Tip Fix Your Core Free Your Hips Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip Fix Your Core Free Your Hips Do this before lower body workouts and dramatically boost the training effect by Max Shank September 30, 2017April 5, 2021 Tags It Hurts Fix It, Mobility, Tips, Training Your Hips Aren t Tight Your Core is Unresponsive People misunderstand "good form." It has nothing to do with how an exercise looks. Instead, it's about proper firing sequence. The prime mover and stabilizing muscles have to fire sequentially, regardless of what the movement looks like. If a muscle isn't firing properly in a coordinated fashion, another muscle will pick up the slack... and that's where the real problems start. For instance, most people think they have tight hips when it's really their hips compensating for a weak or unresponsive core. Quite simply, when the core can't provide a stable anchor point, you'll move stiffly and weakly and increase your chances for injury. However, this one simple drill can activate your core like nothing else and dramatically change your workouts. You'll be shocked at how strong and mobile your hips feel after doing this. And all you need is a broomstick or wooden dowel. Fix the Core and the Hips Will Be Free Here's what you need to do: Press a broomstick or dowel into your stomach. (You'll need to place the bar against different parts as you do the drill, but the lower abs will definitely need more attention.) Keep the abs tight to create a hard surface for the dowel to push against. While keeping the dowel pressed hard against your core, do any number of lower body warm-up movements like bridges, single-leg deadlifts, lunges, etc. You can also use the dowel during lower body stretches to make them more effective. This drill will make sure your core and hips are firing in a coordinated fashion and dynamically change whatever lower body exercise you do afterwards. Remember, fix the core and the hips will be free. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Superhuman Strength How to Build It Use more weight than your max and you'll get stronger, faster. Seem impossible? Here's how it's done. Powerlifting & Strength, Training Eric Bach October 18 Training Powerful Reasons to Use a Workout Log The secret to long-term gains isn't a special exercise or magic supplement, and it costs less than five bucks a year. Training Tim Henriques February 27 Training Total-Body Training A simple but smart plan that blends old-school basics with new-school periodization. Bodybuilding, Training Chad Waterbury October 11 Training The Five Elements of Program Dominance Volume, frequency, density, intensity, and intensiveness. Here’s what you need to know about each to train right for your goals. Bodybuilding, Diet Strategy, Powerlifting & Strength, Training Christian Thibaudeau September 22