If your knees have been barking at you during training, or for hours after, your hips might be the culprit. Tight hips shift stress to the joints above and below them, and your knees tend to take the brunt of it.
The good news: 3 minutes of intentional hip work can change how everything feels. Run through these three drills when you wake up in the morning, or drop them into your warm-up before training. Either way, your hips will feel different than they did before.
One rule that applies to all three: go slow and purposeful. The goal is to ease just a tiny degree further into the stretch each time. We’re not holding for 30 seconds. We’re moving dynamically. Ease in, hold for one to two seconds, ease back out.
One set, eight reps per side.
1. The Lunge with Rotation (External Rotation)
(Glutes, hamstrings, hip flexors, thoracic spine)
This one has a lot of names: runner’s lunge, world’s greatest stretch. What I call it is the lunge with rotation, and it earns every nickname it’s been given. It hits nearly everything at once while specifically helping your external rotation and opening up your thoracic spine.
- Step one foot forward into a deep lunge, back knee on the ground
- Plant your same-side hand on the floor inside your front foot
- Rotate your chest toward your front knee and reach your top hand as high into the sky as you can
- On the way down, try to bring that elbow as close to the ground as possible
- That full range, up to the sky and down toward the floor, is one rep
2. The Lateral Hip Shift (Internal Rotators)
(Adductors)
Start in a tall kneeling position, then bring one foot out to the side so your knee is at 90 degrees or beyond. You’ll feel this along your inner thigh, which is a notoriously tight spot for hockey players, firefighters, and distance runners. If you fall into any of those categories, this one is for you.
- Start in a tall kneeling position on a soft surface
- Slide one foot out to the side until your knee is at 90 degrees or slightly beyond
- Keep your chest tall and your hips square
- Gently shift your weight toward the extended leg until you feel a stretch along your inner thigh
- Ease in, pause for one to two seconds, then ease back to center
3. The Hip Flexor Stretch
(Hip flexors, some quad)
The setup here looks similar to the lateral hip shift, but the target is different. If you spend a lot of your day sitting at a desk, your hip flexors are almost certainly short and tight. Sitting keeps them in a shortened position for hours on end, and they don’t let go easily. This stretch is a direct fix for that.
- Start in a tall kneeling position with one knee down and one foot forward
- Keep your chest tall and your hips level, don’t let them tilt or rotate
- Gently drive your hips forward, as if you’re trying to push your back hip toward the wall in front of you
- You should feel a stretch deep in the front of the hip on your back leg
- Ease in, pause for one to two seconds, then ease back to the start
Put Them Together
Run all three back to back and your hips will feel noticeably different than when you started. Do this consistently, in your warm-up or first thing in the morning, and you’ll start to notice your knees aren’t getting as aggravated during or after training.
Try them out and let me know how you feel.
If this was helpful, share it with someone who’s been dealing with nagging knee pain. Find us on social media or reach out directly at [email protected].
Ian Smith, Owner/Lead Trainer
Mountain Speed Strength & Fitness | Evergreen, CO