Ask any health expert and they'll tell you a sedentary lifestyle is the scourge of healthy living. For many of us, however, it's also a necessary evil. To put food on the table, you need to put the hours in at your desk.
One remedy is to get up and move around every hour. Another solution is to do three minutes of brisk walking for every 15 minutes spent sitting down.
Yet another solution, according to Charlotte Hazelwood, corporate office worker turned strength and mobility coach, is to perform four stretches at the end of your working day.
In a video posted to her more than half a million followers, Hazelwood demonstrated the poses, explaining that "the hips can get pretty stiff from being in a flexed position all day".
A knock-on effect of tight hips can be a sore lower back. "Tight hips can be heavily linked to a sore lower back and even bad knees," she wrote in the Instagram caption.
Below I've outlined how to perform each stretch, how long to hold each one for and easier versions of each movement in case you struggle to match Hazelwood's exemplary form and flexibility. She is a mobility coach, after all.
How to do these hip stretches
1. Psoas stretch to lengthen the hip flexors
How to do it:
- Stand with a wall or sofa behind you, facing away from it.
- Step forward and bend both knees to lower until your rear knee is on the floor. Your front knee should be directly above your front ankle.
- Lift your the heel behind you to your butt.
- Shuffle your back knee as close to the wall or sofa as you can, intensifying the stretch down the front of your thigh.
- Gently press your hips forward.
- Hold this position for 30-60 seconds before switching sides.
Make it easier: Stand, and bend one knee to raise one foot towards your butt. Hold the top of that foot bring the heel closer to your butt while keeping your knees close together. Gently press your hips forward, hold for 30-60 seconds then switch sides. Hold a door frame for support with your free hand if necessary.
2. 90/90 hip lift for internal and external hip rotation
How to do it:
- Sit on the floor with both knees bent and your feet flat on the floor, wider than hip-width apart.
- Without using your hands, twist your body to the right side, dropping both knees to the right so they rest on the floor.
- Extend your hips to lift your butt off the floor.
- Lower to the floor under control and repeat on the other side.
- Perform 8-10 reps on each side. You should feel this movement grease the joints of your hips.
Make it easier: Start in the same position with both knees bent and feet flat on the floor, but lean back and place your hands on the floor behind you for extra support. Keeping your hands on the floor in this slightly more open stance, slowly lower your knees to the floor one side, then to the other, for 8-10 reps on each side.
3. Bodyweight butterfly to stretch the adductors
How to do it:
- Sit with your back against a wall, the soles of your feet together, knees out wide and your heels as close to your groin as possible.
- Press down gently on your knees with your hands, easing into the stretch.
- Perform 8-10 reps.
Make it easier: Perform the same basic movement, but don't press down on your knees with your hands. Just hold the deepest stretch you can maintain comfortably for 30-60 seconds.
4. Inclined pigeon to target the outer glute
How to do it:
- Using a low bench or sofa, rest your foot, lower leg and knee on the platform, so it's perpendicular to your body. Your other foot should be on the floor as if in a deep lunge.
- Flex your front foot by lifting your toes. This helps to protect the knee from additional strain.
- Gently lower your torso forwards to increase the stretch, pulsing in and out of the stretch for 30-60 seconds.
Make it easier: Practice this pigeon stretch on the floor, rather than in an elevated position, and simply hold the stretch for 30-60 seconds, breathing deeply throughout.
