There’s a moment, often in mid-life, when hips start making themselves known. I don’t mean in a dramatic way; perhaps you just notice a little more stiffness getting up from the sofa than you used to, or towards the end of a longer walk than usual. It’s more of a vague awareness that something you never used to think about is now occasionally needing your attention.
You might start adding in a daily stretch, which makes sense, because it usually helps in the moment. But the reality is that it doesn’t change much long-term, so you find it becoming a more regular occurrence. And there’s a reason for that.
The two things hips actually need
From working with hundreds of people, I keep seeing the same two gaps in how we use our hips in daily life. The first is rotation, and the second, and the one I want to focus on today, is the hinge.
Not because the hinge is the more important movement of the two, or the one you should always be doing. As ergonomists like to say, your best position is always your next one. The point isn’t to repeat one pattern on a loop; it’s to make sure the patterns you’re missing get back into the mix.
And for most people, the hinge is one of those.
Why the hinge matters more than you might think
The hip hinge is firstly the movement of driving your hips back as your upper body lowers forward; rear behind your heels, spine long rather than rounding. It’s the foundation of a squat, one way of picking something up from the floor, and can be a hip movement that’s rarely used. Secondly it also happens when you bring your bent (or straight!) leg up in front of you, whilst standing on the other leg (think marching on the spot).
When you hinge, even just with the load of your own body weight, you activate the glutes, the largest and most powerful muscle group around the hip. One of the key things that improves the mobility at a joint, and the thing that surprises people, is not passively stretching, it’s when a muscle works through its range with greater control for as much of that range as possible. This active control creates stronger hips that move with more ease, not less.
The problem is that modern life has quietly engineered the hinge out. And our bodies have found clever ways to avoid it without even noticing.
The shortcut your body has probably already found
In this week’s Make Movement Matter podcast, I talk about the micro-movements our bodies learn to skip – often so gradually that we don’t register the shift until the stiffness arrives.
Getting out of a chair is one of the best examples. If you find yourself pushing down on the seat or the arms of the chair to help yourself stand up, this is a way of avoiding actively using the strengthening method of the hip hinge, and with it, the activation (and therefore strengthening) of the glutes. It’s an entirely understandable shortcut, but over time, the shortcut becomes the default, and the hips can slowly lose a daily dose of the work they need.
If your hips have been feeling stiff lately, that habit is worth looking at.
How your chair can help you add back the hinge
Every time you sit down and stand up, you have an opportunity to hinge. Which means, depending on your day, you have somewhere between five and twenty chances to give your hips exactly what they need, without adding any extra time into your routine.
Here’s the practical version:
Sitting down with control: Stand a foot-length further from the chair than usual (less to start if it feels too much) – this shifts the focus to reaching your hips back rather than simply lowering down. Hinge first, letting your bottom reach behind your heels and your arms reach forward as a counterbalance. Then bend your knees to lower yourself onto the seat. Notice if you drop the last few inches and instead work on trying to control the lower.
Standing up with strength: Sit at the front edge of the seat, feet flat, knees at 90 degrees. Hinge your upper body forward, keeping your spine tall instead of rounded, then shift your weight into your heels and press through them to stand.
No equipment, no extra time, although I’d highly recommend repeating this a few times each time you sit or stand up to get more from the moment. It’s amazing what a slight change in your focus, on a movement you’re already doing, can do in the long-run.
Simple ways to start prioritising your hips today
If you know you’re capable of standing without using your hands but have slipped into the habit anyway, try avoiding the arms of the chair for the rest of today.
And take it further: each time you sit or stand up, touch the seat with your rear and come back up two or three times before settling. By the end of the day, you’ll have worked your hips more than you might expect, and all you changed was how you did something you were doing anyway.
When stretching alone isn’t enough
If your hips feel tight on a regular basis, it’s worth asking an honest question: how much are they actively being used?
Hips that hinge (and rotate – more of that in another blog!) – under load, through daily life, repeatedly – tend to be hips that move with more ease. The stretch feels good in the moment, but adding in a wider range of active hip movements is what changes things over time.
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If hips are on your radar, Happier Hips in 5 Stepsis a short, practical mini course that goes deeper into what your hips actually need, and how to start giving it to them.
If you’re ready to bring this kind of thinking to your whole body, Reclaim Everyday Easeis full of ways to turn everyday movement moments into ones that genuinely build mobility, strength and stability. The next cohort starts on 27th April and door open soon – if you’d like to be first to hear and receive an early bird offer, you can add your name to the waitlist here.
