Pigeon of Joe exercise for hip extension

Having strong hips is the foundation of efficient and sustainable running. The hip complex is an important stabilizer of the leg, and is perhaps best known to runners as that group of muscles that controls and prevents pain in the hip itself, but also in the knee and lower leg.

The hip is also the prime mover, generating both maximum speed and endurance. Using a vertical movement strategy, the hip flexors and gluteal complex combine like powerful propellers, propelling us from start to finish.

Despite the seemingly overwhelming evidence linking hip strength to sprinting, we know far less about the most effective exercises for creating stable hips to push ourselves hard.

Force vector theory and travel

We could get some guidance from something called Force Vector Theory. Promoted by Bret Contreras, PhDpostulates that the most optimal exercises for enhancing performance are those that align with the specific plan of action in which we play our sport.

For example, volleyball and basketball, which require vertical jumping skills, may benefit most from exercises in which the limbs move at greater angles and in a vertical direction. Running, however, involves almost exclusively horizontal forward motion, so the most important exercises are those in which the limbs move at relatively smaller angles in a back and forth plane.

In fact, some of Contrerass’s work (1) has shown significant and specific horizontal exercise gains—in this case, a hip thrust exercise, which is a weighted version of a bridge—improved horizontal jump performance the most, while a front squat benefited the vertical jump most.

The implications for running are that similar horizontal exercises are preferential for both maximal running speed and endurance. Specific to running, it means strengthening hip extension in its most horizontal range of motion. This roughly equates to the last 40 to 60 degrees of movement from a flexed thigh, raised about a third of its radius upward, to a thigh that is equal and in line with the spine, forming a straight line.

This range is functionally equivalent to the movement the thigh makes when we first land on the ground, until the leg pushes off its functional, propulsive push-off moment.

Challenges for strong hip extension in running

High-end hip extension has its challenges. The larger is the key counterweight between hip mobility and spine stability. In short, we runners need our hips to move a lot, while our spine needs to move very little. However, that’s much easier said than done.

A variety of factors challenge this balancing act between a stable spine and mobile hips:

• Core stability weakness A weak or inhibited core may not be able to counterbalance strong or repetitive hip movements.
• Hip stiffness The tighter the hip and the surrounding area, the more the neuromuscular system will try to move the spine to achieve functional movement.
• Postural and positional deficits How we position our body, particularly when running, will affect how efficiently this spine system works at the hip. Some postures will inhibit hip movement, inviting excessive movement of the spine.

Exercises to promote hip extension for running

Therefore, when attempting to perform the exercise in full extension, it is all too easy to substitute lower back motion instead. This is the case with a myriad of common running exercises, including:

• Bridges
• Leg extension on all fours
• Deadlifts

The consequences of the juxtaposition of mobile hip and stable spine

If we fail to keep the spine stable, potential consequences include:

• Low back pain Repetitive hyperextension of the lumbar spine can cause lumbar compressive stiffness and pain. Poor hip extension and lumbar extension replacement is a primary cause of low back pain for runners.
• Stiffness of the hip and pelvisSt Over time, lumbar extension replacement lets your hips off the hook. They will become stiffer, losing their functional scope. This, in turn, can make lower back stiffness worse.
• Neuralgia Lumbar compression can cause nerve irritation, radiculopathy, and neurogenic pain.
• Impaired stride efficiency Replacing the lower back with hip extension creates hyperactivity of our lower back extensors. This imbalance can overwhelm our balanced running posture, pulling us out of the hip hinge, into a more upright, less efficient posture. This, in turn, can create even more propulsive deficits and increased landing stress.

Below is a video describing the importance of horizontal strengthening and its challenges:

Core stability is critical. But while training to stabilize the spine during hip strength is highly specific to running, having some exercises where a runner can focus solely on achieving a strong, full hip extension motion, without worrying about lower back motion, is new.

This has been especially true for me, both clinically and personally. I often struggle teaching isolated hip extension to clients, many of whom have low back spinal sensitivity. Personally, I also struggle using full hip extension in my running stride.

I could not find an exercise that would allow for an aggressive and full hip extension strengthening without any risk of lower back strain. So, I came up with my own.

Pigeon of Joe exercise for hip extension

This new exercise is a related offshoot of my hip flexor stretch. Using maximal hip flexion of the opposite leg, this binds the lumbar spine in a neutral position, allowing for full range of motion and aggressive strengthening of the moving leg.

To run:

• Adopt a four-legged position on the ground.
• Let one leg extend behind you.
• Lower your body to the flexed knee and thigh, as if doing a pigeon pose in yoga.
• Balance on hands in pushup position, on top of that forward thigh.
• Bend the knee back and point the toe straight up towards the ceiling.
• Extend the bent leg straight up, as high as possible. The goal is a parallel thigh, in line with the trunk line.
• Hold the end position for at least a full second and upwards five seconds.

One last tip, pay attention to hip rotation. In the front view, the shin should be vertical, or slightly out, in internal rotation. For most stiff runners, the hip will have an opposite, or medially angled, tendency in hip external rotation. Hip internal rotation is a component of the hip push-off model.

Here is a video description of the exercise:

Hip extension progression and application

If while trying the Joes Pigeon exercise for hip extension, you find yourself unable to fully extend your hip, try the following:

• Self massage To use the trailing range, we first need to find it. But stretching is often not enough. First massage the hip area. This includes the medial and lateral thigh ports.
• Stretch Use Joe’s Couch Stretch to safely and fully lengthen the hip into full extension, with an opposite hip fully flexed. Both long holds (more than a minute) and high repetitions (four to six times or more) may be required.
• Strengthen Immediately following a massage and stretching routine, perform Joe’s Pigeon Exercise to train your brain to find and use that new range of hip extension!

After that, you can apply all of this to your ride in the following ways:

Hike well

The best first place to improve functional hip extension is with hiking. As you did in the exercise, adopt a slight hip hinge posture, then engage your foot in a strong plantar flexion push behind you.

This is one of the main reasons we focus on a toe plantar flexion during exercise. Plantar flexion is neuromuscularly connected to hip extension in an efficient gait pattern.

You may feel both a slight opening stretch in the front of your pelvis and an engagement of your gluteal muscles or burn. Hiking up a slight incline (2 to 5%) is ideal for gaining this openness and burning glutes.

Run faster uphill

Then, when it’s time to run, refocus on improved hip opening by pushing off firmly with your foot behind you. Feel the same stretch that comes with hiking.

Fast running is the best time to initially feel and master powered hip extension. It will make you run faster! Try this technique first with short sprints or uphill intervals. There you can focus on the push-behind hip opener, while the hill makes it easier to maintain efficient posture and mutual upward hip flexion.

Once you’ve mastered it with hiking and fast uphill running, try applying yourself to fast, flat running, then eventually basic pace running.

Conclusion

The fastest and most efficient runners use the hips forcefully through a full range. Find and train your high-end hip extension, then use it to propel yourself further and faster on your way!

Call for comments

• Have you tried Joe’s pigeon exercise? Did you find this helpful?
• What other topics would you like to see covered in this column?

References

1. Contreras, B, Vigotsky, AD, Schoenfeld, BJ, Beardsley, C, McMaster, DT, Reyneke, JHT, & Cronin, JB. Effects of a six-week hip thrust versus front squat resistance training program on performance in adolescent males: A randomized controlled trial. J Strength Cond Res 31(4): 999 1008, 2017. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27253835