There's one area of the body that almost everyone experiences stiffness in—the hips. That's mostly down to the sedentary lifestyles many of us lead, spending most of our days sitting down.
This can reduce the mobility of the hip joints and weaken the muscles around the hips. The best way to remedy this is by doing mobility exercises that stretch and strengthen the hips.
I recently had the chance to talk to Pilates instructor and founder of wellness studio East of Eden Abby McLachlan and she tipped me off to her favorite hip mobility exercise. "This is one thing I like doing that's pretty amazing for the hips," says McLachlan.
The exercise is the 90/90 leg lift and McLachlan says it's "a good way of developing that extra range of motion" in the hips.
It will also move your legs in a different range of motion than you might be used to. "It's good to move your legs in different ways within the hip socket," says McLachlan.
Try adding this move into your workouts or doing it on its own twice a week to experience the benefits.
How to do 90/90 leg lifts
- Sit with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, wider than shoulder-width apart.
- Lower both knees to the left and turn your torso to the left. You should finish with both knees bent at 90° with your left lower leg on the floor in front of you and your right lower leg on the floor to the right side of you.
- Keeping your torso upright, lift your right foot while keeping your knee on the floor, then lower slowly.
- Complete five to 10 reps on each side.
Make it easier: If your hips lack the flexibility to begin with, you may struggle to get into this position to begin with. In that case, McLachlan recommends practicing lateral leg raises or the figure four stretch first to develop your flexibility. You can also get comfortable 90/90 hip stretch first or sit on a block.
Make it harder: There is a way to make this exercise more difficult. "There are two options for this exercise: the first one is just raising the right foot. The next option is raising the whole right leg, and that works the abductors and it's also really good for hip health and mobility," says McLachlan.
