Hip stabilization exercise, ow

[pegkerr]

This is deceptively difficult: lie on your side, knees bent 45 degrees. Raise your upper knee so that it points to the ceiling, keeping your feet together (so that your legs open like a clam shell). Hold for a count of three, then lower the knee. Repeat twenty times.

It amazed me how much this one hurt. And I'm a frickin' brown belt. Not that I'm saying we brown belts have god-like powers or anything, but still, you'd think my hips would be plenty strong enough for this. Huh. Go figure.

Other rehabilitative exercises I'm doing:

1) lie on back, raise butt off the ground (bridge). Lift a foot off the ground a few inches, hold for count of two, lower. Repeat on other side.

2) Squats, with restrictive band fastened around the calves (to keep the knees from splaying out.

3) rubber tube tied in circle, with strap around one end closed inside a door. Place the tube behind injured knee, and pull out to extension. Stand with feet hip width apart. Pull the knee back to straighten the working leg, hold for a few seconds, relax. Repeat 20 times. (Strenghtens the quad.)

4) balance on one leg for 30 - 60 inches, while bending the other knee a little to pull the opposite foot off the ground a few inches. It's important not to sink into the supporting hip, but to stand up straight and keep the hips square. Again, deceptively hard, esp. on the injured leg. Again, I was indignant: I'm a brown belt; I should be able to do this without so much trouble. The injured ligament really has affected my ability to balance.

5) Various hamstring stretches.

Comments

[kijjohnson.livejournal.com]

Rehabilitative exercises are when I really notice physical bad habits I have, things I don't notice when everything is more functional. Good for you doing them. They'll a difference, I know.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

I have never thought of my hips in terms of strength or weakness. I do think of my shoulders that way. I wonder what the difference is.

K.