You’re missing out on this awesome hip stretch.
Why this matters:
The hips have 6 motions: lift the leg up, push leg back, turn the feet in, turn the feet out, pulling the leg in, and pushing the leg out.
Truth be told, we don’t push the leg out enough. Pushing out the legs, or knees out is considered an unflattering position. Think “manspreading”.
However, this is an important movement, as it helps with pelvis control and have an impact on your sciatica pain. If you don’t have enough of this motion, then your hips can be stiffer, resulting in the extra motion to be placed on your spine.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Action steps:
The cossack squat is a great way to add in side to side motion with control. Using your own body weight and movement, you can open up the inside of your hips by rocking side to side. In this video, you’ll see that you need to drive the hips back and lean the torso forward to have movement at the hip joint. I like to do about 8-10 per side before moving on with my day.
