Happy… Hips?

So, I recently did a stint working for a resort that specializes in fitness and wellness. Although that place wasn’t the FIT (ha…) for me, I did learn some things about how people see their bodies, mobility, flexibility and functional movement. We’ll break a lot of that down in other posts, but for now I want to talk briefly about something that I always found interesting:

Can you spot-train mobility?

We know we can’t spot-train to lose fat, and in general it’s difficult to only gain muscle mass in one area (although hypertrophy of specific muscle groups has definitely shown how we can morph our bodies in certain ways - look at bodybuilders for example).

So, say we have tight hips. We feel deep pulling sensations when we squat, forward fold, etc, and we definitely aren’t doing a split anytime soon. Can we only focus on stretching our hips, and expect all of our issues to magically resolve themselves?

The short answer is… yes, if your only goal is doing a split.

The long answer is… No - our bodies are connected. Your hips attach to your legs and spine, your spine plays a role in our shoulders and posture. Everything is intertwined.

If the only thing we stretch out is our hips, we aren’t solving any tenderness or tightness issues throughout the rest of our bodies. In fact, our shoulders and chest can frequently over-compensate for excessive space and curvature of our lower spine.

If we think of our body as a cohesive system, it’s easier to understand why working on one area will affect a different area as a result. Let’s think about kyphosis, lordosis and scoliosis.

Kyphosis: Excessive forward rounding of the upper spine. This can happen over time with poor posture, forward leaning positions for extended periods of time and weak upper back muscles. The aggressive curvature of the upper back can cause pressure on the low back, tight hip flexors and hamstrings as well as less space in the chest area.

Lordosis: Backward curving of the lower spine (think of it as your butt sticking out). This causes problems over time with hip shift, can cause tight upper back muscles and can be hard to engage the abdominal muscles appropriately. When we curve the low back, our spine isn’t protected in a neutral position which can continue to cause problems both with form and potential injury.

Scoliosis: This is a lateral curve of the spine. This is a condition that is generally something people are born with and can cause tightness through both shoulders and hips tilting or shifting side to side. Scoliosis is a condition that should be treated by medical professionals, and folks with this condition should always consult their doctor for what movement practices are best for them.

In each of these spinal positions: there is space for improvement. Especially in kyphosis and lordosis - these conditions CAN be partially or fully reversed based on proper form, mobility and strength programming. Again, scoliosis is best treated with a doctors oversight and consent.

So, circling around, I will always encourage you to spend half of your time working on upper body/spinal mobility and then half working on your lower body/spinal mobility. We want to ensure we continue to treat our body as a whole and not as parts - that is how we work, move and feel our best.