Tight Hips? Let’s Fix That.

One thing we hear quite a lot in the studio is, “My hips are so tight.”

Sometimes it’s said with a laugh, sometimes with a little frustration, and sometimes after someone realizes their hips don’t quite move the way they used to. 🙃

Your hips are designed to move through a pretty big range of motion. But for many of us, they slowly start to feel tighter over time.

Part of that is simply life.

As we get older, we tend to spend more time sitting — in cars, at desks, on the couch — and less time moving our hips through their full range of motion. When joints don’t move regularly, the surrounding muscles and connective tissues gradually shorten and stiffen.

It’s your body’s way of adapting to how it’s being used.

The challenge is that when the hips stop moving well, other areas start trying to help out.

Usually your lower back.

That’s why tight hips often show up as:
• low back discomfort
• stiffness when standing up
• difficulty getting up from the floor
• feeling “tight everywhere”

Your back isn’t always the problem. Sometimes it’s just doing extra work because the hips aren’t doing their job.

This is one of the reasons the reformer can feel so good. 

In class, we spend a lot of time moving the hips through deeper ranges of motion — flexion, extension, and rotation — while keeping the spine supported. Over time, this helps restore movement to the hips so the rest of your body doesn’t have to compensate.

And when the hips move better, life tends to feel easier.

Walking feels smoother.

Getting out of a chair is easier.
Standing feels stronger.

Putting on your leggings doesn't break you out in a sweat.
And that “tight” feeling starts to fade.