The 4 Worst Exercises for Tight Hips — and What to Do Instead

If you've noticed your hips are feeling extra tight lately, you're not alone. There are endless reasons you may develop hip pain or hip tightness — and sometimes, it can be hard to figure out the cause. On the flip side, knowing and doing some targeted exercises for tight hips can help you get some relief.

Hip pain and hip tightness can be related to anything from over- or underusing the muscles in the hips, to lower back pain, to more serious conditions like fractures, says Curtis Wu, DPT, a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) at Hospital for Special Surgery in Paramus, New Jersey.

Hip pain can stem from conditions, such as osteoarthritis, tendinitis or injuries like dislocations, fractures and tears, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Sitting all day doesn't help with hip tightness or pain either. "In otherwise healthy individuals — without any underlying medical conditions or surgical history — people who are generally sedentary can experience symptoms of hip tightness among other musculoskeletal complaints throughout the body," Wu says.

That's because when you're sitting, your legs are bent at the hips so your hip flexors are in a shortened position for hours on end, which can lead to dysfunction and tightness.

But keeping up with a workout routine and doing exercises for hip pain can help. "People who are more physically active tend to have less disability, live longer and have fewer chronic medical conditions," Wu says. "Many of the consequences of physical inactivity can cause symptoms of joint tightness across the body as well as affect the experience of pain."

The location of the pain can give clues as to what is causing the problem. If your hip joint is the issue, the Mayo Clinic says you will feel pain on the inside of your hip or groin. But pain on the outside of your hip, glute or upper thigh area is typically a result of issues with muscles, ligaments or tendons that surround the joint.

Exercises that repetitively shorten the muscles in the front of the hip and rarely lengthen them can exacerbate any existing hip tightness, says Cameron Yuen, DPT, CSCS, a senior physical therapist at Bespoke Treatments. "If you don't train the hips through their full range [of motion], they will have trouble getting into extended positions actively," he explains.

Here, Yuen breaks down exercises to avoid with tight hips, and the exercises you can do instead to help make them feel better.

There's no denying that mountain climbers are great for working dynamic core stability, but they may not be the best exercise if you're prone to tightening in the front of the hips, Yuen says.

"Most people tend to arch their back in the high plank position, which leads to a tilted pelvis and shortening of the hip flexors," he explains. When you then use your hip flexors to bring your knees into your chest, it can reinforce this shortened position.

Hanging leg lifts are another exercise that you might be doing to strengthen your core. "However, due to the weight and length of your legs, the powerful hip flexors tend to take over, making it less of an ab exercise and more of a hip flexor exercise," Yuen says. This is compounded if you don't fully return to a neutral position after each rep, he adds. "So the hips stay flexed throughout the entire movement."

The sit-up is yet another ab exercise that tends to over-engage the hip flexors and may contribute to pain or tightness in the hips. "This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but if your goal is to train your abdominals rather than your hip flexors, there might be better options," Yuen says.

"The lat pulldown is a great exercise for developing the upper back and arms, but like the sit-up, it uses your hip flexors to anchor you in place," Yuen says. This means the hip flexors are engaging throughout the entire set — which isn't ideal if you've already got tightness here, he says.