Cardio for Hip Tightness

Sit in one position long enough and your hips may tighten, making walking and most other forms of aerobic activity difficult. Loosening these muscles may feel like a Catch-22, since a cardio workout can help but your tight hips may make it impossible to do. Don’t give up. While you should avoid some types of cardio like running, there are lots of exercises you can do to get your heart rate up without letting your hips keep you down.

Warming up before a workout will increase blood flow, loosen tight muscles, heat your core and help get your body ready to work. Most warm-up routines combine light cardio with some gentle stretching, which should be done near the end of your warm-up. You want to get your hips moving, but you don’t want to jar them. To gently stretch your hips, bend your leg behind you and pull your foot as close to your butt as possible. You can also try sitting on the floor and spreading your legs as far apart as you can before bending your chest to the ground. The best stretches for tight hips will cause your hips to open but won’t ask them to move.

Walk, don’t run, suggests MedlinePlus, an online source for health and exercise information affiliated with the National Institutes of Health. Running and other similar high-impact cardio exercises can further strain muscles and joints. If walking isn’t challenging enough, try an elliptical. Unlike walking, jogging or running, using an elliptical will likely engage your hips without straining them. Rowing machines and exercise bikes are other good, low-impact cardiovascular activities for someone with tight hips, since you use your arms and legs in each exercise more than you do your hips.

Hip-opening yoga poses can loosen tight hips and increase the range of motion of your hip flexors, according to Julie Gudmestad of the “Yoga Journal.” The aerobic portion of a power yoga class often includes several hip-opening poses, like Warrior II pose and Triangle pose. To fully access these poses, you have to widen your legs and use your hips to help you move. The cardio benefits of yoga may not be as high as walking or jogging, but the cardio components of a yoga practice are a low-impact way of loosening tight hips.

Before starting any type of exercise program, such as a yoga practice or regular running routine, talk to your doctor. Some exercises can further strain tight muscles, which can keep you off your feet for a while. If something starts to hurt while you’re working out, stop and rest. And if you’re still sore the next day, taking a day off usually won’t derail any progress you made and may give your hips time on their own to recover.