Hips were Meant to MOVE!

The ball and socket hip is the largest joint in your body. It is controlled by the largest muscle of your body (the glute). When you rotate from this zone, your back, knees and even your neck and shoulders say “THANK YOU!”

A great way to sense this rotation is when you climb stairs. Your pelvis should rotate slightly towards the leg that is on the top step. Meaning, your pant zipper or pubic bone is turned a little towards your front big toe. I exaggerate this when I demonstrate so you can see it better.

A way to help this happen: reach the OPPOSITE arm forward. For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction so if your R foot is on the step, your L arm is forward and your R arm is back. Remember last month when the message was the importance of getting your ribs to rotate? Swinging your arms and engaging your abs is a key! When your arms move opposite of your legs (who wants to walk like a tin soldier, anyway?) your upper body and core help turn your pelvis in a way to LOAD your hip and glute. This means: the hip ball moves back into the hip socket AND the socket seats itself in a stable position atop the hip ball. Your glute is being lengthened (you could say stretched, like a rubberband) so it is in a position of power to propel  you forward and lift you upward. I think of the glute as a hammock-like sling that lives under your sitting bone that lifts you from below.

If your pelvis and hip aren’t moving well in this rotary way, you wrongly place your leg on the next step with your HIP FLEXORS and lift yourself with your QUAD. Both of these muscles tend to be overused and tight.

Your power source is your sitting bone region, where the hamstrings and glutes intersect. Practicing this while climbing stairs makes this easier to feel. The hard part can be translating this to walking, where your pelvic faces the front foot slightly, for a millisecond, as your front foot hits the ground. I am starting more and more of our patients with this concept on the first visit, whether they come for headache, shoulder surgery or knee pain. Why? When you have mastery with this concept known in Postural Restoration terms as “AFIR” * at the hip, your entire body will see benefits.

https://www.posturalrestoration.com/files/9ab3-1961601-Acetabular_Femoral_Internal_Rotation.pdf?versionId=I4h2d7ywQSHPyxvlYugzLIBHb2umTNB4

This is one of the most important concepts to feel, even if you don’t understand the specific mechanics. We LOVE talking biomechanical details so ask as many questions as you want. We can’t wait to try this with you!

*acetabular femoral internal rotation means the hip socket seats itself on top of the ball.

Call or text 541-500-1779 to learn more or schedule and appointment to see how this applies to you!