Over the past year, many people have been away from the office because of the coronavirus pandemic. Yet that doesn’t mean the epidemic of bad backs and tight hips, caused by hours of sitting hunched over at a computer screen, has disappeared.
In fact, with couches, beds, kitchen-counter bar-stool seats and all manner of sometimes awkward home seating turning into our makeshift offices, our hip flexors are under more stress than ever. A simple stretching routine can help mitigate that issue.
“Since sitting constricts the muscles, it can make them extremely tight, especially if you’re not incorporating hip stretches into your routine,” says Kelly Von Schleis, certified health coach, personal trainer and IT health-care consultant. “Over the years, I’ve spent the majority of my workdays at a computer and my hips have faced the consequences. Tight hip flexors also can make it harder for your glutes to activate — since they’re opposing muscle groups, when one is really tight, the other lengthens, and when a muscle is more lengthened than it should be, it takes away some of its ability to contract.”
These aches and pains don’t just affect you in the course of your day, they can derail you in the gym, as well. “When your glutes are in this compromised state, it can force surrounding muscles to do more work than they should, making your workouts less efficient and even increasing your risk of injury,” Von Schleis explains.
To counteract your long days of sitting, try a regular stretching routine. In just 15 minutes, anywhere from two to five days a week — whether at the end of a workout or all on its own — the following lower-body stretching program can help relieve discomfort, decrease tightness and increase mobility. “As a bonus, these stretches also can help reduce stress and provide for healthy deep breathing practice,” she adds.
Equipment required: Exercise mat; yoga blocks, a yoga strap or light resistance band is optional.
Suggested warm-up: Do the following circuit of bodyweight moves with no equipment for one minute each: air squat, lunge to plank (alternating to the left and right), mountain climber, alternating reverse lunge and jumping jacks.
Workout overview: Although it may not seem necessary during a stretching session, a proper warm-up is still vital to overall success. “You want to get blood flowing to the tissues before doing any deep stretching,” Von Schleis says. “A stretching session can ask a lot of your muscles, like any dynamic exercise. You also may find it easier to go deeper in some stretches once the muscles are warmed up.” After your five-minute warm-up, you’ll go right into 10 minutes of static hold stretches — doing each for two minutes, with 30- to 60-second sets within each of those two-minute time frames as shown below. “I like to end this stretching series with a couple of minutes of foam rolling on my IT band and hips,” Von Schleis adds.
Kelly Von Schleis’ Lower-Body Limber-Up
Perform each stretch for two minutes total, with minimal rest in between the listed holds.
The post The 15-Minute Stretching Routine for Hips and Glutes appeared first on Oxygen Mag.
