Hip Rotation Part 2: External

Julian Morales

Hip Rotation Part 2: External

External rotation of the hip is when the top of the femur or thigh rotates towards the outside, or away from the midline of the body. As this motion is made your knees will turn outwards. To illustrate this further, if you’re sitting down on a chair with your leg bent at 90 degrees, move the inside of your foot toward the midline of your body. Do not get this confused with hip internal rotation.As you guessed, hip internal rotation is the opposite of external rotation and involves turning your thigh bone or femur away from the midline. If in a seated position, your foot will move away from the midline such as in the image below. For the average person, they will usually lack both hip internal and external rotation, however, it is more common to lack internal rotation to a greater degree to external rotation. 

In this next part, I’ll cover some of the best stretches to increase your ability to externally rotate your hips.

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBzoZbFO2N4&t=79s

The stretch featured above is the most popular way to increase external rotation of the hip and it involves the use of a bench, table or a stable flat surface.

Some slight variations may occur in the direction you approach the surface from but they all require you to place your leg in an externally rotated position and then trying to get your knee as close as you can to the surface.

To do this stretch in order to increase mobility:

  • Lay the leg you wish to stretch on top of the higher surface and then externally rotate it. Your other leg should be rooted to the floor supporting you.

  • Using your hand, push your knee down as close as you can to the surface. Apply a counter force with your knee, that opposes the directional force of your hand.

  • Release the tension with your knee and allow the pressure from your hand to push it down and sink deeper into the stretch.

  • If required repeat on the other side.

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKV53H9IvDM&t=8s

The figure 4 stretch is another great way to increase external rotation:

  • Lie on the floor and pull the opposite knee towards your chest.

  • Place the outside of your other foot or calf, above the raised knee.

  • Using your arms grab the hamstring of the raised leg and pull it towards you. The other leg will get an external hip rotation stretch.

  • To get the best stretch, push down the knee of the externally rotated leg. You should feel a deeper stretch. Alternatively, you can pull harder with your arms.

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46phRH_09yM&t=2s

The video above shows you how to do a pigeon pose, which is a great stretch for opening up the hips.

I recommend watching the video above as it shows how to get the most out of the stretch to improve external rotation.

At the end of the video is also a method that shows how to modify a pigeon pose if you find it a bit too intense for you.

  1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLnXHoiOnv0&t=1s

The 90/90 stretch is much like the other stretches already shown. The only difference is the back leg will be in internal rotation rather than laying flat.

The Goal – Overall Hip Strength, Flexibility and Mobility

Hopefully, with enough of the right exercises and stretches you can begin to develop healthy hips. I can tell you from personal experience, that increasing hip strength, flexibility and mobility can make a vast difference to how you feel on a daily basis, especially if you are someone with dysfunctional hips such as myself. After working on both my external and internal rotation of the hips, I have less pain in my hips and stronger glutes too. My ability to move and perform squats and lunges has also gotten better. If you are looking for better hips overall you will want to consider improving your internal rotation as well as external rotation.

 

See you all on deck and Go SMAC!

 

Julian