Hip Hinge
Strength · Week 5+
Practise loading through the hips rather than the pelvic floor.
Set yourself up
- Stand tall, feet hip-width.
- Soften the knees just enough to unlock them, then keep the shins vertical throughout.
Move step by step
- Send the hips back as the chest tilts forward: like closing a drawer with your hips.
- Keep the spine long and the head in line with it: don’t crane the neck to look forward.
- Keep the shins vertical. If the knees drift forward you are squatting, not hinging.
- Return by driving the hips forward, not by pulling with the back.
- 10 slow reps.
- Optional: hold a broomstick or dowel along the spine: it should touch the back of the head, upper back, and tailbone, and stay in contact through the whole movement.
Breathing cue
Inhale to hinge back, exhale to return.
What to feel
- Stretch builds in the hamstrings as the hips travel back.
- Spine stays long: no rounding.
- At the end of the hinge, an exhale lets the pelvic floor drop a little.
Common mistakes
- Squatting instead of hinging: knees travelling forward and the shins tipping.
- Rounding the lower back.
- Lifting the chin and craning the neck.
Reduce the range, or hold a light support to learn the pattern.
Sources for this exercise
↗Hip Hinge, Physiopedia↗How to perfect your hip hinge, ISSA↗Lower back injury prevention and the hip hinge with neutral spine, NIH
This is education, not medical treatment.
Pelvic Floor Power Up is general information. It is not a diagnosis, a treatment, or personalised medical advice, and it is no substitute for being assessed by a qualified professional. Nobody has examined you.
- Talk to a doctor or pelvic-health physiotherapist before you start, particularly if you are pregnant or postnatal, have had pelvic surgery, or have been diagnosed with a prolapse.
- Stop and seek advice if any exercise increases your pain, pressure or urinary symptoms.
- Seek medical care promptly for blood in your urine or stool, fever, new inability to pass urine, numbness in the saddle area, or severe or rapidly worsening pain.