Before You Start
- Match the exercise to your results. Each exercise below lists which tests it helps. Spend the most time on the areas where you scored yellow.
- Move slowly and with control. These aren’t meant to be rushed. The quality of each rep matters more than the number of reps.
- Stretch, don’t strain. Feeling a stretch or muscles working is the goal. Sharp, pinching, or worsening pain is not.
- If you scored red, get assessed first. Exercises can help, but they work best when you know why something isn’t working. Guessing can make things worse.
Exercise 1: World’s Greatest Stretch
Watch the demo:
Watch the World’s Greatest Stretch demonstration →
Helps with: The lunge test, especially the back leg, and the squat test.
How to Do It
- Start in a high plank, the top of a push-up.
- Step your right foot to the outside of your right hand, landing in a deep lunge.
- Rotate your right arm up toward the ceiling and follow your hand with your eyes.
- Bring your hand back down, step back to plank, and switch sides.
How Much?
Do 5 reps per side, pausing 2–3 seconds in each position. This one works well daily or as part of your warm-up.
Why It Works
It stretches the hip flexors on the back leg, opens the front hip, and adds rotation through the upper back, all in one movement. Tight hip flexors are one of the most common reasons people wobble in a lunge or tip forward in a squat.
Exercise 2: 90/90 Hip Activation
Watch the demo:
Watch the 90/90 Hip Activation demonstration →
Helps with: The 90/90 switch test.
How to Do It
- Sit in the same 90/90 position from last week’s test, with both knees bent to 90 degrees.
- Sit up tall. Rest your hands on the floor beside the leg opposite the one moving.
- Back leg lift: Keep your knee bent and lift your back foot and knee off the floor. Hold for 3 seconds, then lower.
- Switch sides and repeat.
How Much?
Do 5 lifts per side. Daily is fine.
Why It Works
The 90/90 test shows how much rotation you have. This exercise teaches your hip to control that rotation. Mobility you can’t control doesn’t hold up when you run, squat, or swing a club.
Expect this to be hard, especially at first. That’s the point.
Common Mistake
Moving the trunk too much. It should be just the hip doing the work.
Exercise 3: Goblet Squat
Watch the demo:
Watch the Goblet Squat demonstration →
Helps with: The squat test and the step-up test.
How to Do It
- Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell vertically against your chest, elbows pointing down.
- Set your feet in the stance that let you squat deepest without pinching during last week’s test. Remember from Part 1 that everyone’s hips are built a little differently.
- Sit down between your hips, keeping your chest up and heels down.
- Pause for 2 seconds at the bottom. Use your elbows to gently press your knees out.
- Drive through your whole foot to stand back up.
How Much?
Do 2–3 sets of 8–10 reps, 2–3 times per week. Start light. The weight helps you balance, so it’s often easier to squat deep with it than without.
Why It Works
The weight in front acts as a counterbalance, letting you sit deeper with better posture. That builds strength and control at the bottom of the squat, where most people lose it.
It also strengthens the glutes and quads that keep your hips level during a step-up.
Putting It Together
If You Scored Green Across the Board
Add these exercises to your warm-up two or three times a week to help keep your hips moving and working well.
If You Scored Yellow
Do the World’s Greatest Stretch and 90/90 Hip Activation daily, and the goblet squat 2–3 times a week.
Retest in 3–4 weeks with the tests from Part 2: 4 At-Home Tests to Check Your Hip Mobility and Strength and see what’s changed.
If Your Results Don’t Improve
If your results don’t improve, or anything gets more painful, that’s a sign the problem may go deeper than mobility and strength, and it’s time for a closer look.
Exercises can be a useful part of your plan, but the right approach depends on what’s causing the limitation in the first place.
What’s Next?
Next Monday, in the final part of this series, we’ll cover what to do when exercises alone aren’t enough.
