How can you help clients recover from a hip injury and prevent future injuries?

1 What is functional training?

Functional training is a type of exercise that mimics the movements and activities of daily life. It aims to improve your performance, balance, coordination, and stability in various situations. Functional training can also help you prevent or recover from injuries by addressing the underlying causes and correcting any imbalances or weaknesses. For hip injuries, functional training can help you restore your range of motion, reduce inflammation, and build muscle and joint support.

2 How to assess your hip function

Before you start any functional training program, you need to assess your hip function and identify any limitations or issues. To do this, you can perform some simple tests such as the squat test, the hip flexion test, and the hip extension test. The squat test involves standing with feet shoulder-width apart and lowering into a squat position. The hip flexion test requires lying on your back with legs straight and lifting one leg up towards your chest. Finally, the hip extension test involves lying on your stomach with legs straight and lifting one leg off the floor. If you experience pain, tightness, or difficulty reaching a full squat; have less than 90 degrees of hip flexion; or have less than 10 degrees of hip extension, you may have hip dysfunction. Reporting and documenting these findings will help you inform and reassure stakeholders, as well as provide valuable insights for improving your cloud security posture.

3 How to design a functional training program for your hips

Based on your assessment, you can design a functional training program that targets your specific needs and goals. A functional training program for your hips should include four components: mobility, stability, strength, and function. Mobility exercises help you improve your hip range of motion and reduce stiffness and pain. These can include dynamic stretches, foam rolling, and joint rotations. Stability exercises help you improve hip alignment and control, and prevent excessive or unwanted movements. These can include core activation, pelvic tilts, and single-leg balance. Strength exercises help you increase muscle mass and power, as well as support your joints and bones. These can include squats, lunges, bridges, and deadlifts. Function exercises help you integrate mobility, stability, and strength into more complex movements. These can include multidirectional movements, jumps, sprints, and agility drills. Mobility exercises can be done as a warm-up or cool-down throughout the day as needed. Stability exercises should be done as part of the warm-up or in a separate session. Strength exercises should be done with weights, bands or bodyweight as part of the main workout. Function exercises should be done in the main workout or in a separate session.

4 How to progress your functional training program for your hips

As you recover from your hip injury and improve your hip function, you need to progress your functional training program to challenge yourself and prevent plateaus. To do this, you can increase the intensity of your exercises by adding more weight, resistance, or speed, or by reducing the rest time between sets. You can also increase the complexity of your exercises by adding more movement planes, directions, or transitions, or by using unstable surfaces or equipment. Additionally, you can increase the specificity of your exercises by tailoring them to your sport, activity, or goal, or by simulating the demands and scenarios of your chosen task.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?