Forward Hang Hip Hinge – Great For Mobility
Ever notice either depending on your flexibility or a more cool term (mobility) how much effort it takes to get something off the ground with almost straight legs? Chances are you already know how great or how terrible you are at leaning over and make great efforts to avoid it. Maybe you work on it and then do some new exercises and then lean over and to your surprise you are so tight. This hip hinge motion is so very important to keeping your spine flexible and connect your whole body. Think of the yoga pose called sun salutation. It’s basically just a forward bend and then reaching back up to standing position.
If you are sitting at your desk, in your car or on your furniture for long periods of time you can bet your body is molding to that position along with your neck, pelvis and shoulders. It’s kind of hard to undo long periods of time in those fixed positions in just a 30,60 or 90 second stretch. That’s why I always stress the importance of finding a stretch or a few stretches you really need and count to 90 seconds twice for a total of 3 minutes in the stretch every day for 6 weeks with intentional breaths and sometimes distracted breaths by the discomfort of the stretch.
Check out the stretches below and get better at just hanging about in a new helpful way. The forward hang is also a form of a modified inversion that aids in decompressing your spine. Your upper torso and arms are getting some blood flow and decompression by just leaning over. You can always go to the wall and lean your butt up against it for decreased pressure on your back or if you don’t trust yourself to come up from the position and no get dizzy.
Don’t accept getting older for decline in flexibility and health!
Look at each stretch below and how old I was for each picture. This proves that you CAN, if you work at it…get more flexible with age. Over the years I also changed the way I lifted weights and the types of exercises I incorporate into my programs. You can see from age 30 to age 43 that I had my legs straighter, my chin down and more flexibility right at the attachments near buttocks for the hamstrings. This is also because I worked on exercises and stretches to help tilt the pelvis back into a posterior position as running can cause it to tilt anterior or forward (s-curve in low back).
If you look at current picture (taken yesterday when writing this post and 20 years later), it’s the best of all of the pictures for hip hinge. Now, I’m not gonna lie even holding this pose for 10 seconds while I had the camera on a timer was difficult. In fact, I may have said a cuss word when pic was finally over but I was trying my best for the camera and you see the result of years of focus and the knowledge of how to make it happen. It’s all about goals my friends!
pic in green shirt taken in 2003 (age 30) pic in all black taken 2016 (age 43)
pic in grey shirt & black shirt – Sept 30th, 2023 (age 50)
here are different variations you can do as well
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Semi-private 30-minute personal training ONSITE in Greenville, South Carolina (Travelers Rest area) inside our 2000 sf facility or Via zoom twice weekly can get you on track.
Choose from (5 week) 10 session intro package that includes functional movement screening and other helpful items so we can assess your starting point. Choose from our standard packages from 4.5 months to 12 months (because honestly you know it’s gonna take more than 10 sessions to get you to where you want to be!).
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If you haven’t had a functional movement assessment with a professional observe the way you move different joints and movements with your hips, shoulders, wrists and spine then how do you know you are doing the most effective strength training, flexibility or cardio program? Hire someone like me to get you on track with a program to help you reduce current pain, eliminate pain, improve your current program or enhance your athletic performance.
Tonya Tittle, M.S., ACSM, LMT, TPI Level 1
Energy Fitness /Owner/Dir. of Training
(Club 29 Fitness Inc.)
898 N. Hwy 25 Bypass
Greenville, SC 29690 (Travelers Rest area)
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