1. Use your chair
Has too much sitting in recent months caused your hips to seize up? Without moving from your chair you can “unglue” your hips if they feel stuck or stiff, says Lexie Williamson, a yoga instructor and the author of Move: Free Your Body Through Stretching Movement (Bloomsbury).
Start with 90-degree leans. Sit upright in your chair and bend your right leg, turn your knee out and place your right ankle on your left thigh so that the leg forms a right angle. Sit tall and rest your hands on your right leg. Inhale and, as you breathe out, lean forwards, keeping your back straight. Inhale to sit back up. Sit and fold in this way six to eight times before changing legs. Do it is often as you need to.
There may be a hip flexibility imbalance. “On the tighter side your knee will be higher up or more reluctant to drop down,” Williamson says. “If one hip is noticeably stiffer, hold the forward lean for 10-20 seconds longer on that side.”
2. Tend to your hip flexors
The iliopsoas muscle is the body’s prime hip flexor, connecting to the lower spine and providing support for the hip, as well as being the powerhouse involved in moving your legs forward when you walk, climb stairs or run.
“When you sit for too long, your hip flexor is shortened,” says Paul Hobrough, a physiotherapist and the founder of Ichat Physio. “If you leap from your desk straight into a run, swim or gym session you are asking too much of the hip flexor, which needs to be long and flexible and able to extend to its full length for a range of movement.”
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After prolonged sitting, Hobrough says, we should always stretch out our hip flexors. Assume a lunge position, but with your right foot further forward than you think it should be and your left leg trailing behind, knee on the floor. If you need to, use a wall for support. Keep your body upright. Take your upper body forward until the knee of your right leg reaches a 90-degree bend. For a deeper stretch, rotate your body to the right at this point. Repeat twice for 30 seconds on each side daily.
3. March with a resistance band
Being desk-bound can leave hip flexor muscles weak as well as tight. “If you have lower-back pain, it is likely that your hip flexor muscles are weak or tight,” Hobrough says.
To strengthen them, try the iliopsoas march. Lie on your back with a medium-sized resistance band looped around your feet. Keeping your head on the floor and core engaged, pull your knees up beyond 90 degrees and alternately drive each foot away from your body until straight. Repeat three times for 30 seconds on each leg. Perform every other day.
