A Simple Hip Opening Movement - Helpful For Preventing Hip Dysfunction and Degeneration

Just as we can improve shoulder mobility by extending our arms upward while keeping them in the same plane as our trunk, we can improve hip mobility with a similar setup.

Lying face up on a comfortable surface, tuck one leg under the thigh as you would to stretch your quad region, then open your other hip outward so that the outside of that thigh is in contact with the surface you're lying on, or as close to the same plane as your trunk as you can comfortably manage. In this position, in a controlled manner, move your your leg up and down - a good cue is to aim to bring that knee up toward the same side armpit, just as far as it will comfortably come up.

If you can't tuck your other leg under its thigh, you can just keep that leg in a neutral position or with the knee bent and foot flat on the ground.

Feel free to modify your body position as you do this movement for your hips - it's fine to rotate your trunk a bit toward the side that you're working on if this makes it easier to feel your hip moving through this range of external rotation and flexion.

I recommend doing this movement first thing in the morning, intermittently throughout the day, and again before bed to maintain optimal hip mobility.