A challenging exercise with a great reward

The Standing Hip Shift is an answer for people who have chronically tight hip flexors, anterior pelvic tilt, spinal misalignment and back pain. In other words, if you sit a lot, or feel stiff a lot, this movement can directly address some of the muscular imbalances that are causing your pain. As always, consult with a health professional to ensure you will not incur injury, and that your body is in good enough shape to begin a new exercise plan to account for your back pain. Otherwise, the standing hip shift is a good movement to start performing daily in order to address the stiffness and tension that accumulates throughout the day. 

Here’s how the standing hip shift works to address the causes of your pain

• Contracts the gluteus maximus which is chronically weak in people who sit a lot
• Stretches the deep-lying core muscles that support the lower back, improving elasticity and range of motion
• Reduces the prevalence of anterior pelvic tilt
• Strengthens your gluteus medius, which improves hip mobility; stiff hips are a symptom of sitting a lot, as the hip flexors remain overly contracted. 

This youtube video demonstrates the standing hip shift and includes a description of how to do it. An important point to note is that not everyone can perform this stretch while standing right away. You can train your body into the movement by doing it while lying down on the floor. As you scale up to a standing position, you can use a wall to support your balance.

Performing this movement daily will improve range of motion, allowing the axis that you tilt your hips on to grow noticeably. If you are interested in finding out more about natural modalities that help you address musculoskeletal imbalance to live a life with less back pain, give our office in Sacramento a call to schedule an appointment today.