Hip Stretch for Martial Arts Fitness

Video Transcript

"This next stretch is for your outer hip, your backside, and your lower back. It's really great if you have sciatica or back pain that shoots down the side. For martial arts, this a must do stretch because you use your hip and these muscles quite a bit. The best way to do this stretch is to put one foot up on a wall or anything in your house that you can put your foot on, and then you're going to take the other one and cross it. Lift your hip up, flex this foot. Otherwise, it's bad for the knee, so flex your foot and then you lower your back down. You want your back totally out of it and relaxed. You're going to flex this foot, and with your 2 hands push this out here. You can do it without putting your foot on the wall, but then you have to focus on doing this and I'd rather you be able to give this the extra stretch here. You just relax your lower back. If you don't feel it, you can always move yourself closer to the wall and it makes it more intense. The same thing, if you feel it too much or you can't get your back down, you can push away from the wall like that. We'll switch sides now. Let's say I want to feel it more. Put this here, lift up, flex my foot, turn my hip out more. This feels really good like that. Remember to leave your back out of it. There should be no tension in your back at all. Okay."