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Hip Hinge, A Natural Solution for Low Back Pain

Hip Hinge and Low Back Pain

Low back pain is often due to stress, strain, and compression through the tissues of the lumbar spine.  The hip hinge is a movement pattern that, if done correctly on a consistent basis, will reduce excessive strain and compression on the lumbar spine.  When excessive stress and compression are alleviated, pain is reduced or eliminated.  When using the hip hinge as a movement pattern, the low back is stabilized and moves within its functional range.  The majority of movement comes through the hips.  This is how we as humans are built to move, though we no longer move this way for the most part.  Not moving in this manner is due to a number of factors including how much we sit, how we sit, and how little we move in natural ways like squatting, lunging, and brisk walking.

Think about your daily routine. What percentage is spent sitting?  Take into account work, getting to and from work, eating meals, relaxing, and even exercising. If you tend to gravitate towards using machines for your exercise, much of it may be completed in a sitting position.  This prolonged sitting over time results in excessive movement through the low back into flexion (forward bending) and excessive stiffness through the hips.  The prolonged sitting also reduces movement through your mid back.
When sitting, standing, walking, and moving throughout everyday life, the body takes the path of least resistance, which is now the low back because the hips and mid back are stiff.  Too much movement through the low back over time, coupled with excessive stress, strain, and compression, eventually results in low back pain.  In addition to the pain, the stiffness of the hips and mid back change movement patterns; this perpetuates the excessive strain on the low back leading to pain or more pain if already present.
The hip hinge is a way to reestablish proper movement patterns.  It should be practiced when sitting from standing, when standing from sitting, when bending forward to pick anything up or to tie your shoe.  Young children will naturally move through the hips with a hip hinge pattern before years of sitting incorrectly ruin their mobility.  Manual laborers in other countries who lift and carry heavy loads for years on end move through the hips with a hip hinge pattern and very rarely experience low back pain.

How To Use The Hip Hinge

Adopting the hip hinge as your primary movement pattern when transitioning from sit to stand or from standing to sitting, while squatting, and while lifting anything will result in a healthy spine and will undoubtedly reduce if not eliminate low back symptoms.  The key is making the movement pattern a habit so it’s just how you move.  If you do this two or three times a day for a few days there will be no benefit.  If you have low back pain that is made worse by sitting, bending forward, or lifting, commit to the hip hinge for the next two months.  You will be pleasantly surprised with the results.  Not only will you have less pain, your hips will be more mobile and your gluteal musculature stronger. This will improve your functional level and work capacity considerably.