.

Combining these alignment, flexibility and strength principles, I designed an integrated exercise flowing from ankle to knee to hip working in unison. From a single-leg hinge, I cue clients to “push through that back heel and you're going to have all 10 fingers on the chair” gradually reducing hand support as balance improves. When hips and glutes work optimally, it takes pressure off overtaxed joints up and down the chain.

Through targeted stretching, activation focused on form, and sequenced progressions, I’ve seen even the tightest, weakest hips transform. My tips aim to first reconnect clients with these foundational movement patterns and then gradually challenge them once that mind-muscle connection has been established. It’s deeply fulfilling empowering others to move with more ease and less restriction or pain!