Hip mobility in Crossfit

So I put out the call yesterday on our MobilizeMe Facebook page to find out what you wanted me to discuss in my next blog posts - and a lot of you asked for hips. So here goes.

Hip mobility is essential for developing a good squat. If you read that article I posted yesterday by Spencer Arnold, you'll see that he mentions mobility a lot. I think a good deal of problems with LACK of hip mobility in the population stems from the fact that we spend most of our day in sitting. Sitting requires about 90 degrees of hip flexion. Squatting requires at least 100 degrees of hip flexion (just breaking parallel), not to mention hip abduction and external rotation.

Sitting is also a PASSIVE activity, meaning that it requires little to no activation of any of the muscles in your lower limbs - you are being held up by the chair (I'm not going to get into a Physics discussion with this statement so don't get all science-y on me :-) Sitting for long periods causes our hip flexors to become short, and our hip extensors to lengthen and become weaker. In essence, we become the shape of a chair.

The Thomas test is a measure of hip flexor length and is shown in the two photos below:

Tight hip flexors - Positive Thomas Test - the knee is higher than the hip




Normal hip flexors - Negative Thomas Test - the knee is lower than the hip with knee flexed to near 90 degrees
 
 
Which of these two do you think would have issues attaining depth in a squat? I'll give you a hint, it's not the second photo....
 

Good hip mobility also includes rotational components; with a squat we are more concerned with the ability to externally rotate the hip/thigh. This puts our hip into a stable position and engages the gluteus maximus. Have you ever seen someone squat and let their knees cave in, then miss the rep or look like they're about to give birth trying to squeeze that rep out? Poor hip external rotation. Now, that can be due to poor mobility or poor hip stability/strength. It's up to your Physio (or really good coach) to figure that one out. But here's a tip: if you honestly, truly, consistently work your mobility and you are getting nowhere, it's a stability problem. All the mobility in the universe won't cure poor stability.

 

So where is this all going - I would have to reiterate what was said in the Spencer Arnold blog post - learn to squat properly from the start and don't add weight until you are proficient. Load is NOT going to help you squat properly. Do your mobility - sit on the lacrosse ball until it no longer hurts (not all at once), get out the band and do hip mobility with the band (it's in the MobilizeMe app and about a kazillion K-starr MWOD's), get up off your ass at work at least every hour. Like I said before, if none of this is working, you need a professional to look at it. Pony up and book into a Physio for an assessment. You can't assess yourself (believe me I have tried and I AM a physio!!).