The hips are super central to almost everything we do as humans. These exercises will help stabilize them so they can help you do everything you need to do in life.

Each exercise can be done in sets of as many reps as you’d like. Every body is different so I won’t prescribe a specific number of repetitions, but shooting for 10 is often a good goal. Always listen to your body and adapt as needed if an exercise is too hard!

Hip Raises

For this exercise, you stand on one foot. You can elevate if you want so the free foot can dangle below the ground plane, or just do it on solid ground if that makes you more comfortable. Use the hip of the leg you’re standing on to gently rotate the body until the free hip is comfortably higher than the hip of the leg you’re standing on. Make sure to relax the rest of the body and don’t attempt to lift the dangling leg using your side muscles. Do as many reps as feels good. Repeat on both sides.

Single-leg Romanian Deadlift

This exercise really tests your balance! I am still not very good at doing this one without falling over :P. Stand straight with hands at sides, and gradually lower your torso, keeping the spine straight, while you extend one leg behind you for balance. Get as close to horizontal as you can, and then come back up. If your hamstrings are too tight to get to horizontal (like mine!), you can optionally bend your legs a little, this will let you go lower than a strict straight-leg deadlift. Make sure to stop when you feel a comfortable stretch in the hamstrings, don’t push too far and risk injury. Do as many reps as feels comfortable, and make sure to do the other side as well!

Single-leg Glute Bridge

For this exercise, lie on your back, with one foot on the floor, with the knee bent, holding the other knee to your chest. Gently raise your butt up using the glute on the side of the leg on the floor. Pay attention to where you feel the effort, you should feel it in the glute, and not in your back. Do as many reps as feels comfortable, and repeat on both sides.

Big Leg Circles

For lack of a better idea, we’re calling these ones big leg circles. Start with your leg crossed in front of you and slowwwwwwly trace as big of a circle as you can, all the way around until your leg is behind you. Adapt to your needs! Don’t pull anything! I can’t really do this one yet as pictured, my circles are MUCH smaller :). Do as many reps as feel comfortable and repeat on both sides.

There are a whole bunch of little muscles and bones in the feet. They are marvels of engineering, they can bend and adapt in countless ways. Unfortunately, in our modern world, we spend a lot of time walking on flat surfaces, with our feet locked in place in stiff shoes, and so these muscles are often weaker than they should be. This can make everyday activities more difficult, to say nothing of running long distances.

These exercises aim to help strengthen the little stabilizing muscles in the feet and ankles, and improve balance. Do one or more sets of as many reps as feels comfortable to you.

Calf Raises: Straight Leg

Straight forward – the standard. Raise up on your toes, putting your weight on the balls of your feet, keeping knees and torso straight.

Outward – raise up on your toes, putting your weight on the outside of the balls of your feet.

Inward – raise up on your toes, putting your weight on your big toes.

Onto heels – lift your toes off the ground, putting your weight on your heels.

You can also try these on one leg for more intensity!

Calf Raises: Bent Leg

Keep knees statically bent a little. This uses different muscles than the straight-leg calf raises, and makes it harder.

Straight forward – the standard. Keep weight in the middle of the balls of your feet.

Outward – same as before, but with bent knees.

Inward – same as before, but with bent knees.

Onto heels – same as before, but with bent knees.

Ankle Rolls

Roll out – standing up with straight legs, roll your ankles carefully outward, not going past the limit of your flexibility.

Roll in – carefully roll your ankles inward. You won’t be able to go as far as outward, be very careful to not push too far. This will help you keep from spraining your ankle in the event that you DO roll your ankle.

Toe Grabbing

Sit on floor and grab coat with toes, flex foot down and inward, let go and repeat. This helps toe dexterity.

Spread out coat with toes – the opposite motion to the previous one, push out with your toes and try to spread a coat out on the floor.

Arch Flexes

Arch flexes: put the heel and ball of your foot on the floor, lift your arch and push the ball of the foot into the floor. Your toes can come up off the floor but don’t let them clench. This will help strengthen your arches.

Miscellaneous

• Standing/rolling on styrofoam dome, made from half a styrofoam ball.
• Japanese kneel with toes bent up
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