Running Essentials Thursday: An Amazing Hip Opening Stretch (& it’s not pigeon pose)
If you’re like me you’ve experienced being the only person in a yoga or barre class that doesn’t have the flexibility to do a specific exercise or sit in a particular yoga pose. In those moments I often am filled with the urge to shout “I’M A RUNNER! MY LEGS DON’T DO THAT!” And I have actually whispered those words to an instructor a time or two.
The source of my inflexibility are my hips. I remember when I first discovered pigeon pose. It changed my life. That’s how I feel about the dynamic hip stretch I learned from using Jill Miller’s Post Athletic Stretch Routine DVD. While I may never be able to do the full stretch as shown in the video below, the modified version I’ve adapted helps to open up my hips and relieve tension.
Try this stretch after your next long run and tell me what you think.
Do you have any topics or questions you’d like to see covered in a Running Essentials Thursday post? Email me or let me know in the comments.
As I’ve told you before, that’s why I like wearing race shirts to yoga/barre classes: so I am wearing a disclaimer that my legs/hips can’t do those things. (But they can run far!)
And that stretch does look amazing.
Oh man, I think I’m gonna like this. My hips have been so tight from all the training!
Thanks for sharing!
My hips are super tight and sore after my long run this past Friday. I had remembered someone posting a hip stretch so I searched my Reader and found this post. Fantastic! I will need to try this one after my next run. Not sure I’ll ever be able to do the full stretch but better something than nothing!
I can’t do the full stretch either, but what I can do of it I love. Just be sure to ease into it!