How to Make Your Hips Swing

Activities like belly dancing call for flexible hip muscles.

Having flexible hip flexors is beneficial for a host of fitness routines like dance fitness, strength training and general flexibility. If you're hip-flexibility-challenged you might find it hard to make thrusts and pivots to swing your hips in activities like golf, Zumba, belly dancing and squats. To widen your range of flexibility and give your hips a shake to the left and right, commit to a bit of stretching and practice.

Instructions

1. Stretch your hip muscles often. Sit on the floor with your legs as wide apart as you can get them. Don't force your legs wider than what feels comfortable. Lean over forward reaching your left hand to your left foot and your right hand to your right foot. Lean into the stretch feeling your muscles in your hamstrings and inside hips.

2. Sit up and press both of your feet together bending your knees. Lean forward into the stretch to feel your hips stretch even more. Be sure to breathe while you are stretching to transfer oxygen to your muscles and get a deeper stretch. Hold your stretches for 30 seconds to a minute and repeat.

3. Stand up and shake your legs out kicking them around. Squat straight down as if you were sitting into a chair. Keep your legs hip width apart. Stand up straight and repeat. Commit to 10 to 12 repetitions for two to three sets. This will help warm your muscles and loosen your hips.

4. Stand with your feet shoulder distance apart. Shift the weight of your body to your left leg while thrusting your hip up and over to the left. Return back to center. Repeat your thrusting action pivoting your body weight the right. Push your hips out as far as you can keeping your feet planted on the floor. Rock side to side with each thrust, relaxing the body as you do so.

5. Roll your hips in a circular motion moving your pelvis to the front, then to the right, moving to the back and to the left to make a complete circle. Smooth out the motion so your circle is fluid and doesn't have any jerking motions.

6. Repeat your hip thrusts by isolating your hip movements only to the left and right pushing your hips out wide. Continue to rotate hips making them swing like a pendulum.

References

• Golf Digest: "Fitness Friday: Train Your Hips for a Better Swing"; Roger Schiffman; March 2011
• Yoga Journal; "Get Hip About Flexors"; Julie Gudmestad