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Hip Pain: The 4 Best Hip Stretches to Do If You Spend All Day Sitting

Struggle with tight hips after a long day of sitting at your desk? These four stretches will help prevent and relieve hip pain.

While we’re all too aware of how bad sitting down all day can be for our backs and the discomfort it causes in our necks, it’s also responsible for those tight hips you’ve probably been experiencing. 

Whether they’ve been seizing up during your daily runs or stop you from performing deep squats, the reasons for hip pain are often due to the shortening of our hip flexors and reduced mobility from sitting all day long.

Because our bodies are so intricately connected, tightness in the hips inevitably has a knock-on effect elsewhere. Tight hips can also lead to back, knee and ankle pain as well as tight glutes and hamstrings. 

To avoid racking up a long list of ailments stemming from a largely avoidable cause, try incorporating these hip stretches into your daily routine – whether you’re working at a desk or not.

Glute Bridge Dips

This is more of a dynamic stretch to warm the glutes up before stretching. 

1. Lie on the floor with your knees bent, feet flat on the ground and your arms down by your sides.
2. Pull your belly button in towards the spine and press your pubic bone towards the ceiling as you raise your glutes off the floor.
3. Hold at the top for 30 seconds, then lower yourself back to your starting position.

Repeat 10 times

Lunge

1. Start by kneeling on the floor with your body upright. 
2. Place your left foot on the floor in front of you, so the leg forms a 90 degree angle.
3. Slowly push your right hip forwards, without arching through your spine.
4. You should feel the stretch in your right hip. To make it more intense, hold your right foot and pull the heel in towards your glute. 

Hold for 30 seconds each side

Quad Stretch

1. For this pose you need to have good balance, so feel free to use a wall or chair if you need the extra support. 
2. Standing up straight, bend your left knee and take your left foot into your left hand. 
3. Pull your left heel in towards your left glute. 
4. Push your hips slightly forwards to get a deeper stretch. 

Hold for 30 seconds each side

Pigeon Stretch

1. From a table top (all fours) position, place your right knee behind your right wrist.
2. Bring your right toes to your left wrist and allow your right shin to come onto the mat.
3. Keep your left foot pointing straight back and allow the right left to curl into a 45 degree position.
4. Square off your hips so that you’re not twisting to the right hand side, then slowly lean your chest towards the floor.

Stay for up to two minutes on each side

Stylist I Aiden Wynn

This post originally appeared on Stylist and was published March 4, 2021.