How to Test Hip Mobility and Improve Flexibility Fast

When it comes to flexibility, hip mobility is essential. That's because your hips are the body's largest ball-and-socket joint, playing a role in almost every movement and activity. Limited hip mobility can restrict your movement, making daily walking, bending, and squatting more difficult. If you struggle with hip mobility, you might notice stiffness or pain in your hips, but also feel discomfort elsewhere. Testing your hip mobility will help you identify any restrictions, so you can get back to moving freely and without pain. In this article, we'll cover how to test hip mobility, how to measure flexibility overall, and explain what to do if you find any limitations.

We'll also introduce Pliability's mobility app, which is a valuable tool for quickly identifying and correcting limitations in hip mobility so you can move more freely, improve flexibility, and prevent pain or injury in daily life or workouts.

What is Hip Mobility, and Why Does It Matter?

Hip mobility is the ability of your hip joint to move through its full range of motion, meaning your leg can extend both in front of and behind you. This is crucial because a lack of mobility in your hip joint can cause your hip flexors to shorten, resulting in lower back pain and impacting your posture. It warrants even more concern for runners because stunted hip mobility can undermine your running form by not allowing your leg to stretch far enough behind you when you run.

The Energy Cost of Poor Hip Mobility

“When you run, you want half your energy to come from muscles working and half of it to come from storing and releasing energy in your tendons,” says Jay Dicharry, MPT, a physical therapist, running coach, and author of the recent book Running Rewired. Your legs should be like a pendulum, swinging back and forth in front of and behind you.

“If you don’t have good hip mobility, the problem is that the pendulum, instead of swinging equally front and equal back, tends to swing out in front of you and then just kind of under me, so it doesn’t get a chance to swing back behind you. You actually lose out on the ability to apply that plasticity that you stored in your tendons as you run.”

Why Hip Mobility Matters for Runners

So running without full hip mobility causes you to rely on your muscles more than the explosive release of your tendons, which can be even more exhausting. Plus, if you become aware that your stride is not swinging far back enough, but you still lack hip mobility, you may try to compensate by swaying your lower back, which can cause pain. Any way you slice it, “you’re making running harder just by not having the range of motion,” Dicharry says.

If you are working to improve your hip flexibility and are unsure how to track your progress, this guide is for you. Using simple mobility tests, you can monitor your progress over weeks and months to ensure you’re working to restore basic range of motion (bROM).

Foundations of Hip Mobility

What is the basic range of motion? Imagine a healthy 12-year-old playing in the park with friends. They can easily get up and down from the floor, perform a full squat, and sit comfortably cross-legged. These simple, natural movement patterns are often lost as we age and become sedentary.

Consistency in stretching is the key to increasing hip mobility over time. Unlike strength training, where rest days are crucial, your body adapts best to stretching when done consistently, ideally daily. Frequent, short stretching sessions will consistently outperform irregular monster sessions.

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How to Test Hip Mobility and Unlock Full Range of Motion

₁. Hip Flexion

When you squat deeply, butt to heels, your hip joint moves in flexion toward its maximum range. Deep flexion is necessary for sitting comfortably on the floor, getting up and down from the ground, lifting, lunging, and running. Your glutes and hamstrings are the main muscles that limit and enable this movement, but your quads and adductors also have a role to play.

• Lie on your back on the floor
• Pull your knee into your chest
• Using your fists, measure the distance between your knee and your chest
• Your goal in this test is to have no gap between the two

2. Hip Extension

In a deep lunge with your back knee off the ground, your back leg is in full hip extension. Hip extension is essential for running and walking, especially when fatigued. The key muscles in this movement are your rectus femoris, iliacus, and psoas. Tight core muscles can also limit range of motion here. Your goal in this test is to get the arch of your foot above your knee, so start with the option that enables you to do this best.

• Lie on your belly on the floor
• Extend one leg into the air
• Option one: Flex the knee of your opposite leg and place your foot on top of your other foot, creating an angle with your extended back leg
• Option two: Place your foot on your shin and keep that top leg straight
• Option three: Position the arch of your foot so it cups your knee
• Option four: Place your foot above your knee, top leg straight (with no pain in your lower back)

3. 90/90 Hip Switch Test

The first 30-second test that physical therapists use is the 90/90 Hip Switch. Physical therapist Ashley Taylor, DPT, in La Jolla, California, says, “This can be a great self-assessment tool.” And it’s one that also ends up being educational, you learn more about your body in the process, because “you are testing hip movement in all planes, bilaterally.” In layman’s terms, you’re testing both sides, in all directions of movement. 

• Sit on the floor with both of your knees bent to 90 degrees, one leg in front and one to the side
• Without using your hands, rotate to the other side while keeping your butt and heels on the floor
• Once you’ve flipped sides, go back in the other direction

What Your 90/90 Results Can Tell You

Could you do it without lifting your booty or your heels? If not, you may have tight iliopsoas muscles, also known as the hip flexors. “The iliopsoas muscle is a strong hip flexor and becomes even tighter with prolonged sitting (like at work or a long drive),” she says. “This is very important to be mindful of.”

Tight Hips? Try These Mobility Tips

If you can’t quite make it to the other side without lifting your heels or booty, it’s time to get into some hip openers. “If you have tight hips, it’s crucial to stretch and train the hips in all planes,” says Taylor. “I like to use yoga!”

Also, if you can see a physical therapist in person (or even on a video consult) and do this test in front of them, that’s even better, she says. A practitioner can assess your hips and determine if the issue comes from the joint or tight muscles.

4. The Doorway Hip Mobility Test

Dicharry likes to use this hip mobility test, which he includes in his book Running Rewired (along with other running form tests), to help you determine whether mobility is something you need to work on. It works by testing whether there is tightness in your hip flexor.

If there’s tightness, it indicates that your hip doesn’t move around very much, which in turn causes your hip flexor to be in a shortened position, which then makes it harder for you to stretch your leg back. It’s a vicious cycle! To see what’s going on, all you need is a doorway and potentially a towel or mat to rest your knee on. 

• Come kneeling in a doorway, with your mid/upper back against the doorway. Your upper shins should be on the floor, extending to either side of the doorway.
• Come into a half-kneeling pose. Keep one knee bent on the floor, but place the foot of the other leg on the floor in front of you so there is a 90-degree angle at your hips between your torso and quads and a 90-degree angle at your knee between your upper and lower legs. Make sure your upper/mid back is still in contact with the doorway and that there is space between your lower back and the doorway.
• Tilt your pelvis forward so that the space between the wall and your lower back disappears
• Observe how the front of your leg with the knee on the floor feels.

Here’s Dicharry Demonstrating How To Do The Test:

When I first did the test, I couldn’t tell whether I was getting option 1 or 2. I felt some pulling on my left side, but was that really the telltale sign I was looking for? Then, I tried the other side, and YOW. My hip mobility on my right side was struggling but, conversely, I was doing okay on my left!

This imbalance makes sense. I’ve injured my hamstring and ankle on my right side, while my left side has been injury-free. No wonder things were a little off for one side and not the other.

Mobility Is a Feeling, Not Just a Test

If you’re having trouble determining whether you’re getting option 1 or 2, option 2 is a “you’ll know it when you feel it” sensation. At the same time, mobility is not necessarily black or white. It’s possible things could be a little tight, but not to the level of my struggling right side.

“Make sure to assess how you feel on one side so you can compare it to the opposite side,” says Taylor (which applies to both tests). “Take mental notes so you can be more in tune with your body.”

What Your Results Mean

If you get option 1, your hip flexor muscle doesn’t seem to be tight, so dynamic stretching before runs or other activities is sufficient to maintain mobility in those hip joints. Dicharry notes that it’s still important to work on strength and control around the joint to maintain hip mobility, so keep dynamic stretches like leg swings or body strength exercises like one-leg standing poses in your lineup.

If you get option 2, don’t despair; it’s a sign that your hip mobility needs some work.

5. Lateral Rotation

When you see someone sitting in the elusive lotus pose and wonder, “How do they do that?” you are witnessing hips that are very open in the lateral rotation range of motion. Opening your hips to the side allows for comfort in most seated positions and is crucial for getting up and down from the ground.

Your adductors are the area of focus, but your hamstrings also play a role. In some people, tight ankles or quads can make this range of motion challenging. 

• Sit in a butterfly position on the floor
• Place your thumbs inside your feet as if you were opening a book
• Gently pull your feet in close towards your pelvis
• Gently press your knees down
• Measure how many fists distance your knees are off the floor

6. Medial Rotation

Imagine a slalom skier racing down the mountain. One hip rotates out, laterally, and the other rotates inwards, medially. Now imagine a football player running, stopping, and then pivoting quickly. Again, you’ll see that the pivoting hip rotates medially.

This hip movement is often ignored, but it’s crucial when you least expect it, such as turning quickly, slipping off a stair, or promptly turning while in motion. Your glutes and deep six lateral rotators are the area of focus here, though tight ankles can also confuse things.

• Sit on the floor, legs extended in front of you, hip-width apart
• Bend one leg and slide your foot out to the side in line with your opposite knee
• Keep your foot and both knees in one line and medially rotate your knee towards the ground, try to keep it as flat as possible with no pain
• Your hip will roll up, but your shoulder stays over your hips
• If you feel any pain in your back or knee, back off to where you feel no pain
• Measure how many fists distance you are from the floor

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Best Exercises to Improve Your Hip Mobility

Hip Rotation with Feet Elevated on Wall

The hip rotation with feet elevated on a wall improves hip mobility and stability by targeting the hips' external rotators.  

• Begin by lying on your back with your feet on the wall and your hips and knees bent to 90 degrees. Place a foam roller or pillow between your knees
• Engage your core and glutes and lift your hips 1-2 inches from the surface
• Slowly rotate one leg out to the side and then return to the starting position
• Repeat with the opposite foot, keeping your hips elevated throughout the motion
• Perform 10-15 repetitions for 2-3 sets

90-90 Hip Lift

The 90-90 hip lift targets the hip rotators and encourages proper movement patterns for improved mobility.

• Begin in the test position described above.
• Lean forward and place both hands on the ground.
• Lift your back leg from the surface, rotating at the hip.
• If you are unable to perform this movement actively, you can use one hand to assist and attempt to hold at the top.
• Perform 10-15 repetitions for 2-3 sets on both sides.

Pigeon Stretch

The pigeon stretch effectively targets the hip rotators and relieves tightness in the hips.

• Start on your hands and knees.
• Lift up one leg and bring it into a figure-four position.
• Lean forward, resting your elbows on the ground.
• Next, sink into the stretch as tolerated.
• Hold for 20-30 seconds and complete 3-5 times per side.

Standing Hip Openers

This exercise promotes active hip mobility and can be a warm-up for sports and activities.

• Start standing with good posture and an object like a foam roller next to you.
• Slowly and controlled, lift your leg off the ground to a 90-90 position.
• Bring your hip out to the side, clearing the foam roller.
• Continue the motion, extending your hip past the foam roller and returning to the starting position.
• Repeat the movement in the opposite direction.
• Perform 2-3 sets of 10-15 repetitions per side.

Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch

Dicharry recommends doing a kneeling hip flexor stretch for three minutes per day.

• Kneel on a pad or pillow, making sure to keep the thigh of the leg you are kneeling on vertical.
• Tuck your pelvis under. Hold this position for 3 minutes.
• To increase the stretch, position the foot of your kneeling leg out to the side a few inches (this will rotate your thigh inward) before moving into a posterior pelvic tilt.

Supine Twists

Try supine twists (thank you, yoga!) for the piriformis and glute muscles. Relieving tightness in these areas can also help your hips release.

Stretch Your Hamstrings

Do stretches for the hamstrings (because tight hamstrings contribute to hip stiffness and pain). 
If you want to give your hips some love, don’t stop there, says Taylor. “I would take additional steps by attending a beginners yoga class, as you will complete movements on both sides, as well as begin to get in tune with yourself and your body,” she says. And adding a regular mobility workout to your routine can offer surprisingly effective results. 

Dicharry says with just three minutes of daily stretching, you should see results in about 10 weeks. And if that sounds like a lot, keep the faith. “Your body can and will adapt,” Dicharry says.

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• Improve flexibility
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• Enhance range of motion

Pliability provides daily-updated custom mobility programs for those interested in optimizing their health and fitness. It also includes a unique body-scanning feature to pinpoint mobility issues. If you're feeling limited by pain or ability to move, Pliability aims to complement your fitness routine and help you move better. 

Sign up today for 7 days absolutely for free, on iPhone, iPad, Android, or on our website to improve flexibility, aid recovery, reduce pain, and enhance range of motion with our mobility app.

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