Every time you pick something up off the floor, whether it’s a paperclip or a fully loaded barbell, you’re using a hip hinge.
Or rather, you should use a hip hinge.
The sad truth is that desk jockeys and weightlifters (and everyone in between) struggle with the hip hinge, relying too much on the forward bend.
In the short term, bending does the job.
But giving up the hip hinge is depriving yourself of one of the most basic fundamental movements of the body…and putting the health of your spine at risk.
What is a hip hinge and how is it different from a bend?
In a forward bend, the movement is initiated at the lower back, explains Jace DerwinRSCC, CSCS, Head of Performance Coaching at Volt Athletics in Seattle, Washington.
Although this type of movement is common, it is not ideal. “The muscles and discs of the Lumbar spine end up misaligned and can take on the heavy lifting,” he says.
The hip hinge, which emphasizes the glutes and hamstrings instead of the lower back muscles, shifts resistance from the lumbar spine to the lower body.
Because they are much stronger than the smaller, less powerful muscles that support the spine, leg and hip muscles are better suited for lifting.
How to make a good hip hinge
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart, with your weight on your heels and a slight bend in your knees.
- Keeping your back straight and core engaged, push your butt back (imagine trying to close a car door with it) and hinge forward at your hips. Mariah Heller, CPT, CMT, recommends “acting like there’s a board strapped to your spine forcing you to keep your back straight.”
- Stop when you feel a stretch in your hamstrings and glutes. Depending on your level of flexibility, your chest may be almost parallel to the floor or higher.
- Squeeze your glutes and bring your hips forward to return to a standing position.
Exercises that train the hip hinge
Once you have learned the fundamental movement pattern of the hip hinge, use these movements to refine and strengthen it.
1. Hello
Add resistance to a basic hip hinge by looping an exercise band under your feet and holding it with both hands.
2. Deadlift
One of the three big lifts (the others being the bench press and the squat), the deadlift trains the posterior chain, a supergroup of muscles in the back of your body that extends from your heels to your neck.
3. Skier swing with dumbbells
A more advanced hip hinge exercise, the dumbbell skier swing uses momentum from the hip hinge to repeatedly propel the weights to chest level.
Benefits of Hip Hinge Exercises
Hip hinge training has benefits, both inside and outside the gym.
1. Injury Prevention
Improper movement patterns, especially those associated with forward bending, can lead to back pain and injury.
By learning to articulate well at the hips, you reinforce healthy, natural movements and therefore save your spine from unnecessary wear and tear.
2. Functional fitness
The hip hinge is the foundation of countless functional fitness exercises, including the squat and the deadlift.
If you want to reap the benefits of functional fitness (eg, increased muscle mass, cardiorespiratory health, improved athletic performance, etc.), you need to master the hip hinge.
3. Glute Engagement
As a society plagued by dead butt syndrome, we need to embrace any exercise that encourages glute engagement. The hip hinge is the answer to all our flat back problems.
Hip Hinge Stressed Muscles
Hip hinge exercises primarily engage the glutes and hamstrings.
Glutes
Your buttocks are made up of three “gluteal” muscles: gluteus maximus, gluteus minimus, and gluteus medius.
The three muscles work together to stabilize the pelvis, extend (straighten) your hips, rotate your legs, and abduct the thighs (bring them out to the sides).
Hamstrings
Located just below your glutes at the back of your thighs, the hamstring muscle group includes the biceps femoris, semitendinosus, and semimembranosus.
These muscles play a vital role in knee flexion and hip extension.
