Strength & Conditioning: 002 / Focus on hips
All running or walking activities challenge your hip and core stability. Good hip and core stability aren’t just about strength, it’s about timing. The muscles around your hips and core don’t work in isolation, they work as a team, where proactive stabilisation precedes the actual movement. For example, your body is already making adjustments to keep your hips and core stable when you run.
Core and hip stability exercises make muscles stronger, but also smarter. This will enable your muscles to do a better job with your posture and body alignment through your hips and core while you’re running or walking without you even thinking about it.
Complete core and hip exercises in a slow, controlled fashion. Pay attention to the movement. Start with simple exercises before progressing to more advanced ones. Quality > Quantity!
Disclaimer / This exercise routine is not designed as an injury rehab routine, but rather a supplementary session to improve muscle strength and coordination. You should not experience any discomfort or pain doing these exercises Please avoid doing them if you are currently injured or unwell. Prioritise correct exercise technique over speed.
Half step (front-to-back)
Start in half squat position. Shift your weight on one foot while maintaining a good balance. Your free leg should touch a ground in front of you and behind. Repeat while keeping your core as stable as possible and not allowing your hip to drop.
Complete 2-3 sets and as many repetitions as you can using a good form.
Banded walk
Put an elastic band around your ankles. Keep your hands on your waist. Move forward with your feet in zigzag pattern while maintaining balance in your core and hips. The slower you go the more challenging the exercise is.
Complete 2-3 sets, approx. 6-8 steps
Donkey toes
Start on your feet and hands keeping your spine stable and perpendicular to the ground. Light your thigh without loosing stability and control. Try to keep your thigh bent at 90 degrees. You can choose to complete one side first or alternate between legs for each repetition.
Complete 2-3 sets, 6-8 repetitions each side
Standing hip rotations
Start from standing with both feet touching the ground. Shift your weight on one foot while maintaining a good balance. Start making slow and big circle-shape rotations from your hips without loosing your balance and focusing at complete control. If you find it challenging to maintain balance it is fine to hold onto something.
Complete 2 sets, 5-8 rotations each side
Single leg bridge
Start on the floor. Extend your arms in front of you. Bend your knees to approx. 90 degree angle and lift your hips from the ground so that your lower and upper body forms a straight line posture. Now, straighten the leg on one side without allowing your hip to drop. Lower your hips and come back to the same position in controlled and slow fashion.
Complete 2-3 sets, 4-8 repetitions each side
Single leg deadlift
Start from standing position. Shift your weight to one side. Hinge forward through your hips while keeping your balance on your stable leg. Try reaching the foot with your hand. Take it slow and maintain good movement control from start to finish. For more advanced version, hold a weight in your hands.
Complete 2-3 sets, 6-8 repetitions each side
Single leg hop forward
Shift to a single leg stance. Load your muscles while lowering your centre of mass and hop a small step forward. Try to calculate all movement in your head so that you land in full control and without loosing a balance. Then, hop another two or three steps forward before walking back to the start or turning around and switching legs.
Complete a total of 12-15 mini-hops with each leg
Single leg side step
Start in half squat position. Choose a side and reach with your foot as far as you can without loosing control and balance. Switch sides and repeat. You can choose to complete several steps on one side first or alternate between legs with each repetition.
Complete 2-3 sets, ~8-12 steps each side
Hip flex with resistance band
Put an elastic band around your ankles. Make your stance a bit wider. Flex your hip to 90-110 degrees without loosing a balance and keeping your posture straight. Elastic band will add extra challenge. Alternate between sides for each repetition.
Complete 2-3 sets, 8-12 repetitions
Single leg hop (from side-to-side)
Hop from one side to other side approximately one metre apart. Each time push from the ground from a single foot and try to land on one foot. Your free leg/foot will just be doing “catching-up” and occasionally helping with balance.
Complete 2-3 sets, 6-10 hops from side-to-side
Have fun training and feel free to comment!
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