Men and Hip Mobility

This post is inspired by the number of males I see, both in my practice and on the street, who seem to have a problem letting their hips move from side to side when they walk. When you start looking for this walk, you'll see it everywhere: shoulders swinging side to side with every step, throwing the upper body's weight back and forth. It's sort of like an upside-down pendulum.

My point is not to make fun of this problem, but to point out that it is a low-efficiency, unbalanced walking pattern, which stems from a lack of mobility in the pelvic girdle, causing the shoulders to make up for it. If your hips are allowed to move over whichever foot you're currently putting weight on, you will have more lower body balance, and more core strength.

But is it a "woman's walk?" This is a cultural issue we sometimes get caught in, thinking of hip mobility as something men should not have. However, the men who excel at professional sports do not adhere to this gender stereotype. To illustrate this, watch this video of Atlanta Falcons wide receivers in training. Between drills, these guys (except the injured one) are very loose in the hips compared to many amateur athletes who hold tight in these spots. This despite the fact that they're doing intense leg and hip training at the time. Hopefully it shows you how powerful this mobility can be- the same holds true with high-level basketball players, taiji practitioners, etc.



Getting the hips to move freely can be difficult if they've been stuck in place for a long time. Good bodywork therapy comes in really handy for this, as does taiji (tai chi) or certain yoga poses. It may take some doing, but the rewards are great.