How to protect your back from injuries in the gym and in life: developing the mobility of the hip joints

Why develop hip mobility

The hip joints work when you sit on and off the sofa, when you lift a heavy box from the floor or chair, when you do deadlifts or deadlifts in the gym.

If your hip joints are not flexible enough due to the stiff, unstretched muscles surrounding them, you will not be able to bend down, keeping the spine in a neutral position. By rounding your back, you lift weights at the expense of it, without fully using your gluteal muscles. All this is fraught with back pain, herniated discs and other problems.

You can only avoid them if you get used to moving correctly. Hip Hinge is flexion and extension in the hip joints with a straight back and gently bent knees. This movement pattern will allow you to lift weights and train without harming the spine, and work with large weights effectively.

How to check the mobility of the hip joints

You will need PVC tubing, bodybar, or any straight and long enough stick.

Test 1

Press the stick to the spine, bend at the hip joints, and then straighten.

The stick should touch the tailbone, hands on the lower back, upper back, hands against the neck. And the touch at these points must be maintained throughout the entire movement.

Any loss of contact and the test fails.

Test 2

Lean forward and touch your feet with your hands, keeping your knees straight (tighten your quads).

If you cannot do this with straight knees, you will need to do exercises to develop joint mobility and hamstring flexibility.

Test 3

Place the stick on your back: the points of contact are the same as in the first exercise.

Lean your body forward while standing on one leg. Keep your hips and raised leg straight. Use a mirror to see if you're doing it right or not:

Looking at yourself straight, make sure that there is no twisting at the knee, the leg going back is exactly under the hip, and the supporting leg is straight.
Looking at yourself from the side, make sure that the backward leg is in line with the body.

Better yet, run tests with a partner and track each other's positions.

If you haven't passed some test, you need exercises to develop hip mobility and strength.

Incorporate these exercises into your workout and repeat the tests over time.

How to learn to move correctly

1. Joint mobility

Develop elasticity in the calf muscles, hamstrings, hip flexors and extensors. Stretching the muscles will help increase joint mobility.

In addition to stretching, you can use a massage roller: roll out the gluteal muscles, the back of the thigh, and the calf muscles on it every day.

Massage helps to relax stiff muscles, improve blood circulation and increase elasticity, which in turn increases joint mobility.

2. Static stability

To develop static stability, you must accept a certain position and maintain it for some time.

Hold hip hinj for 30 seconds, repeat three times.
Perform a deep bent barbell row. Keep your back straight and pull the barbell towards your lower abdomen, maintaining a straight lift path. Start with 20-25% of your weight. Key point: Don't sacrifice good form for more weight.

3. Dynamic exercises

Several dynamic hip hinja exercises.

Stretching the expander tape between the legs

For this exercise, you will need a resistance band and a stand to hook it onto.

Hook on the expander, stand with your back to the rack and stretch it between your legs. Take a starting position: you are standing straight, the expander passes between your legs, you hold it in your lowered hands in front of you.

Perform hip hinj very slowly and smoothly. At the same time, the hands go back under the influence of the expander and end the movement between the legs.

Straighten your body sharply while stretching the expander.

Deadlift with resistance

Assemble the deadlift bar. Do not carry too much weight, because the exercise will become more difficult due to resistance.

Place the expander on the bar so that the two loops are on the floor. Step on both loops with your feet and deadlift while stretching the expander.

Mahi kettlebell in Russian style

Take the kettlebell with both hands. Bend your body at the hip joint and bring the kettlebell back between your legs.

While straightening, swing the kettlebell in front of you to shoulder level or higher and bring the kettlebell back again.

4. Changing the pattern of movement

These exercises will help you develop the habit of moving properly. Concentrate on your body position throughout the entire movement.

Deadlift against the wall

Stand with your back to the wall at a distance of 10 cm from it. Keeping your back straight, bend at the hip joints so that your buttocks reach the wall. Stop when you touch the wall, and then return to the starting position. Use a stick to test the correctness of the exercise.

If you manage to do the exercise without losing your balance, move a little further away from the wall and do the same exercise.

Repeat until you are so far away that you can barely touch the wall with your buttocks.

Repeat the exercise from this distance, in full control of the body and especially the flexion in the hip joints.

Alternate Kettlebell Deadlift

Stand straight, place the kettlebell on the floor between your legs. Bend your body at the hip joints and bend over with the kettlebell. When you reach it, engage your latissimus dorsi, bring your shoulder blades together and lift the kettlebell with one hand.

Bring the kettle back into the correct hip hinj position and straighten without the kettlebell.

Repeat with the other hand.

5. Development of strength

Perform deadlifts at 70-90% of your one-time maximum.

6. Strength endurance

Do the following exercises:

Slow deadlift.
Lifting the barbell to the chest.
Swing the kettlebell.
Throwing a medball while jumping into a wall or up.

With these exercises, you can develop the mobility of your hip joints and pump the muscles around them.

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