Hey there! If you’ve been working out consistently, doing your squats, deadlifts, and glute bridges… but still dealing with hip tightness, pelvic discomfort, or just feeling like your strength isn’t translating into real life, you’re not alone.

And it’s probably not a strength issue. It’s a variety movement issue.

Most workout programs focus heavily on hip extension in the sagittal plane with forward and backward movement pattern where you’re driving through your glutes.

And while that is important, it’s only one piece of how your hips actually function.

Your hips are designed to move in multiple directions, and when we don’t train those directions, we often see things like:

• hip and low back discomfort
• pelvic floor symptoms
• instability with single-leg movements
• running that just doesn’t feel efficient

This is why inside our programs, we don’t just focus on “glutes.”

We focus on how your hips and pelvis move together.

The Missing Link Most People Aren’t Training

One of the biggest shifts in how we approach training is understanding the difference between hip movement and pelvic movement.

When your leg is in the air (like during walking or running), your hip rotates.

But when your foot is on the ground, this is where things really matter, your pelvis needs to rotate on your leg.

That stance phase is where your body:

• absorbs force
• stabilizes
• transfers energy

If your pelvis can’t move well here, your body will compensate somewhere else.

This is where we often see:

• hip pain
• tailbone discomfort
• pelvic floor symptoms
• inefficient running mechanics

​And this is exactly why we include pelvic internal and external rotation in our programming—not just traditional hip exercises.​

The 8 Movements Your Hips Actually Need

To fully train your hips, you need all eight of these movement patterns:

• Hip extension (leg going backwards)
• Hip flexion (knee driving up)
• Hip abduction (legs spreading apart)
• Hip adduction (legs coming together)
• Hip internal rotation (knee in, ankle out)
• Hip external rotation (knee out, ankle in)
• Pelvic internal rotation (closed hip position)
• Pelvic external rotation (open hip position)

Most programs only really hit 1–3 of these consistently.

That’s a big gap. And it explains why so many women feel like they’re doing “all the right things”… but still not getting the results they want.

So, What Should You Actually Do?

I put together a full breakdown for you here in our latest YouTube workout video:

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We release new YouTube workouts every Tuesday on our channel! Be sure to subscribe so you get notified--our workouts include prenatal, birth prep, postpartum, and tons on pelvic floor too! Every Wednesday, we release new educational videos too!

You can also read a full breakdown in our latest blog post here.​

If your workouts have been focused mostly on squats, deadlifts, and glute work, you’re not doing anything wrong. You’re just missing pieces. And once you start training your hips more completely, you’ll likely notice a huge difference in how your body feels and performs.

Excited to support you on your journey! See you next week. I'll be discussing what you can do to prevent leaking with exercise, especially running, in next week's newsletter!

Gina

Stay Strong in Pregnancy and Motherhood!

MamasteFit is one of the only fitness training facilities in the country that exclusively works with in-person prenatal and postnatal fitness clients—and also provides hands-on birth support. Our prenatal and postpartum fitness programs aren’t random “safe” modifications pulled from the internet; they’re designed specifically for this stage of life, tested and refined with our in-person clients, and approved by our in-house pelvic floor physical therapists.

Our prenatal programs were created to keep you strong and pain-free throughout pregnancy with specialty exercises to help you prepare for birth with pelvic opening, pelvic floor, and birth prep movements.

Our postpartum programs were carefully designed with our in-person fitness clients and pelvic floor PTs to ensure there is a smooth transition from rehab and recovery to fitness. Many PTs recommend our programs for both pregnancy and postpartum because of how seamless they integrate with someone's 1-1 PT!

And if you are beyond the first 6–9 months postpartum and ready to continue strength training with us, check out our Beyond Postpartum Strength Program!​

This is the strength programming I personally use to feel strong in motherhood while continuing to support my pelvic floor and core.

The program moves through 6–8 week cycles with new workouts each phase. Every cycle focuses on a different training goal, including strength endurance, maximal strength, power, and stability so you can continue progressing long after the postpartum phase.