Healthy Hips–Hip Joint Range of Motion for Great Running Form

By Jae Gruenke | Natural Running Form

Mar 28

Are you working on your hamstrings or your hip flexors to help prevent injuries and improve your performance? If so, you might be disappointed with the results you get from all that time stretching and strengthening.

What looks like just flexion and extension of the hips when running is actually much more, and when you understand that you can find much more effective ways to improve your form, running health, and performance.

The fact is, because your pelvis actually moves when you run, your thighbones need to both rotate and move inwards and outwards in order to appear to move just forward and back.

I can hear you going, “wha….?”

Here’s a video I made this week to explain the phenomenon:

If you work on all those directions of movement, your legs will work much better and your running will feel much easier!

I’m recommending my popular lesson Free Your Feet to help with this, even though we’re talking about hips rather than feet. The lesson helps you find the full range of hip joint motion while connecting this with your pelvis and spine.

Get it here:

Click here to get Free Your Feet

The video is one of the daily Stuck-at-Home Running Form Tips videos I’ve been doing live on YouTube since the Bay Area went on shelter-in-place due to coronavirus.

Here’s the playlist so you can catch up on all of them.

You can watch live here weekdays at 11 am Pacific time at least through April 3, 2020, and be part of the excitement. 🙂

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About the Author

Jae Gruenke, GCFP, is a running technique expert and Feldenkrais Practitioner. Known as a “running form guru,” she is the Founder and CEO of The Balanced Runner™ in New York City and The Balanced Runner UK. She has helped runners from beginner to Olympian improve their form to become pain-free, economical, and fast.

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(2) comments

Nancy September 18, 2020

Are we supposed to keep our torso still while doing the movements in the “Free Your Feet” lesson? I can’t tell whether we’re supposed to let the pelvis move, or try to keep it level and still while moving the knee. Thanks!

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    Jae Gruenke September 18, 2020

    Hi Nancy. I realize these sorts of movements are normally accompanied by instructions to hold your torso still when they’re given as exercises. But in this lesson your focus is just on finding what’s a.) easier and b.) more comfortable. As you go through the lesson you’ll find that when the movements are easier and more comfortable, your pelvis and torso are in motion. And if you hold your pelvis still you’ll find the lesson doesn’t help your feet at all.

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