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The Common ENEMY of Your Hips and Shoulders: The Lats

The Common ENEMY of Your Hips and Shoulders: The Lats

by | Jul 31, 2021 | Blog, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Pain Relief, Stretches

Everything is connected.

And all too often the point of pain is NOT where the problem is.

That is why, when you have aches and pains, especially nagging ones that you can’t seem to get rid of, you need to start searching further away from the point of pain.

Take for instance SHOULDER pain.

Often the first “rehab” exercises we start to include focus on shoulder mobility and strengthening of those muscles around the joint.

And this is a great place to start!

But what if, despite you doing all of the proper rehab work, things just aren’t fully getting better?

Or what if you continue to suffer from flare ups that don’t seem to be triggered by any specific upper body exercises that you can identify?

What if the actual culprit of your shoulder pain is an issue at your lumbo-pelvic-hip complex?

That’s right…what if that lower back pain or anterior pelvic tilt or SI joint issue you’ve been having is CONNECTED to your shoulder pain?!

What if your lower back, hips and shoulders have a shared “enemy”?

And what if that shared “enemy” is your LATS or the Latissimus Dorsi!

Because BOTH of these areas are affected by that one muscle.

YUP!

While we often just think of our lats as a big back muscle, playing a role in our upper body functioning, they can also affect our SI joint via their attachment to the thoracolumbar fascia and even affect the alignment of our pelvis!

So while it may seem crazy, working to correct imbalances at your hip complex could help relax tight and overactive lats and help you alleviate your shoulder aches and pains!

So how exactly are the lats a common enemy of both your hip complex AND your shoulders and what can you do to start correcting the problem?

THE LAT CONNECTION:

Ok…your lats aren’t really your enemy…

It’s almost the case of you “blame the messenger”…or the messenger becoming more involved than they should be!

Because our lats are really a bridge between our upper and lower body.

They play a role in stabilizing our shoulders, scapulae (shoulder blades), lumbar spine, sacroiliac joint as well as our pelvis.

The lats have a far reaching impact and affect a TON of structures and movements!

They are a bridge that can perpetuate distortions and compensations from one hemisphere to the other.

They can become tight and overactive due to other muscular imbalances and weaknesses and then lead to aches and pains in the other region.

And for this reason they can be a common “enemy” of both our upper body and lumbo-pelvic-hip complex and SI joint.

Of course the real “enemy” is our rounded-shoulder, flexed posture created by sitting hunched over our technology for 9 hours a day.

A posture that leads to muscles, like the lats becoming tight and overactive, and muscles, like our glutes, becoming underactive.

Underactive glutes can lead to anterior pelvic tilt, hip hikes (if one side is underactive especially) and tight, overactive lats that perpetuate the pain and create upper body dysfunction as well.

Lat tightness can itself create a hip hike on the same side as the tight lat and anterior pelvic tilt and SI joint issues as well.

Both the glute and lat need to work together to protect us and make sure we have the proper mobility and stability.

If these muscles aren’t working well together, this distortion can show up as upper body, specifically even, shoulder aches and pains.

And the lats also can have a DIRECT impact on our shoulder health.

Tight lats can contribute to internally rotated shoulders, or that rounded shoulder posture, as well as restricted shoulder flexion aka your ability to reach overhead.

Ever wonder why you struggle to get your arms overhead to press and end up arching your lower back to compensate?

Tight lats may be part of the problem.

Tight, overactive lats can restrict proper shoulder mobility, negatively impact your shoulder stability, and even impact your scapular mobility as well (and this may be holding you back too from achieving that first full pull up not to mention a culprit of shoulder, upper back and even neck pain!)

Basically, you need to address lat tightness, both tightness of both lats and even an imbalance between the two, and then further investigate if there are distortions at your hip complex or SI joint or actually in your upper body, that may be perpetuating the tightness!

Here are 3 moves to help you get started making sure this “bridge” is functioning well!

3 MOVES TO TRY TODAY TO IMPROVE YOUR SHOULDER AND HIP HEALTH:

These 3 moves will start addressing lat tightness and overactivity while also working to engage them in a productive way to help alleviate and prevent shoulder AND hip aches and pains.

These are perfect moves to include as a restorative session after a long day at work or as part of your warm up for you upper body, or potentially even LOWER BODY, lifting session.

Exercise #1 Half-Kneeling TFL and Lat Stretch:

Want to address hip and shoulder issues in one stretch? Try this Half Kneeling TFL and Lat Stretch!

The TFL can commonly be tight as well which can further inhibit proper glute functioning. So this hip stretch with the reach across is a great way to address lat and TFL tightness in one movement.

To do this stretch set up half kneeling in front of a wall. Squeeze that back glute as you reach your hands overhead on the wall. While leaning slightly forward to reach up the wall, make sure to engage your glute to keep your hip extended.

Reach your arms away from the knee that is back and over and across that front knee. Even turn the palm of the hand in back away from the wall so your palm is facing back. This external shoulder rotation will further stretch your lat. Pause then walk your hands back center and repeat reaching across as you keep that back glute engaged.

Feel the stretch down your side and down the side of your hip.

Exercise #2 Lat Foam Rolling:

A key first step in making sure our lats are functioning correctly is relaxing them when they are overactive. A great way to do this so we can better mobilize the shoulder joint is by foam rolling. You can even include this move before the Half-Kneeling TFL and Lat Stretch. When you do, you’ll be surprised even by how much better of a stretch you get!

Place a roller to the side behind your armpit and lie on your side over the roller. Reach your hand overhead with your palm facing up to stretch your lat as you roll.

Hold on any tight spots as you reach your arm overhead then lower it down in front of your chest. Repeat the slow arm movement as you hold.

Then move the roller to another spot, working down the side of your back and shoulder blade. Then switch sides.

You can also use a ball if you know your exact trigger points and want to apply more pressure or even need to roll out against a wall because you can’t get down on the ground.

Exercise #3 Wall Hip Dips:

Wall Hip Dips are a great way to address unilateral lat issues, or issues only on one side, especially at our lumbo-pelvic-hip complex. This is a great move to help improve your pelvic alignment.

This move is a very modified version of something like the side plank hip dips and is focused on really making sure you’re activating the correct muscles, including your glute medius and obliques, while helping improve your lat flexibility and SI Joint alignment.

To do Wall Hip Dips, stand with your side to the wall and lean into the wall with your upper arm against the wall. You can bend your elbow to 90 degrees to place the back of your forearm against the wall too so you aren’t trying to cheat and rock off the wall.

Your feet should be about a foot from the wall and only a few inches apart at most.

Then drop your hip toward the wall. Do not rotate, but just move laterally.

Then engage your glute and oblique closest to the wall to raise your hip back up. Feel your oblique and glute work to move into almost a “side plank” position.
Then dip back toward the wall to almost feel a stretch down that side closest to the wall.

The further out from the wall, the more mobility you need. So start closer and move away as you can control the move without rotating or letting your shoulder come off the wall.

SUMMARY:

Remember, the point of pain isn’t always where the problem is! And overload can occur because of immobility or instability at a joint further away from our pain than we’d expect.

It’s why we need to pay attention to muscles and their different attachment points.

It’s why big muscles, like our lats, that bridge from our hips to our shoulders, need to get some extra TLC at times!

Try including these 3 moves as part of your warm up before your next workout if you’ve had shoulder or hip aches and pains you just can’t seem to get rid of!

Looking for 10 minute series to improve your mobility, flexibility and stability from head to toe?

Check out my Injury Prevention Pack:

–> LEARN MORE

4 Tips For Avoiding The Dreaded Menopausal Weight Gain

4 Tips For Avoiding The Dreaded Menopausal Weight Gain

by | Jul 27, 2021 | Blog, Diet

Say goodbye to your youthful body. Weight gain is inevitable. Bye bye abs.

Your life is over – you’ve hit MENOPAUSE!

It’s undeniable…your body is going to change with menopause.

But this doesn’t have to mean the end of your aesthetic goals.

It doesn’t have to mean accepting gaining weight and belly fat.

So how can you avoid the dreaded weight gain that often happens with menopause, especially when it feels like no matter what you try the fat continues to creep on?

How can you prevent your waist from growing when everything you’ve done doesn’t work and often even seems to make things worse?

First it’s key we understand the changes that our bodies go through during menopause and why it can feel like we gain weight if we even look at a cookie.

Then I’ll explain why your previous dieting and workout practices that always worked in the past will no longer cut it before we dive into what we CAN do to still get results!

So…Why do we gain weight with menopause?

As we enter menopause, our hormone levels are fluctuating dramatically and levels of the hormone estrogen drop.

These lower levels of estrogen can increase appetite and reduce satiety. (1)

So if you’ve been feeing like you’re hungrier than you used to be eating the same amount? It isn’t your mind playing tricks with you. It is actually that drop in estrogen impacting how fun you feel.

Lower levels of estrogen also reduce activation of brown fat, which is the metabolically-active body fat that burns energy. (2) So if we have a lower energy expenditure, we simply don’t need to consume as many calories as we used to in order to maintain our weight.

Not to mention as we get older in general, it becomes harder to build and retain lean muscle, which is key to a higher metabolic rate.

Basically our energy expenditure and basal metabolic rate both drop with menopause.

And that’s a bad combo. We FEEL hungrier yet our body actually needs LESS energy consumed to survive. It’s a recipe for weight gain.

Not to mention some of the side affects from menopause like mood swings and sleeping problems don’t lend themselves to us wanting to stay on track with our eating or always being motivated to workout when we should.

Sleep deprivation has actually been shown to make our brain’s reward system more susceptible to the appeal of junk food even. (3)

Basically, there are lots of things now working against us.

Not to mention even our PREVIOUS dieting and training practices may actually be making things WORSE.

And while this all sucks, recognizing it is the first step in finding a way to still move forward and achieve amazing results.

Now…how have your previous dieting and workout habits potentially made the issues worse?

We need to STOP the fad dieting, the trying to out exercise our diet cycle as early on as we can if we want to set ourselves up for success during menopause.

Otherwise our previous dieting practices often come back to haunt us.

Too often we’ve lost weight in the past by slashing our calories super low. Cutting out whole food groups. Doing a ton of steady state cardio. Or training extra to burn more calories.

We’ve focused on DOING MORE.

But these dieting and exercise practices may not only have been unsustainable long-term, they could now be compounding some of the issues we see with menopause.

Basically…Just because you “could” get away with something when you were younger, doesn’t mean you should have.

Too often the improper practices we implemented may have “worked” at the time, but they were creating a crack in our foundation we didn’t recognize. One that over time will lead to huge issues for the entire house.

Now you may be thinking, “Ok well I can’t go back in time.” And that’s true, but this is incentive to change how we train and fuel as soon as we can.

We need to stop focusing on simply eating less and training more if we want to set ourselves up for long term success.

Drop those old habits, even if they used to work, and get ready to train your body based on what it needs now with long-term success in mind.

And that’s why I want to share these 4 tips to help you avoid, or even reverse, the dreaded weight gain often associated with MENOPAUSE!

4 Tips To Help You Avoid The Dreaded Menopausal Weight Gain:

Tip #1: Don’t overdo the deficit.

With menopause, our metabolic rate and energy expenditure drops.

With getting older, we struggle more to build and retain lean muscle, which means we burn fewer calories during the day outside of our workouts.

As we get older, we also tend to become less active. And a more sedentary lifestyle also means fewer calories burned during the day.

So all of this means we technically need to consume fewer calories to survive.

Now you may be questioning why I mention not “overdoing” the deficit.

And this is because it perpetuates many of the metabolic adaptions we already see occurring with menopause and with getting older.

When you eat less, you train your body to need less. Your metabolism adapts.

It’s why previous dieting practices come into play. If you’ve always lost weight through extreme calorie deficits, you’ve essentially taught your body to function off of fewer calories.

It’s why, for longer term success, you want to create less of a calorie deficit even if it means technically seeing slower losses on the scale.

This smaller deficit will also help you focus more on FAT LOSS without as much risk for muscle loss.

And that’s essential as we get older since we already struggle to build and retain lean muscle. We want to make sure we’re fueling properly to preserve that muscle mass and keep our metabolic rate as high as possible.

So if you want to lose weight and you’re struggling, don’t jump to slashing calories lower. Instead try to even create less of a deficit than you may have in the past and get ready to stick with those habits long term!

Instead of slashing calories super low, track your food and focus on those macros…and one macro in particular…

Tip #2: Focus on protein.

As we get older, we can develop anabolic resistance – we are less able to utilize protein as efficiently. And this makes consuming enough protein even more important.

We want to do everything we can to promote muscle growth and retention. Not only does more muscle mean a higher resting metabolic rate, but it also means we’ll look leaner as we lose body fat.

It also simply helps us stay functionally stronger as we get older!

And while I’m talking about increasing protein to help with weight loss during menopause, it is truly key at every age because a high protein diet has been the only diet shown to help you build and retain lean muscle even while eating in a deficit. Not to mention high protein diets have been shown to prevent unwanted fat gain if you do even eat in a surplus.

By increasing your protein intake, you give yourself a bit more wiggle room on those calories and can help yourself create an appropriate deficit to lose fat without putting your hard earned muscle at risk. Muscle you want to do everything you can to maintain as you go through menopause.

And when I’m talking about increasing protein here, I’m not only talking about eating more animal protein. Actually including some SOY protein may be beneficially, especially during menopause.

Even just increasing your tofu portion at a meal by an ounce or two can go a long way in increasing your daily protein intake.

Not to mention a number of studies have shown that soy can reduce some of the symptoms associated with menopause.

So if you’re plant-based, or even an omnivore, you can increase your protein intake to improve your body composition while even potentially helping lessen some of those menopausal symptoms! (4)

Another great way to increase protein, that can have a positive benefit for weight loss while also helping improve your bone mineral density is collagen.

Now note, all supplements should always be supplemental, and the focus should be on whole, natural foods to hit those macros, but it’s never bad to have other tools at our disposal.

I also think it’s key to note that, while I am talking about tips to avoid menopausal weight gain, high protein diets can also help improve bone density and prevent osteoporosis, two things we are more at risk for after we go through menopause.

The amino acids in protein are used to build bone and because protein increases muscles mass, there is also an increase in bone strength!

Studies have even started looking at whether or not we need to INCREASE our protein recommendations for older adults to help prevent an increased occurrence of fractures.

And protein not only makes up all of our tissues, making it important for our bone and muscle health, but helps carry the oxygen that reddens our blood, combines with sterols to form hormones and even is need to “carry” fat and cholesterol throughout our bodies.

This means that getting more protein can even help prevent increased skin fragility and decreased immune function, improve brain functioning, and quality of sleep AND even lower blood pressure!

And if you’re going through menopause you’ve probably felt at times you’ve suffered from “menopause brain” and a lack of sleep so better brain functioning and improved quality of sleep are key and even more reason to increase that protein!

Tip #3: Don’t fear FATS!

Fat does not make you fat. So you should not fear consuming fat when trying to lose weight and especially if you’re going through menopause (5)

While carbs are NOT evil and you may need more carbs if you’re extremely active or an endurance athlete, lower carb ratios during menopause may be more helpful for weight loss.

And especially if you’re finding yourself more sedentary recently, you don’t need the immediate fuel of a higher carb diet so lowering your carb intake can aid in that weight loss process if you aren’t able to increase your activity level right away.

Increasing your fat intake, especially your omega-3 intake will also help reduce inflammation, which often increases during menopause, and therefore aid in the weight loss process as well.

Consider consuming more fish or shellfish to increase your omega-3, not to mention your protein, intake.

If you can’t, there are always fish oil supplements and plant-based forms of omega-3s (macadamia nuts are great!).

And on top of reducing inflammation to help expedite the fat loss process, increasing your omega-3 intake, can also reduce hot flash occurrences while improving bone mineral density at the hips and spine! (6) (7)

Tip #4: Include strength training in your routine.

Building and retaining muscle is key. Period.

And while you could technically not workout and lose weight, you need to train to build muscle.

However, strength training doesn’t have to mean lifting weights.

If it challenges you, it will change you.

You can build muscle using bodyweight training.

The key is progressing moves as you adapt by using harder variations or by increasing instability or range of motion or more time under tension or a greater training density….just to name a few ways you can create progression without loads.

But you do not want to just default to doing more cardio because that worked in the past. Especially steady-state cardio which can be catabolic to muscle tissue.

As we go through menopause, we need to do everything in our power to fight against the metabolic slow down and that means BUILDING muscle.

If you enjoy cardio activities, you do not need to cut them out. But as you enter menopause, find ways to include even short strength workouts a few times a week.

SUMMARY:

Menopause presents us with new challenges when it comes to weight maintenance, and the sooner we can implement key lifestyle habits, the more we can even avoid gaining weight at all.

Do not feel like menopause means you have to accept belly fat and a sluggish metabolism.

Using these 4 tips you can reverse the menopausal weight gain, reduce some of the symptoms of menopause and set yourself up to look fabulous until the day you die!

Ready to make the changes you need to avoid that dreaded menopausal weight gain? 

Check out my 3-Part RS Recipe for lasting results without feeling deprived!

–> LEARN MORE!

STUDIES:
(1) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9878925/
(2) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29224101/
(3) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22259064/
(4) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24273218/, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26806546/
(5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5728369/
(6) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29304057/
(7) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28562117/

FHP 329- Just Because You’re STruggling Doesn’t Mean You’re Failing

FHP 329- Just Because You’re STruggling Doesn’t Mean You’re Failing

by | Jul 27, 2021 | podcast

I think often when we’re struggling, we feel like we’re failing.

But that honestly isn’t the case.

To succeed, you have to face struggles head on and keep on going.

If there are no struggles, you’re probably not making the changes you need. And you’re probably closer to failure than you realize.

Because change is hard. Doing what you “should” isn’t always fun.

Success IS struggle.

Life will always do its best to try to get in the way and we’re constantly going to be fighting those excuses.

Learning something new too is a process. We’re going to have to embrace being bad at something, at making mistakes if we want to grow and improve.

Because often the only way to fully learn is by doing and making those mistakes.

I mention all of this because often at that first sign of push back, at us being bad at something, we climb back into the habits we are comfortable with.

Especially if results aren’t immediate, which often they won’t be.

If you’ve found yourself wanting to go back to what is easy and instinctual and COMFORTABLE, it may be time to give yourself a little wake up love tap aka a SLAP.

If you want a new and better result, get ready for things to be challenging and uncomfortable.

Get ready to embrace the struggle.

Here are 3 tips to help…

Tip #1: Take Time Each Day To Celebrate The Wins – No Matter How Small

It’s easy to focus on the negative. To let it even “consume” you. But the best way to keep yourself moving forward is to remind yourself of the positives. 

Create a more positive mindset to help you keep on driving forward by recognizing even a small win each and every day.

Even say it out loud to yourself to really make sure your brain HEARS the positive.

What our mind believes, our body achieves.

Allow yourself to see your hard work paying off by recognizing those habit wins as you go through the learning process.

Even give yourself a mini challenge for the first week you’re doing something new to BRAG about a positive each day…even if that positive isn’t even really related. It will still improve your mindset!

Tip #2: Break Things Down

If you feel like you’re hitting that overwhelmed tipping point, that point of feeling super negative, take a step back.

Remove one challenge to focus on making a smaller change.

Don’t be afraid to admit you’re doing too much at once.

The most sustainable habits are the ones that require less willpower to replicate. And sometimes that means doing less to start so ultimately you can do more!

Tip #3: Get Help.

There is nothing wrong with asking for that outside perspective. Sure could you do it on your own? Yup!

But why not get a cheat sheet to help you do it faster?

Why not use someone else’s knowledge and experience to your advantage?

Why make mistakes you could avoid?

Why not have support to keep pushing forward while also having someone there to teach you the WHY behind things?!

When we’re struggling it can be nice to have that person to give us perspective and even help us focus on the positives and embrace the process.

SUMMARY:

Just remember…just because you’re struggling doesn’t mean you’re failing…actually it means the exact opposite.

Change requires change!

Keep on going this week despite the bumps in the road and challenges you’ve faced.

YOU’VE GOT THIS!

AND shameless plug for my One On One Coaching if you need that extra support and accountability!

–> LEARN MORE

FHP 328 – Do Less, Achieve More

FHP 328 – Do Less, Achieve More

by | Jul 19, 2021 | podcast

It’s so easy to fall into the “more is better” attitude.

Because taking action, “doing more,” allows us to feel like we have more control over our results…like we can get things to happen faster.

But that’s simply not how things work.

We can’t out exercise or out diet time.

So often doing more creates unsustainable routines and habits not to mention pushes us the point of training or dieting so hard that we see diminishing returns.

Our hard work actually backfires. 

That’s why I wanted to talk about how less is often more. How you can DO LESS AND ACHIEVE MORE!

Here are 4 tips to help you dial in your diet and workouts to be efficient and effective. Because really often it isn’t that we don’t have enough time or enough willpower…we are just too focused on doing MORE over that consistency!

#1: Design For Your Current Schedule

I often get asked about the best training schedule for (insert any goal here).

My reply is ALWAYS…

“What’s a realistic, not ideal, but REALISTIC training schedule for you? Because the key is designing your routine based on that!”

There are so many ways to design a training schedule based on specific goals. But the one that will pay off is the one you will do consistently.

So if you can realistically do 3 days? Design for that. 

Maybe you do more full body or anterior-posterior workouts over body part of hemisphere splits.

If you have 6 days, maybe you do the opposite or lower the volume per day or change up the types of moves.

You can always design for the time you have.

But better to plan for something you can do consistently than to end up not working areas because you miss workouts.

#2: Focus On Maintaining Things YOU Love

So often we start making changes by cutting out the foods we love. 

But this is also why we often fall off the new habits rather quickly….we run out of willpower to maintain the restriction.

We simply don’t like feeling constantly restricted!

While we always want to capitalize on that initial motivation, the more we can use it to create sustainable habits the better.

Because those habits, based off of even things we love, will allow us to maintain the new habits even during times our willpower is nonexistent.

It also helps with our mindset making changes and implementing new things.

The less you feel like you’re losing things you love, the better your mindset will be and the more open you’ll be to that learning process.

So find ways to plan in the things you love and work around them.

If you love dessert? Plan that in first and work backward from it to hit your macros.

Love your cardio but know you need strength training? Plan your cardio workouts first and then work in shorter strength workouts around it even starting with just activation work.

Love having a specific day off? Don’t plan a workout for that day!

Love having a drink on Friday night? Plan it in and work your macros around it!

Work AROUND the things you love even if you may want to cut them out eventually to start simply creating the healthiest version of your lifestyle.

#3: Make Small Changes As Things Become Habit

I know many of us feel we are “all or nothing” people, but so often making massive changes leads to us massively falling off our plan.

Because it just feels too different, too overwhelming and requires too much willpower to maintain so many new things at once. 

Make one small changed based on your current habits and routines. 

Because what gets us results is what we can be consistent with long term. And what is easiest to stick to is something based off our current lifestyle.

No one size fits all. Stay focused on your needs and goals and creating the healthiest variation of YOUR lifestyle – not on what someone else’s arbitrary standard of clean is!

Small changes lower the barrier to entry. They make it easier to mentally accept the changes.

And the add up to build momentum.

They also make it easier to create habits we can maintain even when we aren’t motivated…they’re just…innate! 

#4: Set End Dates

While we want to create a “lifestyle” we do “forever,” forever is overwhelming. 

No end date applies no pressure to start. It gives us no time to assess.

And it can lead to you trying to do more to rush things or feel like you need to switch things up when you simply need to stay consistent for longer for results to build.

The best thing we can do for ourselves is to set “end dates.” 

These give us a set point at which to assess. They allow us to feel like we can change then too if needed.

It doesn’t just feel like we’re stuck doing something forever.

Because we also have to realize we won’t do one thing forever. Our needs and goals are constantly evolving and so should our workouts and our diet!

That’s why it’s also so important we learn the WHY behind what we’re doing so we can make changes as needed.

But set those end dates to have points to step back, take that bird’s eye view and assess. 

Ready to make a change and dial in your workouts and your diet to match YOUR needs and goals?

Check out my 3-Step Recipe to RESULTS…

–> The RS Recipe To Achieve LASTING Results

Exercises For Hip Pain RELIEF (5 Daily Hip Pain Moves)

Exercises For Hip Pain RELIEF (5 Daily Hip Pain Moves)

by | Jul 15, 2021 | Blog, Butt, Core, Exercises, Foam Rolling, Pain Relief, Stretches, Uncategorized

Unfortunately hip pain is an all too common complaint.

And the best rehab is prehab – preventing those injuries before they really build up by recognizing and addressing those “minor” aches and pains.

Too often we simply try to push through a sore hip. We accept a limited range of motion.

We just keep training hard because it “loosens up” as we go or “only hurts at specific times.”

But those little nagging aches and pains are what end up resulting in injuries.

That’s why I wanted to share 5 moves you could include in your warm ups and weekly routine to prevent those annoying little aches and pains from ever resulting in an injury!

Best to act BEFORE the problems really occur!

So what are those 5 prehab moves?

 

5 Exercises For Hip Pain:

Rectus Femoris Foam Rolling:

The psoas is the sexy hip flexor muscle to talk about, but this hip flexor muscle, which is also a quad muscle, can directly impact both the hip AND the knee so it is a key muscle to pay attention to – it’s the Rectus Femoris.

Tightness of this muscle will not only hinder proper glute activation but lead to lower back, hip and knee issues.

It may be why you had a knee issue on one side and now have hip pain!

So because of the impact this muscle has on multiple joints it is a key muscle to include in your prehab routine.

Usually this muscle becomes short and overactive, which is why it is key you start by relaxing and releasing it through foam rolling.

That will then allow you to better activate your glutes and improve your hip extension and mobility.

If you have had issues or injuries on only one side, you may find you only need to address tightness on one side.

To roll out the Rectus Femoris, place a ball in the middle of your quad. You can also use a roller to reduce the pressure on the muscle. While you want to apply pressure to help the muscle relax as you hold, if the pressure is too much and you tense against it, you won’t benefit. So start with a softer ball or foam roller instead.

Hold and then even tense the muscle and relax as you hold to help it release.

Spend at least 30 seconds on any tight spots you find and hold up to 1 minute.

Piriformis Foam Rolling:

Piriformis issues are all too common these days and are often linked with the fact that we simply spend far too much time seated. Not to mention many of us even choose to do exercise activities, like cycling that still keep us in that seated position!

So it is key we address the fact that this muscle can become tight and shortened and then lead to issues like hip pain and even sciatic compression BEFORE the problems really occur.

That’s why I like to include some foam rolling for the piriformis in my prehab or warm up routines.

A ball works best to really apply more pressure, but you can use a roller especially starting out. You want to find the spot where the top of your back jean pocket would be.

If you use a roller, cross one ankle over the other knee to really help address tightness of the muscle as you lean into that side.

You can then push your knee open and relax out as you hold on the spot.

If you’re using a ball, you may find it helpful to lift and lower the leg as you hold.

Just make sure you breathe and relax as you hold.

Single Leg Hip Thruster:

After starting to relax overactive muscles, you want to start to stretch and work the hip through a full range of motion.

And a great way to do this while also activating our glutes, which are commonly UNDERACTIVE is through activation moves like the Single Leg Hip Thruster with Knee Hug!

Activation moves like this stretch out tight hip flexors through a process called reciprocal inhibition. Basically by engaging your glute to drive your hip into extension you stretch out that shortened hip flexor.

So especially if you’re short on time, you can use this move to stretch and activate all in one!

To do this move, you’ll hug one knee in toward your chest as you set up with your back on a bench. You can look down slightly toward your knees. This cervical flexion can actually help with glute engagement and can help you avoid arching your back.

Use that posterior pelvic tilt to brace your abs as you drive up. Squeeze your glute to extend your hip and avoid arching your lower back to get up higher.

Relax back down and repeat.

Unilateral moves like this are key if you have one side that is weaker or tighter; however, it also makes the exercise harder.

You may find you start with the glute bridge variation of this OR even an 80/20 hip thruster so that you reduce the resistance on that single leg.

You want to make sure your glute is the prime mover and that you don’t feel your hamstrings or quads compensating instead.

Hinged 3-Way Hip Circles:

It’s key we not only work on hip extension but also abduction and even flexion. Basically we want to make sure we mobilize our hip through a full range of motion while building stability through that full ROM.

That’s why this Hinged 3-Way Hip Circle move is so amazing.

You can do a version of this move fully standing and balancing, which is a great option IF you really want to focus on that balance element. You can also do it quadruped.

Even implementing all three over a progression can help you get the best results.

I find using the balance assist and slightly hinged position though really helps to better activate the glute through both the extension and even abduction for most people.

Lean forward against a wall or on a chair or bar for support.

Drive your leg back first. Think less about how high you kick up and almost think about stopping the lift with your glute. Feel yourself squeeze your glute.

Then bend your knee as you lift your leg out to the side. Focus on really feeling that glute lift over rotating away to lift up higher.

Fight to keep your lower leg parallel to the ground. We tend to either want to raise our foot up higher and internally rotate our hip (use the TFL) or externally rotate our hip (which can utilize more piriformis) so really focus on that glute medius.

Then with the knee bent, drive your knee in toward your chest and even round slightly to feel your abs.

We aren’t just mobilizing the hip but also activating muscles to improve our hip stability!

With this move you’re hitting your glute max, medius and even your abs!

Side Lying Series:

The glute medius is key to improving our hip stability and even our glute max activation, which is why it’s essential we include activation exercises for it.

Strengthening this muscle will help us avoid hip pain and even help us lift more and run faster!

One of the simplest but most killer activation series for it, is the Side Lying Series. It is key though that you avoid letting your TFL take over.

Using a slight internal rotation of that lower leg, so turning the toe down toward the ground is key.

Do not let your body rotate open. AND if you’ve had piriformis issues, definitely be careful you don’t start to turn that toe open or externally rotate your hip.

So often we want to allow our TFL or piriformis to compensate for that glute medius.

You’ll then lift the leg up at least 8-10 inches off the bottom leg. This will engage the glute before you even start.

You’ll then run through all, or a combination of side lying moves on one side before switching. Do not rush through or disengage by lowering your leg.

You can do the side lying leg raise, front kicks, back kicks, front to back kicks and then even the bicycle.

All of these hit different aspects of the glute medius AND work it while in both hip flexion and extension.

This series is amazing for runner’s especially using the bicycle because it works on that hip mobility through a full gait motion.

SUMMARY:

The best way to avoid annoying chronic hip pain is to do prehab or those mobility and activation moves to address common postural distortions or previous injuries BEFORE pain adds up.

These moves can be used in your warm up to even help you get more out of your workouts by improving your range of motion and helping you prep proper recruitment patterns BEFORE you lift or run.

If you’re looking to prevent ankle, knee, hip and lower back aches and pains, check out my BOOTY BURNER program!

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