Although most people don't consider hips to be an essential part
of strength for athletics, they are one of the most important. Your hips are
the center of your body and are what support the upper and lower half. Any
injury to the hips can lead to back pain and knee pain. Coming from personal
experience, any time you work out, make sure to work out your hips. Being a
dancer, I know that my hips are one of most used part of my body while dancing.
To have alignment, posture, balance and technique, my hips must be strong.
There are many hip strengthening exercises that I use. The most popular one, is
clam shells. The point of this exercise is to open and close your legs to work
on your hip rotation and hip flexors.
To complete this exercise, lay down on your side. To achieve the correct position, "Bend your
knees to a 45-degree angle, legs and hips stacked" (ATI 18). Keeping your
feet together, life your upper knee towards the sky, then back down, and
repeat. While doing this exercise, your hips should be in line with your back
to keep posture and alignment (ATI 18). An example of this exercise is shown
below.
What do you think the result is of overuse in your hips?
ATI, PT. Strengthening Exercises.
This is definitely something i would use myself. Being a constant tumbler and cheerleader, my hips are always in pain, i feel that this is something that would really help me. An overuse in hips can cause hip problems that can lead to long term damage.
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