Favorite Body Weight Exercises to Strengthen Hips
How to Perform a Glute Bridge and Progressions to Strengthen Your Hips!
Why is it important to strengthen the hip muscles?
The hips and the pelvis are the base of support for the back and the rest of the body at rest
and in motion. Strengthening the muscles in your hips can help to reduce pain in the
lower back and can decrease risk for injury in the back and hips with lifting, running,
walking, and other daily activities. The following exercises are a few of my favorite hip
exercises to help increase strength and stability in the hips and lower back.
Glute Bridge
Lay on your back with your feet flat on the floor and your knees bent. Pressing through
your heels and squeezing your glutes together, lift your hips off of the floor. You should
not feel any straining or pain in the lower back. If you do feel discomfort in the lower
back, be sure that you are bringing your belly button toward your spine to engage your
core muscles. To increase the difficulty of this exercise, you can hold a weight gently
across the top of your pelvis to provide increased resistance. You can also perform sets of
10 small pulses at the top of the glute bridge then continue with the regular repetitions.
Figure 4 Bridge
Laying on your back, place the outside of your right ankle over the top of your left thigh.
Pressing through the left heel and squeezing your glutes together, lift your hips off of the
ground. Hold for 1-2 seconds, then slowly lower your hips back to the ground. Repeat 10
times. Then repeat with your left ankle on top of your right thigh. Perform 3 sets of 10
repetitions on each side. Try to keep your hips even.
Single Leg Bridge
Laying on your back, lift your right leg up toward the ceiling so your hip is at 90 degrees
and your knee is mostly straight. Pressing through the left heel and squeezing your glutes,
lift your hips off of the floor.
These exercises are not for everyone and should not replace professional medical advice or
treatment. You should not perform these exercises if you are experiencing back pain, hip pain, or
following a recent surgery without consulting your physical therapist or physician first.
If you have back pain, hip pain, or weakness, call 260-900-2437 to schedule an appointment with
one of ProTailored’s highly trained Physical Therapists