I have another mobility post for you today that is HEAVEN for the hips. Get excited!
I like to use resistance bands for stretching because they allow you to passively stretch. That means you can use the band to support your weight and hold the stretch so that you can full relax into what you’re doing. Bands are also great for support when doing exercises like pull ups, dips, hip stabilization, etc. They’re just an all-around great piece of equipment to have.
They’re available in a range of resistance levels and are relatively cheap. These bands from WODFitters are around $15-$40, depending on the level of resistance you order. I would recommend the purple or green for most of what I’m showing you in these tutorials.
Now, let’s talk about your hips! One of the most common complaints I hear from yogis, CrossFitters and runners is that their hips are tight. The stretches I show you in this video are awesome for gently opening up the hips, groin and inner thigh and for bringing movement into your hip joint. I love this stretch for CrossFitters to use before workouts to open the hips for exercises such as squatting and for runners to use after a run for recovery and stretching the muscles they’ve tightened by running. And yogis…you’ll just want to sit in this all day! 🙂
Let me know if you have any questions or feedback and happy stretching!
Ahh, I love this, Jen! I do a version of these without the band, but having it be an active stretch without really having to do much sounds awesome! I think my hips are going to love the frog and supine pigeon one 😉
Love the stretches Jen- thanks! I was wondering which resistance band you would recommend for assisting with pull ups?
start with a heavier band and move to lighter as you build up strength. most of our athletes start with the green and move to purple.
my hips have been so tight recently. i really need to try this.
Thanks so much for the tutorial, I’ve got to buy one of the bands. I run a lot and hip stretches in yoga help me a lot. Like your new shoes, what kind are they? Hard to find shoes that aren’t bright colors these days.
just a basic black new balance 1420. get a band. you’ll love it!
THANK YOU for this. I’m battling hamstring/glute issues caused in part by overly tight quads, hip flexors and adductors. I could definitely feel a difference after doing this stretch. More like this please!!! 🙂
awesome! so happy this was helpful for you!
I love this video! The bands are great to use to really get a little bit deeper into the stretches. I liked the upper body stretches that you had demoed as well. Do you have any recommendations for band assisted upper body stretches?
yes, a few. i’ll get a demo done!
Jen- great stretches! I haven’t seen these bands so I’m looking forward to trying this out.
Also, I just wanted to tell you- I’ve been running and doing yoga for quite some time, along with the NTC app, but I’ve finally decided to try crossfit! You’re one of the reasons I decided to take the plunge (it’s so intimidating looking) but a friend of my loves it and he bought me the intro classes to take as a birthday gift. I’m (cautiously) looking forward to it! 🙂
I have that big green band and have really been struggling with my hips and IT band lately. I hadn’t used my green band that! What a dummy! Heading downstairs right now to try these out!