After day after day after day of sitting and typing, whenever you stand up, there’s a good chance you feel an ever-so-slight pinch. It sits in the front of your hips, which have grown tight and stiff. And it’s hard to open those hips up later, whether you’re headed out on a run or to a squat session at the gym.
The solution: This hip mobility series from Men’s Health fitness director Ebenezer Samuel, C.S.C.S. The simple bodyweight flow will open your tight hips and loosen your upper body, too. “And you can do it all in five minutes,” says Samuel. “That’s the best part.”
Samuel’s hip mobility series can be done anytime, anywhere, in a matter of minutes. It’s built around two ideas, the Spiderman lunge, a classic move for hip mobility, and the pigeon, a yoga move that gets even more hip activation. By cycling back and forth between those ideas, with planks in between, you loosen your entire body and walk away feeling great. “Both movements challenge your hips in different ways,” says Samuel. “The Spiderman starts the process, then the pigeon essentially deepens and pushes the bounds of your hip mobility.”
Not everyone will sink deep into their pigeon stretch, says Samuel, but getting a comfortable stretch here will gradually improve your hip mobility.
The best part of it all: That no-equipment part.
The beauty of the entire flow is that you can do it anytime, anywhere, and use it in a variety of situations. It’s a perfect flow to do during a spare moment at home, when you’ve finished hours upon hours of desk work. But it’s equally suitable to get you warmed up for a vicious cardio workout, a 5-mile run, or a sprint workout. You can also use this to warm up before a weight room leg session full of squats, lunges, and deadlifts. “It’s an ultra-versatile flow that takes minutes,” says Samuel, “and you can do it anytime.”
For more tips and routines from Samuel, check out our full slate of Eb and Swole workouts. If you want to try an even more dedicated routine, consider Eb’s All Out Arms program.
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