Try these simple hip exercises today
What's the story
Strengthening the hip abductors is essential for maintaining balance, enhancing athletic performance, and preventing injuries. The muscles on the outer side of the hips are key to stabilizing the pelvis when you move. By including certain exercises in your routine, you can easily target these muscles and improve their strength. Here are five exercises that efficiently target the hip abductors.
Leg raises
Side-lying leg raises
Side-lying leg raises are a simple yet effective exercise to target the hip abductors. To perform this exercise, lie on your side with legs straight and stacked. Slowly lift the top leg as high as possible without rotating your hips or torso. Hold for a moment at the top before lowering it back down. This movement isolates the hip abductor muscles and can be performed with or without ankle weights for added resistance.
Clamshells
Clamshell exercise
The clamshell exercise is perfect for activating and strengthening the gluteus medius muscle, an integral part of the hip abductors. Start by lying on your side with knees bent at a forty-five-degree angle, and feet together. Keeping feet touching, lift your top knee as high as you can while keeping hips stable. Lower it down slowly to complete one rep. You can intensify this exercise using resistance bands around thighs.
Standing abduction
Standing hip abduction
Standing hip abduction is a great way to target these muscles while also working on balance and stability. Stand upright with feet shoulder-width apart and hands resting on hips or holding on to a support for balance if required. Lift one leg out to the side, keeping it straight, until you feel the tension in your outer thigh area; then return it slowly back to starting position.
Band walks
Lateral band walks
Lateral band walks are perfect for building strength in both hip abductors and stabilizers around knees simultaneously via dynamic movement patterns mimicking real-life activities like walking/running sideways across uneven terrain surfaces (grass fields, et cetera)! Place resistance band just above ankles (or below knees), then step sideways leading with the first foot followed closely by the second foot, ensuring constant tension remains throughout the entire set duration.
Fire hydrants
Fire hydrant exercise
Fire hydrant exercises strengthen both primary and secondary supporting muscles involved in the complex biomechanical chain for functional mobility. Start off on all fours, making sure that your wrists are directly under shoulders and knees under hips. Next, raise one knee away from your body, maintaining a ninety-degree angle between your thigh and calf, before returning to the starting position to complete one rep.