These Pelvic Floor Exercises are some of my favorites. Since the pelvic floor muscles are small, it doesn’t take a lot of movement to work them, so it’s best to start with a little and slowly work up.
The pelvic floor is a group of small muscles along the floor of the pelvis. They help support organs in the pelvis and help with stability in the hip area.
The first exercise is going to be a pelvic tilt. When done correctly, you are not using your legs to tilt at the pelvis, just your pelvic muscles.
Then you can progress to doing pelvic clocks. It’s just like it sounds by imagining you have a clock on your tummy. Then you can tilt at different angles of the clock.
The next exercise is a progressive movement, so you can start with each movement at a time. Place a ball in between your knees. Go into a pelvic tilt and squeeze the ball. If those are easy, then lift your feet to where your hips and knees are at about a 90-degree angle. Then if that’s easy, you can place your hands on the front of your thighs to also activate your hip flexors by pushing into your hands. Try to keep your tilt the whole time.
The last two exercises focus on the obturator internus muscle. It also attaches to the femur bone to help with stability. So it’s a great general hip exercise as well. Place the ball in between your knees again, and while you squeeze into the ball, push your feet outward without moving them with an isometric squeeze.
Finally, wrap a belt or strap around your ankles, and roll onto your stomach. Bend your knees so your feet are up toward the ceiling. Push out into the belt like you are pushing your feet away from each other, and at the same time tighten your core by tucking your tailbone in.
Often tight hip flexor muscles can cause hip pain. My favorite stretch for this area is a modified hip flexor stretch. It’s great for the hip, knee, and back area.
Greater trochanteric bursitis, or hip bursitis, can be very painful and debilitating. These stretches and exercises can help relieve hip bursitis pain.
Stiff and tight hips can be caused by many things including arthritis, an injury & overuse. When the hips tighten up, it can also lead to low back pain and/or knee pain. These stiff hip stretches may provide relief.
These hip exercises are great for strengthening your hips to help relieve hip pain. They go from lying down to sitting down to standing up and range from pretty easy to hard depending on your injury.
Hip pain can also cause pain in your back and knees. Loosening up the hip joint and strengthening the muscles around the area should help decrease the pain.
The biggest myth about hip arthritis pain relief is that exercise makes the condition worse. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, one of the most beneficial exercises for hip arthritis pain relief is the lunge. Lunges are great to do every day, but make sure to progress slowly so it doesn’t get inflamed.
Therapeutic Yoga is a great way to help relieve hip pain by incorporating physical therapy and yoga. Trudy, a fellow PT and registered yoga teacher from HEAL Wellness and Therapy, stopped by to guide me through some stretches and exercises for the hip.
This real-time hip routine features easy stretches & exercises that can help strengthen the hips & relieve pain. It can also help decrease hip tightness and improve overall hip flexibility.
These Pelvic Floor Exercises are some of my favorites. Since the pelvic floor muscles are small, it doesn’t take a lot of movement to work them, so it’s best to start with a little and slowly work up.
