I wanted to show you five hip strengthening exercises that women should do.
CLICK HERE to watch the YouTube video.
I had Andrea to demonstrate the hip strengthening exercises for women.
1. Goblet Squat
Stand in a nice, wide stance. Grab the kettlebell and bring it close to your chest. Move into the squat position. Bend the knee forward slightly, bring your hips back and move the hips down to the floor as far as you can. Keep your weight over the middle of your feet or heels.
Goblet Squat
Perform one set of 5 reps in a smooth, controlled movement with a quick stop at the end position. The intensity can be light to moderate, depending on the weight of the kettlebell you used and on how strong you are in the hips.
The purpose of this exercise is to strengthen the hips. Since the knees go forward a little bit and mainly your hips go back, you are strengthening the hips. Strong hips help the knees as well.
2. Side Lunge
Stand in a nice, upright position. Take a big step sideways. Stack the foot, knee, and hip, and put your hands on your thigh to help balance yourself out and help you get out of that bottom position. Go back to the start position and repeat the movement with the opposite leg.
Side Lunge
Perform one set of 5 reps, alternating back and forth between legs in a smooth, controlled movement with a quick stop at the end position. The intensity can be light to moderate, depending on how strong you are in the knees and hips.
The purpose of this exercise is to strengthen the knees and hips. This also addresses things in different planes of movement. The goblet squat works mainly in the forward and back directions. The side lunge works on side to side directions.
3. Front Lunge
Stand in a nice, upright position, and place your hands on your hips for balance. Take a big step forward and bring the back knee to the ground. Come back up and step forward again with the opposite and bring the back knee to the ground. Keep the front and back legs at 90 degrees.
Front Lunge
Perform one set of 5 reps on each side, alternating back and forth in a smooth, controlled movement with a quick stop at the end position. The intensity can be light to moderate, depending on how strong you are in the knees and hips.
The purpose of this exercise is to strengthen the hips and the knees. We are also targeting things in a different range of motion in that forward and back directions. With the goblet squat, the movements are smaller. With the side lunge, we are taking bigger steps that target the glute muscles and hamstrings in a different way.
4. Single-leg Glute Bridge
Lie on your back with arms on the side. Relax your upper body and tighten your abdominal area. Push through the heels. Bring the hips up and straighten one leg out and hold that top position for a couple of seconds, then bring the foot back down and then the hips back down. Relax and repeat the movements on other side.
Single-leg Glute Bridge
Perform one set of 5 reps on each side in a smooth, controlled movement, alternating back and forth between legs with a good stop of 1 to 2 seconds at the end position. The intensity can be light to moderate, depending on how strong you are in the hips.
The purpose of this exercise is to strengthen the hips, targeting the glutes and hamstrings in differently. We are also working on strengthening the core or abdominal area. A strong core will help when it comes to strengthening the hips.
5. Kettlebell Swing
Stand in a nice, wide stance, and grab the kettlebell. Bend the knees and bring the hips back and swing the kettlebell back and forth up to the shoulder height.
Kettlebell Swing
Perform one set of 5 reps in a smooth, controlled movement with a quick stop at the end position. The intensity can be light to moderate, depending on the weight of the kettlebell you used and on how strong you are in the knees, hips and core.
The purpose of this exercise is to work on the explosiveness of the muscles in the hips. This also works on strengthening the knees and the core.
For the goblet squat and kettlebell swing exercises, if you don’t have a kettlebell, you can do the hip strengthening exercises for women without weights or external resistance. You can also use dumbbells, but the kettlebell is the best option in doing these exercises.
Give these five hip strengthening for women a go to strengthen up your hips, especially if you are a woman.
If you want to overcome or prevent back and lower body injuries, then check out the Best Gluteus Medius Exercises program, here!
Take care!
Rick Kaselj, MS