- Strength Training Boosts Performance, Study Says new research.
- Regularly incorporating hip-strengthening exercises—like hip thrusts—into your A Part of Hearst Digital Media can improve mobility and prevent injury.
With any introduction of hip-strengthening exercises, though, the advice is the same, he told lower-body muscles We may earn commission from links on this page, but we only recommend products we back quads and hamstrings—but are you showing your hip flexors enough love? A recent study in the Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics Regular Exercise Lowers Risk of Early Death Even in Areas With High Air Pollution mobility How to Do a Kettlebell Swing the Right Way.
Researchers looked at 433 older adults and assessed their physical function through handgrip strength, hip flexion, hip extension, hip abduction, knee extension, and toe flexion.
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They asked the participants to do several mobility tests, such as standing up from a chair five times without using their hands—often used to measure “transfer skill,” which means your ability to activate your lower-body muscles quickly—as well as standing on one chair, and sprinting up a set of stairs. A year later, they took the same assessments and tests to determine whether their function had increased, stayed the same, or decreased.
People whose function had decreased had significantly weaker hip flexor strength compared to those who did the same or better on the tests. This led researchers to conclude that focusing on hip flexor strength could have considerable benefits as you get older.
Although the study was done on somewhat sedentary older adults, the results can apply to younger people and those who are active. In fact, running—and other sports with repetitive motion—might put you at more risk for weak hip flexors if you don’t take the time to focus on strengthening them.
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For example, a study on young adult soccer players looked at muscle activation during play and found those with restricted or shortened hip flexor muscles showed less activation of gluteus muscles, which could put them at higher risk of lower-extremity injuries.
Another study, also on soccer players, found that hip thrust exercises—rather than squats— boosted sprint performance, issues as you age.
For example, a Brad Schoenfeld, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., assistant professor in exercise science at CUNY Lehman College and author of Guide to Mental Health. With any introduction of hip-strengthening exercises, though, the advice is the same, he told Runner’s World: Take it slow, learn proper form, and focus on higher reps and relatively lighter loads to get enough practice.
can improve mobility and prevent injury
