Stretches for tight hips: help for lifters who sit all day

Sitting for most of the day keeps your hips bent for hours, and heavy squats and deadlifts load the same muscles hard. Put the two together and many lifters feel tight at the front of the hips, deep in the glutes, or both. A few targeted stretches, done often, make a real difference to how your hips feel and how easily you reach depth.

Where hip tightness comes from

• Hip flexors at the front shorten when you sit, which can make standing tall and locking out a deadlift feel stiff.
• Glutes and deep hip rotators get tight from training and from sitting on them.
• Inner thighs limit how wide and deep you can squat.

Six stretches for tight hips

1. Half-kneeling hip flexor stretch: one knee down, squeeze that side's glute and shift forward gently. 30 to 45 seconds each side.
2. Pigeon: front shin across, back leg long, fold forward over the front leg.
3. Figure-four: on your back, ankle over the opposite knee, pull the bottom leg in. A gentler pigeon.
4. Butterfly: soles together, knees out, lean forward with a long back.
5. Side lunges: shift side to side to open the inner thighs, slowly, 8 reps each side.
6. Lunge with a reach: a deep lunge with a twist and reach that moves the whole hip. Great before leg day.

Better hips, better squats

If your squat depth is limited, stretching alone rarely fixes it. Combine it with practice in the bottom position: goblet squats and side-to-side squats teach depth under light load. Pair them with strength in the end range, like Bulgarian split squats. See how to increase your squat for more.

Tip: Stretch your hips little and often: a minute or two after sitting for a long spell does more than one long session a week.

Find them in the stretch library

Every one of these is in Liftsmith's stretch library (Progress › All tools), with a 3D demo and how-to. Search by name or muscle, or pick a muscle chip, tick the ones you want and press Start, any day, no workout needed.