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 A large portion of the adult population in the western world spend 70% or more of their waking hours sitting. The effects this has on the body can be pretty damning, especially around the hip area. We’re going to show you 5 of the best hip stretches for desk workers that can be done at work, at home, and anywhere in-between to help alleviate pain and discomfort long-term.

Effects of Sitting on the Hips

Sitting seems pretty harmless, right? I mean, in a way, you’re kind of doing nothing. You’re just sitting! But it’s a nasty trick we play on ourselves, because all that passive resting, relaxing and office-work-keyboard-clacking is often doing more harm than good for our bodies. 

The hips are (in a sense, literally) where the rubber meets the road when it comes to the negative effects of sitting. As soon as your bottom hits the chair, couch or driver’s seat, a couple of things start to happen…

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Hip flexors get tight

Sitting down puts the hip joint into flexion, i.e. brings the knee closer to the chest. When the body is chronically put into the same position, the muscles adapt by lengthening and shortening correspondingly to help you become better at being in that shape. Sitting shortens the hip flexor muscles, which results in lower back pain and stiff, achy hips.

Glutes go to sleep

Your glutes, or butt/hip muscles, are immediately discouraged from activating, and for more than one reason. First, the pressure alone is somewhat akin to a massage. It makes the muscles less excitable by sending a message to the brain, telling those tissues to relax. Second, the glutes are important stabilizers of the hip, and sitting in a chair requires little to no hip stabilization at all.

What do these things mean?

They mean that the simple act of sitting, done perpetually and for long periods of time, creates dysfunction in the musculature that surrounds and operates the hip. 

• It tightens the hip flexors which have attachments to the lumbar vertebrae, resultantly pulling on the lower back. 
• And it weakens the glutes, which resultantly tighten up to try and better support the joint in place of sufficient strength.

Both of these things cause a host of problems and general discomfort, most especially in the office worker! People who have no choice but to be subject to this kind of working environment. We deal with it everyday, and if you’ve read this far in the article, likely so do you! Let’s learn how to fix it by doing some simple hip stretches for desk workers.

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5 of the Best Hip Stretches for Desk Workers

These stretches are borrowed from our corrective programming here at ReverseSit! They can be done anytime, anywhere and with no warm up. If you’re an office worker who wants to stay healthy and live/work pain-free, consider signing up for our platform where you’ll get an entire program designed for people just like you! Sign up for a 7-day free trial by clicking here.

Supine Single Leg Twist

Instructions:

• Lying on your back, bring one leg across your body with a bent knee
• Pull the top leg across your body with the opposing arm
• Your other arm should be straight out to the side for a base of support
• Hold this position for 30-60 seconds

Why It Helps

This gentle stretch not only opens up the outside of the hip, but it also provides a soothing rotation to the hips and lower back. This subtle movement promotes blood flow to the aforementioned areas and helps mitigate the effects of sitting. 

Standing Quad Stretch

Instructions:

• From a standing position, bring one heel up to your glutes and grab your ankle
• Squeeze your glutes, and pull your foot towards them at the same time
• Reach your other hand overhead to work on some hip stability at the same time
• Hold this stretch for 30-60 seconds
• Switch sides and repeat
• If you’re having trouble balancing, use a wall or chair with your free hand for support so you can focus on the stretch

Why It Helps

The standing quad stretches helps loosen up the quadriceps muscles, specifically the rectus femoris, which also acts as a hip flexor. This muscle gets short and stiff when you spend too much time in seated positions. 

Low Lunge I

Instructions:

• Get into a kneeling lunge position with your front toes facing forwards and your back foot pointing backwards
• Lean into the lunge by scooching your front foot forwards and letting your back hip extend
• Increase the stretch further by leaning into your front knee
• You should feel a nice gentle pull in the hip flexors of your back leg
• Hold this position for 30-60 seconds
• Switch sides and repeat
• Use a chair/wall for balance, if necessary

Why It Helps

The low lunge I is a great way to start stretching out the psoas and other hip flexor muscles. The psoas in particular has attachment points on all 5 of your lumbar vertebrae (lower back). Tight psoas muscles are usually a contributing factor in office workers with low back pain.

Pigeon Pose

Instructions:

• Bring one of your legs up in front of you on your mat into a crossed position as pictured above
• Place your hands out in front of you for support
• The more parallel your shin is in front of you, the more intense the stretch will be
• Hold the position most comfortable for you for 30-60 seconds
• Switch sides and repeat

Why It Helps

The pigeon pose stretches the muscles on the outside of the hip. These muscles get very tight from too much sitting because they’re not getting used regularly, have decreased blood flow, and are chronically being put into a shortened position.

Butterfly I

Instructions:

• Bring the soles of your feet together out in front of you (the further your feet are from you the easier the stretch will be, adjust accordingly)
• Start to round forward, grabbing your feet to help you do so (pictured)
• Hold the position you’re comfortable with for 30-60 seconds

Why It Helps

Tightness in the groin/adductors is very common in desk workers, and the butterfly I stretch helps to open them up. This stretch is also a very safe position to spend time in, and is great if you’re ever feeling stressed or overwhelmed.

Written by Eric Lister – Certified Personal Trainer & Corrective Exercise Specialist