Daily Mobility Exercises by Dr. Kelly Starrett › Forums › General › Self assessing optimal Hip range

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    • 12/03/2013 at 11:37 am #70627
      AvatarTravis Wyant
      Participant

      I’ve watched almost all the videos… especially the ones about ‘is it your hips or ankles’ etc.

      However, although I know I have limited ankle range It’s difficult to assess the position of restriction in the hip (individually as one side is almost always more restricted than the other)…

      So, does anyone have any useful methods of actively assessing (on your own, not with a therapist / partner) hip range / hip restriction and how this varies as the hip is taken through various degrees of abduction?

      I’ve seen a video that puts you on all fours and has you sit back towards your heels and you watch for the point at which your lumbar spine flexes (tucks under) and you vary the width of your legs, but I know that personally my right is much different to my left side.

      I’m basically trying to work to optimum range for each joint by starting in the best position possible (the concept of the tunnel), for example, getting my stance width optimised before I descend into a squat.

    • 12/10/2013 at 8:01 pm #73406
      AvatarNathan Richer
      Participant

      well i poked around for a while and think this would be something to look at:

      in BSL in mobility tools, area 6 posterior high chain, they show internal rotation test 1 and 2.  i believe you could probably rotate the other direction and gauge external rotation also.  you move the leg in the given direction until you can’t move it any more. if you have a partner, you can let them move it until they feel resistance.  then note the angle from center.
      the idea is that you want equal internal and external rotation on both sides. inbalances between left and right have a greater negative effect than if both sides were lacking but relatively equal.
      i think that test/retest applies heavily here.  first you should squat down and see how far you can go – definitely before butt winking.  then try a smash and/or mob.  then squat again. did you get further?  i believe you can test a smash or mob also – when you smash, do you feel soreness in the tissue you are smashing? if you don’t feel any soreness, you can probably move onto the next area.  in mobs, test the corners – do you feel tinges of pain there? if not, then move on.  repeat until you find something in the legs, hips, or back that does feel tight.  test again for effect.  you know you’ve done something good when your position gets better.  over time you’ll probably know which areas you should work on and which you can pass on, or just do a quick check.
      stance testing can work too.  i find that i cannot squat at shoulder width – i have to be slightly wider.  so that can also be test/retested for also.
      you can also video yourself squatting.  go all the way down, even past buttwinking.  then replay it and note where your butt wink just begins.  this is your range right now.  also you should probably develop good perception of what a butt wink feels like as you go into it.  then you can self evaluate and not have to depend on video to tell you when it happens.  a mirror can potentially also help too, although i find that looking to the side and squatting is sometimes difficult….
      if you want to nerd out on how a clinician might test you, you can buy Movement by Gray Cook.  He describes the SFMA which is a joint by joint test of mobility.  but all of these are performed by a clinician.
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