Some thoughts and discussions from me.
3 Hip Stretches to Do After Your Next Run
…or deadlift sesh, or spinning class, or anything that includes the hips!
When I first started running back in 2008, I did it all wrong.
Actually, I take that back. I started with couch 2 5k, which was one thing I did do right. I started slowly, and built my way up to running a continuous 3.1 miles over the course of 8-9 weeks. Like many, this 9 week journey ended with my very first 5k race.
It was 29 minutes of adrenaline, determination, and pride with a finale of one hell of a runners’ high. After that, you could say I was hooked. Naturally, I thought, if running 3 miles feels like that, I need to run MOAR! So I ran, and ran, and ran – all on the pavement. Some runners can naturally handle higher mileage pounding on pavement. I, however, am not one of those people. As I began training for half marathons, I also felt a little twinge in my hip.
During training for my third (and final) half marathon, the twinge became a pain, and resulted in an injury. Although training was a bit agonizing, I ran and finished that half – the Chicago Rock ‘n Roll.
There was so much stimulation during the race, that I just loved running it. But after it, I bowed out of running. I sort of started to hate it, and If it hurt me so much, I wasn’t going to do it anymore.
I’m still somewhat anti-long distance running, but now I’ve picked running back up – on trails. I still can’t take the boredom that comes along with road running for me. The varying terrain plus soft surface of the trails is much kinder to my knees and hips. Plus, the most I run is about 1-1.5 hours.
Regardless, I’m still being careful. Every day I do several hip strengthening exercises, along with several different stretches that a Physical Therapist showed me a while back. I wanted to share those stretches with you today in video-form! Each one stretches a different area in the hip, hitting all three areas in different rotations. Enjoy!
3 Hip Stretches to Do After Your Next Run
Regardless of your sport of choice for the day, a solid mobility and flexibility routine is imperative. In my clients’ and my own workouts, we spend the first 10 minutes on mobility, activation, and foam rolling, and take some time – 5-10 minutes at the end to stretch. Although stretching has gotten a bad rep lately, research studies are still proving how important it is to performance, recovery, and injury prevention. Just make sure to do it in a safe and effective manner 
How do you incorporate stretching into your workout routine?
What’s your favorite stretch?
i think i need this after i travel too! AHHHH soo good to stretch the hips
Yes! I’m always so stiff after trvel.
Doing these today!! My hips are TIGHT!
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Thanks for great hip stretches! The older I get the more sore they are after running. I also have my cross country athletes do hip stretches!
I will definitely be doing these stretches. I have really tight hips, so I’m sure these will help.
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I just love ’em!!
Good stretches! I have such tight hips. I incorporate stretching and mobility into my warm up always. It’s so important!
pigeon pose was always a favorite when i was running!
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Im so horrible at stretching my hips after my runs. Well, stretching in general lately! Which is why I have an annoying lower back injury 🙁 Tight glutes and hip flexors leads to lower back injuries… Lots of foam rolling, stretching and mobility this week after a month of pain is finally helping 🙂 I’ll definitely start doing more of these stretches!
Ahh! Love this post!!! Tight hips are the bane of my existence! I do each of these stretches all the time but you add in a couple different tips I can’t wait to try (like moving your foot side to side in the hip flexor stretch). Sometimes with stretches it’s the slightest tweak that makes it way more effective, maybe these will work….currently dealing with some killer gluteus medius issues 🙁
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Great tips Paige. I do all of those, but I did not know to do the last one lying down. That is a great idea, and like you said, can be more effective than the seated one. I never used to stretch much, but now I do it every day, and it makes a HUGE difference, especially in the hips. I am hoping it pays off in my race tomorrow 🙂
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Oh how I love hip stretches…Yoga is my stretch time and oh it feels so good. Our hips don’t lie when we do a lot of running, so the yoga has been so beneficial for me on all physical levels as well as mental. 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
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Hip openers are the best!! I need this right about now in my training- thanks 🙂
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