Why are your hips so inflexible?

It’s very common for the tissues around the hips to get stiff and inflexible. Muscles and tendons get tight when in a fixed position and underused for long periods of time. The tissues around the hip are subject to this whilst sitting on a chair for hours at a time.

How to increase hip flexibility for squats

The squat requires adequate mobility over multiple joints including the ankles, knees, hips and upper back (thoracic spine).

We suggest seeking good coaching advice to troubleshoot your squat technique and find the right squat style for your unique anatomy.

If tight tissues are a genuine limitation (most commonly the inner thigh/groin area and Achilles tendon/calf muscle complex), here are some good hip mobility exercises you should incorporate into your warm-up before squatting;

How to increase hip flexibility for deadlift

We suggest seeking good coaching advice to troubleshoot your deadlift technique and find the right deadlift style for your unique anatomy. Beyond this, if you have tightness in the posterior complex of your hips (lower back, glutes and hamstrings) that is limiting your ability to deadlift, here are some mobility exercises you could try that may help;

What are the best stretches for hip flexor flexibility?

Hip flexor tightness (and weakness) is very common amongst sedentary individuals who spend long times sitting down with hips that are passively flexed for hours on end. Tight hip flexors can limit the ability to achieve full hip extension, thereby reducing the optimal function of the musculature around the hips.

Here are some of our go-to hip flexor stretches and exercises that can help;