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Article by Infofit

Hip Strengthening Rehabilitation Exercises

Exercise to help strengthen muscles around your SI joint, lumbar spine, and hips.

Hip Strengthening Rehabilitation Exercises

Ramping/Glute Bridge

Ramping is an excellent therapeutic exercise to help strengthen the muscles around your sacroiliac joint, lumbar spine, and hip extensors. Muscles around the inner thigh are also targeted as they are commonly disengaged due to spreading one’s knees during the up-phase of the movement.

  1. Client starts in a supine position (i.e. lying on their back) with knees bent at 90o. Place a soft, and preferably weightless medicine ball held firmly between their knees.

2. Using a yard-stick as a teaching tool, align the stick at your client’s shoulders and knees.

3.Client raises their pelvis off the ground into alignment with their shoulders and knees (using the yard- stick as a measure).

4.Hold for 5 seconds, and then slowly return to the start position and only pausing for 1 second until the next repetition.

5.Progress exercise by slightly “tapping” or shaking the ball and forcing the client to control the movement and stabilize their position.

Hip Hikes

These hip strengthening rehabilitation exercises are designed to improve strength of the muscles of the hip. Generally, the Fitness Trainer should monitor that they only be performed provided they do not cause or increase pain. Begin with the basic hip strength training exercises. Once these are too easy, they can be replaced with the intermediate hip strengthening exercises. As your strength improves, the advanced hip strengthening exercises should be performed approximately 10 times, 3 times daily. As your hip strength improves further, the exercises can be progressed by gradually increasing the repetitions and strength of contraction provided they do not cause or increase pain.

André Noël Potvin, MSc, CES, CSCS, TFL, is a Clinical Exercise Specialist and Owner of Infofit, North America’s #1 School for Fitness Professionals.