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.
When the hips are stiff and tight, exercises can help loosen up the area to make the muscles more relaxed. These exercises start with some easier isometrics and progress to a little harder.
A piriformis stretch is great for your piriformis muscle and also your glutes. It can help with hip tightness and is often a great stretch for sciatica and sciatic type pain. This stretch can sometimes be difficult if the hip is tight. But here is a great way to modify the piriformis stretch to get some hip pain relief.
Tight hips can be a real pain! The hip muscles can get tight for many reasons, and it's often painful to stretch and/or strengthen them. Isometric exercises can be a great way to help relax tight hip muscles and help strengthen them at the same time.
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.
Tight hips can be caused by many different things including arthritis, muscles imbalance, strains, sprains, and alignment issues. These hip stretches should help.
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.
Greater trochanteric bursitis, aka hip bursitis, can be very painful & debilitating. It can be caused by trauma to the area, a tight IT band/TFL, or even an issue somewhere else in the body, like the back, knees, or ankles.
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.
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.
