#82 Episode: The Hip Fix: What Your Body’s Been Trying to Tell You
When was the last time you gave your hips some TLC? Let’s talk tightness, strength, and simple stretches that actually make a difference — no matter your age or activity level.
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Show Notes
Introduction and gratitude, including spiritual inspiration behind the podcast
Emphasis on holistic wellness alongside mainstream medicine
Focus of the episode: keeping hips healthy and moving optimally
Common hip issues: stiffness, bursitis, inflammation, pre/post-surgery concerns
Four key areas to stretch:
Piriformis
Psoas (hip flexor area)
IT band
TFL muscles
Stretching guidelines:
Can be done anytime, ideally 20–30 sec holds or up to 2 mins
Use stretching to monitor improvement and manage stress
Fascia release essentials:
Target piriformis, outer hip/glutes, and IT band
Use foam rollers, massage balls, or manual work
Once or twice a month, based on individual need
Importance of mobility
Use Pilates-inspired movements: leg circles, sideline series
Focus on joint range of motion and therapeutic lengthening
Strength training for hips:
Target gluteus medius, internal/external rotators
Use ankle weights, resistance bands
2x/week, 1–3 sets; even 1 set has benefits if consistent
Importance of movement:
Walking or water walking to maintain strength and circulation
Final encouragement: grace, patience, and proactive care
Key Takeaways
Stretching and fascia release are essential to hip health—especially after age 40.
Targeted strength training using resistance bands and ankle weights can prevent injuries.
Mobility work from Pilates (like leg circles) helps maintain hip joint function.
Consistency matters more than intensity—even one set of strength work twice a week helps.
5. Walking is a simple but powerful way to keep hips and overall health in check.
Transcript
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Better Than A Pill. I'm super grateful that you guys are all here with me today. And before we get started, I do want to thank God for making this podcast possible. And it was born out of the idea that we need to be proactive about health and wellness and specifically holistic solutions.
And alongside what mainstream medicine has to offer. So today I wanted to hop on and talk a little bit about how we keep our hips healthy And optimal and so that we can move in the best way possible And a lot of times, we're struggling with different things. Sometimes it's just general stiffness or it could be bursitis inflammation or it could be pre post hip replacement.
So many things can be involved with the hips, but one thing's for sure. We need to be doing several things. The first thing that we need to be doing, one of our important pillars is stretching. And there are four key areas that we need to be specifically focusing on : checking on course assessments.
Range of motion. Some of these things may or may not be possible. If you've had surgery, many to limit range or exclude certain things. But in general, we need to check with our. Piriformis we need to be checking with our, so as our hip flexor area, our IT band in the outer hip and TFL muscles, we need to target those four areas.
With specific stretches now, if we were to look at, just in general, some guidelines with our stretching, you can stretch anytime most of us are not stretching enough and that definitely pertains to our hips. The pair of forms gets tight after age 40. I know myself. I have to always be checking in with those muscles because they tighten so.
When can you stretch any time it can be after physical activity. If you like that before bed, anytime in your day, use it for stress management, mix it up, and do what works best for your body. Also know that there is no black or white with rules for stretching. In my experience over time, it can be very subjective.
When we're really tight, we can hold a stretch up to two minutes with our hips. Or we might need to break it down into smaller segments, like 20 to 30 seconds. Most importantly, we want to feel improvement. So I always recommend you may have heard me say this before doing your stretch, coming out of it, then going back into it to make sure there's been improvement.
It's important to check in with all of the areas that I mentioned, because there's always going to be change. So making sure that, Our body may feel one way one day, but after certain movements or non movement that can change. So listen to your body, all those things apply. But definitely want to make sure that you're seeking improvement in that it's going to be different.
It can be different based on the size of your body. In addition to stretching, I always recommend for our hips specifically to fascia release. Primarily in three areas. The piriformis, definitely, we want to be Releasing fascia around there that can get tight. Checking in with that all the time.
That's just extremely helpful to do. One to two times a month, you can gauge this depending on your need and specific area and how your body's doing, how your hips are doing, outer hip and glutes. Definitely want to be doing fascia work there. And then along your IT band, that area, that sheath, that band that goes from the knee to the hip, all the way up that area.
I definitely recommend now, I definitely use different tools myself, certain types of balls that really work the best. You can use a foam roller for the IT band. That's the one thing that I would say there, or, and also a cross sectional hip release I like to do right at the top of that IT band or get manual work, whatever works best, but definitely be, we want to be checking in with the fascia.
And when it comes to the fascia. There is no, again, strict rule. It's very similar to doing it when you can with stretching. So typically I find the more we do this, the better. And it feels good. That's one of the things that's really nice about doing our fascia work, is that it feels good.
It feels good. I myself can use it as a tool for stress relief. So definitely needing to integrate that in as a part of keeping our hips healthy. We need to keep our hips in our range of motion. Here's the other thing around the hips. We need to keep that the length, the joints, mobile lengthening, all of those things are important.
And really we need to be taking that from the therapeutic. Part of Pilates which. I like to incorporate, I would say the key things that you want to take away from there for hip health would be a knee or leg circle. And some of the sideline Siri work is really good for maintaining the hip joint in particular.
And. for that. You can do that. There's no, right or wrong. At least one time a week, getting those movements in the hip is going to really be helpful with maintaining the joints. So we have several things so far. It's not just one thing. We want to try to get all of these things in a couple more things to take away when it comes to our hips.
We want to keep our hips strong and we need to be doing targeted strength. Strength work for the hips. And that means the outer, the inner internal hip rotators, all of those things me personally, I love to use ankle weights, doing sideline work. It's on a mat, very simple, effective. You want to work the gluteus medius.
We could do resistance bands, add that into a clam eventually working up, getting stronger there. And then keeping the glutes strong those muscles. So that you don't have to overwork the hips. You want to balance there and that's going to help reduce injury and everything. It's the whole thing.
We need to have that balance. If we're super strong and we're not working on mobility or adhesions or things like that, we're going to have problems, right? We're going to get injured. So all of those things combined. When it comes to the strengthening of the hips, it's just like anything else. You want to make sure that you're not doing it on consecutive days.
Give yourself a break. Two times a week, minimum. That's what, just aim for that. And one to three sets, one set, you can get results. So if you're just consistent, really, if you can do one set of something twice a week, you're going to be. In a far better place than not doing it at all.
If you have time, add in an extra set, work up to three, that's great. But let's get realistic. It boils down to our time and a lot of times we just don't have the time to do things. So one set, it's okay. And I want you to hear that. The last thing I want to say when it comes to our hips is that we do all of these things.
We're doing our targeted strength, our mobility, our fascia, the therapeutic work for the range of motion of the joints, all of those things, because we want to move. And we need movement. And when it comes to the hips, I would say walking is a wonderful strengthening exercise to keep the hips strong, but sometimes it's not doable for everybody.
So water walking, those two things are going to keep the hips strong and active. So get out and walk. It's good for our cardiovascular health, our mindset, in addition to our hips. And it only takes, wait 10 minutes, we can have benefits. So give yourself a 10 to 20 to 30 minute max kind of range.
We don't need to be doing it a lot. And if you do more in some days than others, it's all the things that add up. Remember, it's our whole cumulative. day here that we're looking at. So in general, just to sum it up, while we're considering all these things for our hips, remember to be patient with yourself, be kind to yourself, allow yourself grace, as you're integrating some of these things into your life, always listen to your body.
And, That's what's most important. There is no, no perfect. This is all about progress from where you are. A lot of times we don't think about our hips until we're starting to feel the tightness or the stiffness or the pain as our red flag indicator. And we know that we don't have to get to the point of pain, that all the things I mentioned, if we start doing them now, it's going to help prevent that pain.
Pain is just the last red flag indicator, shouting out to our bodies to please pay attention. So some of you listening today may be struggling in many areas of your health and wellness or even in making it a priority. Maybe it is hip stiffness, maybe it's back pain, or maybe it's low energy or stiffness like I talked about.
If you are ready to improve your health and enjoy living, I'd love to help you. And you can schedule your WellBody consultation today. You can get personalized insights and strategies. Click the link in this episode or reach out to support a movement craft. com. And because you're a listener of the better than a pill podcast, you will receive a 50 percent savings for letting us know that.
So please join me in two weeks. Remember we release episodes every other week on Wednesdays and I look forward to having you join me then. Take care.
