When you tell us your hips feel tight every time you stand up from your desk in Jurupa Valley, the place to start is how a chair holds your hip. Sitting keeps the hip bent near a right angle, and the muscles at the front of the hip stay in a shortened position for as long as you sit. At Recovery Lab of Corona, CA, we help guests work on that stiffness with guided mobility stretching, where our specialist helps you into each stretch and then guides how you move.
In adults, long sitting with little activity is linked with less hip extension, the backward swing of the thigh you use in a long stride. Stretching the front of the hip is a way to work on that backward swing. The hip moves in other directions too, and each of them uses its own muscles.
The Front Of The Hip After Sitting
Your hip flexors are the muscles at the front of the hip that lift your thigh toward your body. In a chair your thigh is already lifted, so those muscles spend the whole time in a shortened position. When you stand up, those muscles lengthen as your thigh moves back in line with your body. They're the same muscles that lift your knee each time you climb a step.
Hip extension is the opposite motion to sitting in a chair. Each stride you take ends with some of it, as your back leg trails behind your body. The gluteal muscles at the back of the hip help power that backward swing, since they extend the thigh. It's the range we work toward with you, since mobility stretching helps ease stiffness and improve your range of motion.
Setting The Pelvis For A Front-Of-Hip Stretch
A kneeling front-of-hip stretch lengthens the hip flexors, with one knee down and the other foot planted ahead of you. Where you feel the pull depends on the angle of your pelvis. A slight tuck of the pelvis, with the low back kept from arching, focuses the stretch on the hip flexors. In this stretch the kneeling leg is the one being lengthened, with its thigh drawn back in line with your body. Our specialist helps you into targeted stretches for the front of the hip, and the tuck is part of what this one requires. While you hold it, our specialist assists the stretch and guides each movement within a range that stays comfortable. You can focus on the steady pull at the front of your hip while we look after the position.
Moving Through The Range You Just Opened
Mobility stretching at our studio is guided, active stretching. Once our specialist has helped you into a stretch, we guide you to move the leg through that range with control. Holding the stretch opens the range, and moving with control has you use that range while it's open. Each movement stays slow and smooth as you go.
Because the hip is a ball-and-socket joint, your thigh swings forward and back, lifts out to the side, crosses in front of your body and turns in and out. A desk day keeps it in one of those positions for hours. Deeper at the back of the hip, beneath the gluteal muscles, the rotators, such as the piriformis, turn the thigh outward. Each position stretches a different group of muscles. We also guide you into targeted stretches for the back of the hip and through controlled movement in each one.
Medical Care Comes Before Stretching For Some Hip Pain
Some hip pain belongs with a doctor before any stretching starts. Severe hip pain after a fall, a leg that won't take weight, or a hot, swollen hip needs medical care, so see a doctor before stretching. Once your doctor has checked the hip, you're welcome to book a session with us.
Reserve A Hip Session At Our Corona Studio
At your visit, our specialist assists every hip stretch and guides the controlled movement that follows. No referral or medical note is needed to book. Recovery Lab of Corona, CA keeps evening hours, so you can book a visit after a full day at your desk. Call (951) 460-8009 to reserve your first mobility stretching session.
