Positive Fitness tip of the week

As part of our Positive Fitness campaign, we’ll be bringing you exclusive tips from some of the UK’s leading industry experts

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Positive Fitness tip of the week

Jordan Lue, Personal Trainer & Sports Performance Specialist from Lomax Health, explains that you should always include hip exercises in your fitness regime.

Strong functional hips open the door to bigger and better exercises, conducive to any training goal. Using your hips is a vital component to many movements in the gym, but more importantly in daily life. Being taught movement through the hips brings fluidity and integrity to what you do, speeding up progress and fitting in with your training goal.’

Here are the top exercises that will help to improve hip health:

Bridging Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Raise your hips off the floor, so that your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees. Pause at the top, then slowly lower your body back to the floor.

Lateral Band Walk For this exercise to be effective, make sure you choose the right strength-resistance band before you begin. Put both feet inside the band and lift to ankle height. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart – the band should be taught, but not stretched. Bend your knees slightly and move into a half-squat position to activate your glutes. Walk 8 to 10 steps, then repeat for 10 reps.

Side Lying Hip Abduction Lie on your right side and rest your head on top of your right arm;  rest your left arm on top of your left hip. Stack your left leg on top of your right leg. Don't roll forward or backward as you exhale and slowly lift your left leg until you can feel tension in your side abdominal muscles. Inhale, and just as slowly, lower your left leg back on top of your right leg. Complete 10 reps on both sides.

Hip Extension Start the exercise by standing, holding onto a chair or surface for balance. Extend your left leg so that it’s behind you and flex your foot. Next, lift your leg until it’s almost at hip height, then complete the move by lowering your leg back down, making sure it doesn’t touch the floor. Do 25 reps on each leg.

Photograph: iStock

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