Unlock Your Tight Hips: A Yoga Teacher Says These Are the 'Big 3 Movements' You Need as You Age
Yoga teacher (and teacher to other yoga teachers) Lucas Rockwood says you need three types of movement for hip mobility and flexibility: hip flexion, extension and lateral rotation.
The video below, published to the Yoga Body channel, details why these three movement patterns matter for functional movement and how a lack of any of the above could inhibit how you move. Functional movement pattern issues only become more prevalent as you age, so fixing them now can help you live and feel better, whether it's during exercise or just moving about your day.
Grab one of the best yoga mats and find out how to fix your tight hips and strengthen your lower body against injury using just three movement types.
Watch Yoga Body's hip mobility video:
Rockwood kicks off the video with the three types of movement patterns that are crucial for proper hip health and function. Let's look at them below, and check out some examples of the types of yoga poses you can do using each one.
1. Hip flexion
First up is hip flexion, which occurs when you sit into a squat or hinge forward at your hips, for example. During flexion, the distance between your hips and your chest reduces.
While hip flexion plays a role in maintaining healthy hips, it's worth remembering that for any of us who sit for prolonged periods, the hips can lie dormant in flexion, leading to weakness or tightness. That is why extension (the yang to flexion's yin) matters just as much, but we'll get to that shortly.
Here are some examples of yoga poses that work the hips in flexion:
Yogi squat (above)
Squats
Knees to chest stretch
Happy baby
Lizard lunge (front leg)
2. Hip extension
Extension of the hips (think about your back leg during a lunge, for example) helps stretch out the fronts of the legs, including the hip flexors, and the most common flexor (and tightest), the psoas.
Hip extension occurs when you move the thigh behind the body, increasing the distance between the thigh, pelvis and chest. Extension is important for proper walking or running mechanics, and Rockwood says you can quite easily tell if someone suffers from weak extensors, because it'll show up during these movements.
If you see someone's (or your own) feet swaying to one side during a run, it can signal a gait issue or a struggle to lengthen the leg back behind the body, which comes down to limited extension ability and shows up most when fatigued.
Hip extension is crucial for posture, so when you want to fix tight hips, extension should always play a role. Examples of yoga poses that move the hips into extension are:
Lizard lunge (back leg, pictured above)
Camel pose
Dragon lunge
Pigeon pose
90-90 stretch
Bridge pose
3. Lateral rotation
Last but not least, lateral rotation is the key to unlocking tight hips, which occurs when we sit cross-legged. If your knees are up by your chest and you can't relax them down, it could be time to work on this type of movement.
In this scenario, you're typically looking for any open-legged position that focuses on stretching the groin and moving the knees away from your midline, which rotates the hips outward.
Lotus pose
Butterfly pose
Half pigeon pose
Reclined butterfly (performed lying on your back)
Frog pose (above)
Extended triangle pose
Before you start any new exercise or stretching regime, always check in with a qualified yoga instructor who can guide your practice and the best exercises to suit your ability or any existing injuries or illnesses.
The above exercises don't take into account individual preferences or injuries, so could aggravate symptoms in some circumstances. We never aim to diagnose, so take caution and stop if you experience pain.
Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
More from Tom's Guide
No, not planks — I swapped them for Pilates push-ups, and my core and arms feel strong and stable
Yoga for knee pain workout
3 things I wish I had known as a yoga beginner
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
5 reasons why you're having trouble sleeping this summer — and how to fix it fast
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Everybody loves the summer — except of course when they're lying awake in bed in the middle of the night, unable to drop off in the seasonal heat. Summer can be a literal hotspot for insomnia, and while rising temperatures are a major factor in this, there are other reasons why you may not be catching the ZZZs you need in the summer months. Sadly not even the best mattress can guarantee uninterrupted sleep in the summer, and while upgrading to one of the best cooling mattresses can make a difference, there are more factors than heat to consider when you're trying to combat summer insomnia. To help you get your slumber back on track for the rest of the summer, here are the top five reasons why you're probably being kept awake at night — and what you can do to improve matters. Let's get started! Sealy Posturepedic® Elite Hybrid: There's nothing worse than finally being able to fall asleep, only to wake up in the morning with nagging Bed Aches™. Remove this struggle from your life with the all-new Posturepedic® Elite Hybrid mattress from Sealy®. The exclusive PrecisionFit™ Coils help keep your spine naturally aligned so you can fall asleep easier and wake up feeling more Deal 5 reasons why you can't sleep in the summer, and what to do about them 1. Warmer temperatures There's no getting away from the fact that hotter nights mean worse sleep. A comprehensive 2022 study examined data from sleep-tracking wristbands across 68 countries worldwide, cross-referencing with local meteorological data, and found that the hotter it gets, the longer it takes you to get to sleep. Your bedroom temperature is a major factor in how well you sleep, with a 2020 study concluding that 65 to 70°F (18 to 21°C) is the ideal temperature range for comfortable sleep, which explains why summer nights can be so hard to sleep through. What to do about it: There are plenty of things you can do to bring temperatures down in your bedroom to achieve better sleep. A cooling mattress might seem the obvious solution, but less extreme measures include keeping your bedroom cool and dark during the daytime so that heat can't build up – the 'caveman method' is an effective technique – or simply investing in some cooling bedding made with lower thread count fabric and natural materials. Find more tips in our guide to how to sleep cool during a heatwave. 2. Longer daylight hours Longer days and lighter evenings are generally a lovely thing, but all that daylight can have an impact on when you fall asleep. Daylight inhibits the production of melatonin – the sleepy hormone – which means that during the longest days of the year you'll find it harder to go to sleep at your normal bedtime, and you'll likely wake up earlier than usual too, robbing you of sleep at both ends of the day. What to do about it: The good news is that we're past the summer solstice, so the nights are getting longer and you should be starting to sleep longer, too. But if you're still not getting enough sleep, you can look into getting blackout curtains for your bedroom or just a sleep mask to block out unwanted light. You can also try to increase your melatonin levels by taking time to relax and destress as part of your bedtime routine, getting outside in the sun in the mornings to give your circadian rhythms a jolt, and avoiding screens before bed. 3. Allergies Summer can mean plenty of pollen in the atmosphere, and if you suffer from allergies then you're much more likely to be affected by insomnia. Allergens can make your nasal passages swell up, making it harder to breathe through your nose, which can disrupt your sleep and also cause snoring. What to do about it: If pollen's getting into your bedroom and keeping you awake, we're afraid that you might have to shut your bedroom window, which might not be a welcome prospect when temperatures are high. However if you follow an approach such as the caveman method detailed above, that can keep things more comfortable in your bedroom. If allergies are a big problem for you, ensure you vacuum your bedroom and wash your bedding regularly – although you should avoid drying it outside if possible. 4. More socializing Warm summer evenings bring with them lots of opportunities to socialize with friends, but that can play havoc with your sleep in more ways than one. Dr. Chelsea Perry has explained to us that people tend to be more lax with their sleep schedule during the summer, which can throw off your circadian rhythm and make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. Plus, if you're enjoying a balmy evening of drinks with friends, drinking too close to bedtime can affect your sleep. You might fall asleep faster, but all that alcohol can disrupt REM sleep and, as Dr. Leah Kaylor has explained to us, it can cause cortisol to be released in the night, waking you up and making it harder to get back to sleep. What to do about it: It's never too late to fix your sleep schedule. Dr. Hana Patel of Time4Sleep recommends finding your natural sleeping hours during summer and adjusting your sleep schedule to fit. "Let yourself wake up naturally as much as possible," she suggests. What do you do if you've had a little too much to drink before bedtime, though? The glib answer is not to drink too much, but should you find yourself having had one (or two) too many, the sensible approach is not to tumble straight into bed when you get home, but to take time to wind down and hydrate properly before you hit the hay. 5. Summer holidays The thought of a summer getaway can be the thing that keeps you going for the rest of the year, but summer holidays – and travel in general – can be a major cause of insomnia. Crossing time zones can disrupt your circadian rhythm and in turn lead to jet lag, and if you're getting up early to catch a long and potentially restless flight, that can add to the potential sleepless nights when you're supposed to be having a relaxing time. Throw in the excitement of being in a new place along with the likelihood of exotic food and plenty of drink, and you're looking at a recipe for insomnia. What to do about it: You can reduce the potential impact of travel on your sleep by trying to arrange your flights so that you won't have to get up super-early or stay awake for a lot longer than usual. Obviously that it's always feasible, but you can make life easier when you arrive by following many of the tips above: try to maintain a regular sleep schedule, keep your bedroom dark and cool, and avoid overdoing it on alcohol. One final tip from Dr. Donald Grant at Independent Pharmacy is to go easy on spicy food: "Eating spicy foods such as chilli, may raise body temperatures, making it even more difficult to fall asleep in summer," he tells us as part of his tips for sleeping better during summer.
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
After testing 9 methods to fall asleep fast I've found 3 that actually work
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. As the Sleep Features Editor for Tom's Guide, my job is to research, test and learn about new ways to improve our sleep. And as you can imagine, I'm not complaining. In fact, my sleep has never been better because I've found what works for me. But everyone is different. What sends some people snoozing keeps me awake and alert and vice versa. So the only way to figure out how to fall asleep fast is trial and error. (Obviously good sleep hygiene helps, too, as does choosing the best mattress for your sleep needs.) To help you on your way, I've compiled a list of nine fall asleep fast methods I've tried and picked out the three that work best for me. I'll also be choosing three that I warn against even trying, to save you some time on your quest for better sleep. Let's dive in. Sealy Posturepedic® Elite Hybrid: What's the point of getting a new mattress if it's going to almost immediately lose its shape and stop being as effective? All of the technology in Sealy Posturepedic® is rigorously tested to exceed industry standards. The DuraFlex coil edge helps your mattress keep its shape and deliver years of quality Deal The 9 methods I've tried to fall asleep quickly Nine methods might sound excessive, but trust me, if I'm lying awake for over 30 minutes, I need a solution. Normal sleep latency (the time it takes to fall asleep) sits between 10 and 20 minutes depending on the person. If you're way above that or way below it, it might be cause for concern, but a little deviation is normal night-to-night. These are the methods I've used to try to cut my sleep latency down to just 10 minutes: Cognitive shuffling: This refers to purposely scrambling your thoughts so your brain eventually switches off, letting you fall asleep. It's a visualization method that involves thinking of random, unrelated objects and imagining them. ASMR: Standing for autonomous sensory meridian response, ASMR refers to the tingling sensation you get when listening to certain 'satisfying' sounds. Some claim this reduces anxiety and stress and helps them sleep. Mouth tape: Taping your mouth during sleep helps you only breathe through your nose during the night. This is said to help people fall asleep fast and stay asleep throughout the night. Blocking out stimulus: Ambient light and sound can be a major distraction when trying to fall asleep. A blackout sleep mask and noise-reducing earplugs can create a quiet, calm and peaceful environment, helping you fall asleep fast. Breathing exercises: Breathing in a certain way can help stimulate the vagus nerve, which then helps to stimulate our parasympathetic nervous system (responsible for rest and digest instead of fight or flight). This helps relax the body and mind, making it easier to fall asleep. Progressive muscle relaxation: This method focuses on releasing tension from the muscles, aiding in relaxation and stress relief. By working through each muscle from your feet up to your head, tensing it and then relaxing it while slow breathing, the mind and body can relax. Cricket feet: Repetitive movement can help us relax, and this method involved rubbing your feet together (like a cricket) to relieve stress and tension in bed and fall asleep fast. Egyptian method: A summer-specific sleep hack, the Egyptian method involves sleeping under a damp towel to help you cool off on hot nights and lower the body temperature enough to fall asleep. Warm bath: Moving from a warm bath or shower to a cooler bedroom leads to a natural drop in core body temperature, which is a key signal to our bodies that it's time for sleep. The 3 fall asleep quick hacks that actually work for me As you probably figured out while reading about those methods, some did not work for me. But these are the three I swear by and use most nights... 1. Cognitive shuffling I was a little skeptical when I tried cognitive shuffling for the first time. How effective could imagining random objects be? Turns out, very. And that's because the method was developed by scientist, Dr. Luc P. Beaudoin, based on the way our brain works as we naturally fall asleep. We all know the feeling right before we drop off where our thoughts stop making sense, and cognitive shuffling aims to replicate that feeling. By thinking of random objects and visualizing them, then quickly moving on to another that's unrelated, you'll scramble your thoughts. Eventually, the area of your brain that tries to determine meaning and rationality from your thoughts will 'switch off', which is a signifier that it's safe and appropriate to fall asleep. When I gave this method a go, I was asleep within 10 minutes. Initially, I found it a little difficult to think of completely unrelated objects so quickly, so I decided to work through the alphabet, thinking of as many objects beginning with 'A' as possible, before moving on to 'B' and so forth. It's easy, simple and requires no advanced tech. Why not try it tonight? 2. Blocking out noise and light I'm well-versed in earplugs for sleep. Living in a city center and sleeping next to a snoring husband means without them, I can say goodbye to uninterrupted sleep. However, I hadn't tried the combination of a blackout sleep mask and earplugs. When I first tried both, I initially felt a little vulnerable. With my husband next to me, I was fine. But I'd be hesitant to try this method if was home alone, simply because of how unaware you are of your surroundings. The sleep mask I used was a padded, silk mask that wrapped all around my head, covering my ears too. Not one bit of light seeped through and I was extremely comfortable. The complete sensory deprivation was a bizarre sensation that I had to become used to, but I quickly relaxed into it and fell asleep fast. Now, whenever I'm struggling to sleep, my sleep mask and earplugs are the first thing I reach for. Not only do they help me drift off quickly, they also help me stay asleep throughout the night. 3. Taking a warm bath before bed A nighttime routine might not sound like fun, but it can actually be very beneficial for your sleep. Maintaining positive habits before bed and indicating to your mind and body that it's time to wind down can make falling asleep fast, easier. I love my wind-down routine, and a key element of it is a warm, relaxing bath almost every night. The warm water relaxes my body and releases any tension from my muscles, and after adding a few drops of lavender essential oil, the scented steam helps my mind relax, too. But there's also a more scientific reason why this method is so effective. In the evening, our core body temperature drops which help us fall asleep fast and stay asleep throughout the night. And while a warm bath might sound like the opposite thing you should be doing to drop your body temperature, it's actually very effective. The process of moving from a warm bathroom to a cooler bedroom leads to the drop in temperature. This, combined with my relaxed state of mind, means I drop off to sleep almost instantly after crawling under the covers. The fall asleep fast hacks I don't recommend I mentioned earlier that some of the hacks I tried didn't work. These are three I'd suggest you avoid if you're serious about getting good sleep. 1. Mouth taping What I first thought was just a silly trend, I now think mouth taping is a dangerous one worth avoiding altogether. Mouth tape companies are advertising this 'method' as an easy way to improve both your sleep and your health. The adhesive tape simply sticks over your mouth making it impossible to open and breathe through your mouth. When I tried it, I immediately felt my panic and stress levels increase. If you have any kind of congestion you'll quite quickly realize you can't breathe properly. That's just one of the dangers. Another major danger is the risk of vomiting. As you can imagine, this was not conducive to relaxing and falling asleep quickly. My advice? Don't bother trying it. 2. The Egyptian method During a recent heatwave, I was desperate for a method that would help me cool down at night and fall asleep. That's when I stumbled across the Egyptian sleep method. It seemed simple enough, requiring only a damp towel. After soaking my towel in cold water, I wrung it out and left it to dry a little until it was just damp. I then removed my usual lightweight blanket and used the damp towel instead. It felt cold and slimy against my skin, making me squirm. I eventually got used to the feeling but every time I moved I felt this slimy, wet texture that woke me up again. Aside from this, introducing anything wet to your bed is generally not a good idea. Materials like memory foam and latex can absorb water, damaging it and occasionally leading to mattress mold growth. While I did cool down, it wasn't worth the hassle and I certainly didn't fall asleep fast! If you're struggling in the heat, take a look at our tips on how to sleep better in summer. 3. Cricket feet Now there's nothing inherently harmful or dangerous about this sleep method, but I'd advise you to give it a miss anyway. Most of us rub our feet together or wriggle around in bed before we fall asleep, it's a natural response to getting comfortable. And this 'method' adds nothing more. If anything, actively thinking about rubbing my feet together was too stimulating for me to fall asleep quickly. There's also very little science backing up this method. I'd generally advise to skip it and try a hack that's more likely to work.
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
New study says the 'one-set rule' could help you build more muscle in the gym (while doing less) — here's how
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. If you're anything like me, gym motivation comes and goes, and sometimes, no matter what conversation you have with yourself, it just isn't happening. Well, I might have found a fix. From now on, whenever you're debating whether or not to do that workout or lift those barbells or dumbbells, think this: just one set. That's it, just one set. New research published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise has made a fascinating discovery, and it's that a single-set routine could save time and still build muscle, even when transitioning from higher-volume workouts. Here's everything you need to know about the 'one-set rule,' and why it works, according to researchers. What is the study? Researchers took 42 young men and women who were already resistance-trained, and assigned them to one of two groups: the first group trained to failure on all exercises, while the other worked at a submaximal effort, meaning they had roughly two reps 'in reserve' for the same exercises. All participants performed one set of nine different exercises focusing on all major muscle groups each session. They did this twice per week for eight weeks. Researchers then measured muscle thickness in the biceps and triceps brachii and quadriceps, and looked at muscular strength, power and endurance markers. What are the results? The results showed that both groups benefitted from 'appreciable gains in most of the assessed outcomes," and several measures of hypertrophy (muscle growth) favored the all-out effort group. However, increases in strength and local muscular endurance were similar between groups. The next time you head to the gym, you could perform just one set of each exercise twice per week and still benefit. The study concluded that single-set routines can be time-efficient and still promote modest muscular adaptations, although this was an assessment on trained individuals only. That said, even if participants had transitioned from higher-volume programs, it was still effective. What does it all mean? Training toward failure and prioritizing intensity rather than volume (high sets or reps) is where muscle adaptations can occur. Even just one set per exercise can help you build muscle and power, so long as you work with intensity close to failure. However, results didn't show the same for strength or local muscle endurance in this case. The next time you head to the gym, you could perform just one set of each exercise twice per week and still benefit. Training to failure in this case favored slightly better muscle growth, but both groups still benefited significantly overall, and strength outcomes were similar. Remember, the experiment targeted the whole body and main muscle groups, but by keeping it minimal, sessions were still short and time-efficient. Just think of intensity and ensure you're lifting toward failure rather than keeping reps in reserve. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button. More from Tom's Guide Forget running and swimming — study finds this sport adds 10 years to your life New study reveals cycling can reduce dementia risk by 88% Work out less and get better results — a new study says this is exactly how
