With just three exercises and a few minutes spent on each exercise, you can improve lower body mobility, release tension, and loosen tight hips. All you need is my short but effective routine and about 10-15 minutes of your time.
We recommend one of the best yoga mats for this three-move mobility routine. That’s it. No equipment, bands, bells or whistles required. All it takes is you, your mat, and these simple mobility movements. Although it is designed to reduce the impact on your knees, if you feel pain, please stop immediately. If you are currently injured, we recommend that you first consult a qualified medical professional, such as a doctor, to clear your new routine.
We love frog pose, but that doesn’t mean you need it to improve your hip health. If you’re looking to add a few minutes of gentle movement to your daily routine, here are just three lower body exercises you can do to get the benefits you need.
Sam Hopes
Sam is Tom’s Guide’s resident senior fitness writer and a personal trainer based in London. She teaches mobility, weightlifting, and calisthenics while working full time in journalism.
Why is it important to do mobility exercises?
Mobility refers to the ability to dynamically move a joint through a range of motion. This means involving movement and using a combination of strength and control. For example, instead of sitting in pigeon pose, perform a hip roll.
There has been a lot of research over the years about mobility and stretching and the effectiveness of these therapies. As recently as 2024, a systematic review Sports Science Journal Across 22 studies, we investigated performance adaptations through movement routines.
Of the 22 studies, 20 studies showed that mobility training “provides some benefit or helps maintain sport performance to a greater extent than the control condition,” and the control condition generally It has been compared to “a condition without sex.” The results also suggest that “the majority of evidence” indicates that adding exercise habits is unlikely to negatively impact performance or negatively impact athletic performance outcomes. .
Before diving into your routine, understanding the difference between stretching and mobility can help you build the type of routine you need to achieve your goals, whether it’s increasing range of motion, improving flexibility, or both. Helpful.
Personally? We recommend adding both to your exercise routine, such as using dynamic exercises to warm up your joints and muscles for exercise and weight lifting, and saving static stretches for later. This routine is suitable for the former. This means preparing and priming tight muscles and joints for exercise, and using them over time to improve your overall functional fitness.
What are 3 lower body exercises to relieve stiff hips?
Read how to perform each exercise below.
1. Yogi squats that twist your spine
Yoga squats are a tried-and-true yoga staple for loosening up tight hips. Stretch and strengthen muscles such as hips, glutes, lower back, core, adductors, quadriceps, hamstrings, and calves. Focus on keeping your chest lifted, your shoulders down, and your back in a natural position without rounding.
Use this variation to test your ability to maintain a deep squat position while slowly rotating your upper body and spine.
3-4 sets of 5-6 repetitions per side
- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your feet turned slightly outward. Widen it further if necessary
- Place both heels on the floor, move your knees outward in line with your toes, and squat down deeply.
- Sit up straight and straighten your back.
- Lower your shoulders and place your hands together in front of your chest
- lower your butt
- Extend your right arm onto the mat outside your right leg, keeping your arm touching your leg.
- Rotate your left arm to reach it toward the ceiling, following your gaze as you twist to the left. Keep your heels on the floor without rotating your knees
- Return to center and repeat on the other side
2. “Froggy”
I use this exercise as a strength and mobility exercise. In the mobility setting, ‘Froggy’ increases hamstring flexibility and trains the quadriceps and glutes through hip and knee flexion and extension. Additionally, the bottom of the squat helps open your lower back, lower back, and groin. Essentially, you’ll be performing yoga squats again, alternating them with forward bends to help stretch the muscles in your posterior chain (back side of your body).
If you have trouble keeping your hands flat on the mat, place them on your shins.
3 sets of 8-10 reps
- Start Yogi Squats by following the steps above
- Place your hands on the mat between your legs
- Lift your hips, lower your chest toward your thighs, extend your legs, and bend forward.
- If your hamstrings are tight, keep your knees bent or place your hands on your shins.
- Continue gently pulling your chest towards your thighs, relaxing your neck and looking between your legs.
- Hold for a few seconds, then reverse the movement to a yoga squat by lowering your hips, lifting your chest, and bending your knees again.
In both froggy and yogi squats, the more flexible and mobile you are, the narrower the width you place your feet. If you, like me, have limited lower body mobility, try widening your stance and narrowing your feet while warming up.
3. Kneel from 90/90 to stretch your hips
The 90/90 hip stretch is my go-to method for releasing tension around the pelvis. It targets the hip flexors, external rotators, and glutes, and for most people will feel less impactful on the knees than hip-focused poses like pigeon pose. The dynamic presentation of this stretch promotes hip extension and promotes range of motion in the lower body.
Do 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps on each side.
- Sit on your yoga mat with your legs stretched out in front of you.
- Bend your right leg back and keep your left leg in front of you, bending your left leg to create a 90 degree angle. Your left hip, thigh, and knee should be in a straight line, and your left shin should be parallel to the top of the mat.
- Do the same with your right hip, thigh, and knee, creating a 90-degree angle.
- Sit up straight and rotate your hips toward the front of your mat. Place both hands on the floor.
- Keeping your back straight, lean your chest toward your left leg.
- Return to an upright sitting position and place your left hand on the mat near your left hip, pushing your hips upward and forward.
- Pause from your kneeling position and lift your body while looking back.
- Lower your butt to the floor and repeat this step.
Do a set and rep of one exercise and then move on to the next, or create a small circuit where you do one set of reps and then move on to the next exercise.
Move slowly, fluidly and with control to improve awareness and muscle connection. Focus on where you feel specific tension and move there, breathing calmly between repetitions.
