Physio · Tight Hips
Tight Hips
Sound familiar?
Sitting all day keeps your hips locked at ninety degrees, so the muscles at the front shorten and the ones around them stop moving well. You feel it when you crouch to a kid's eye level, sit cross-legged on the floor, or stand up after a long drive and walk like a rusty robot.
What helps
Move the hips through their full range every day - rotations, deep squats, and controlled switches - rather than just stretching once in a while. Frequent, gentle range-of-motion work restores the mobility that sitting steals.
The exercises
Physio
Pelvic Tilt
A gentle lying drill that rocks the pelvis to mobilize the lower spine and wake up the deep abdominals - the classic first step when a stiff, achy back needs easy movement.
Physio
90/90 Hip Switch
A seated drill that rotates both hips between two ninety-degree positions, restoring internal and external hip rotation that long sitting slowly erases.
Physio
Standing Hip CARs
Controlled Articular Rotations for the hip: standing on one leg, you draw the biggest slow circle you can with the other knee, lubricating the joint through its full range.
Physio
Supported Deep Squat Hold
Holding the bottom of a squat while hanging onto a doorframe or rail takes the load off your knees and lets tight hips and ankles gradually reopen - the resting position most desk workers have lost.
Not medical advice
These exercises are general education for common aches, not a diagnosis. Start gently, stop anything that causes sharp pain, and see a doctor or physiotherapist if pain is severe, worsening, or hangs around for more than a couple of weeks.