How To: Increase Hip Mobility
Does your back get sore from skating?
Are you always having groin and or hip flexor issues?
Does your skating coach tell you that you have a short stride or that you need to get deeper in your skating stance?
All these problems might stem from the same issue.
YOU HAVE TIGHT HIPS!
It is almost pointless having strength in the legs and glutes without having the mobility to utilize that strength in a full range of motion (ROM). If you don’t have a full ROM through the hips you are robbing yourself of your full strength and power potential while skating. Not only will your lack of mobility hinder you on the ice, but it’ll also hamper any type of strength or power gains you are trying to make in the gym. Think of your muscles like a rubber band. If took a rubber band, put it around your finger, pulled back and let go, would you get greater distance out of the rubber band if you pulled further back? Absolutely! Your muscles are the same! The greater stretch you can produce on your muscles, the more power you are able to generate. The only way you can provide the maximal amount of stretch to your muscles is by increasing your ROM through mobility work.
How do you maximize the stretch to your muscles so you can generate the greatest amount of strength and power while skating?
You need to work on your mobility daily!
Incorporate these hip mobility drills into your warm-up routine right away and start to notice the difference.
Watch the video below to find out how to perform each drill. Below the video is a description of each drill and why it is beneficial.
Banded Hip Flexor Stretch 3x10e (each side)
Hold the stretch position for 5 seconds before releasing to the relaxed position and hold this for 2 seconds before repeating for the desired amount of reps and sets. This drill helps stretch the hip flexor as well distract the hip from the joint. This will allow for better external and internal rotation of the hip joint.
½ Kneeling Rec Fem mobility 2x10e
Hold each position of this mobility drill for 2 seconds. Using a bench provides a target to rock towards. This drill can be performed without a bench as well. Make sure not to hyperextend through the lower back! Think about driving the hips forward and keeping the back flat throughout the entirety of the drill. Holding each position for 2 seconds helps increase the mobility throughout the joint.
½ Kneeling RFE Rec Fem Mob 2x10e
With this drill, hold each position for 5 seconds. Having the back foot elevated off the ground puts more emphasis on the quad and helps the release these muscles.
½ Kneeling Adductor Mob 3x10e
In order to have great hip mobility don’t think of the hips in one singular plane. When skating there is a lot of demand put on the groin. Open the hip by placing the leg out to the side. Keep the toe and heel of the open leg in line with the planted knee of the other leg. Having the leg and hip open helps target the hip in a different plane and will increase the mobility throughout the entirety of the hip.
Hip Openers 2x10e (for all 3 variations)
The next 3 mobility drills focus on external rotation through the hips. Changing the angle of the chest changes the targeted area of the glutes. It is possible that one direction is stiffer than another. Play around with the different variations of this drill and figure out what areas require more focus. Lacking sufficient external rotation in the hips will make it tougher to generate enough power in the glutes which in turn affects the power of your skating stride.
Lying Knee-to-knee pull-ins 3×10 each
This drill places focus on improving the internal rotation of the hips. Internal hip rotation has a direct correlation to the extent of how far the hips can rotate externally. Therefore working on your internal and external rotation goes hand in hand.