Isolating those hippy hips

Nym

New member
Hello everyone,

When I practise, I try to isolate my hips i.e let the hips do the work instead of the legs e.g in vertical hip isolations. I understand that the legs give the range of motion, but in our everyday lives the hips and legs work in tandem. When it comes to practising, I actually have to remember to use the hips to drive the up and down movements e.g in isolations, downs etc, and not let the hip movement be generated by the legs. What drills can you suggest that will help me achieve this.

Thanx

Nym
 

Jujube

New member
I don't know if it's available for you to purchase where you are, but I think you would benefit from Michelle Joyce's Drills Drills Drills DVD. She has a section where she goes through various leg positions while drilling hip motions, so that you rely on the hips rather than only the legs. Very useful.
 

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
The "hip" is a joint. Joints in and of themselves don't create motion or movement.

When you do any "hip" work, you call upon one or more muscle groups to contract. Some Egyptian teachers will tell you a "hip lift" is accomplished by contracting the hamstrings, thus straightening the working leg and creating a visual "up" of the hip. Some teachers tell you to contract the gluteus to achieve a "lift," but it's more common nowadays to teach a hip lift by contracting the obliques and/or psoas muscles in the abdomen to pull the hip bone up toward the rib cage.

Ava Fleming's "Sizzling Hips" dvd gives a breakdown of pretty much all the ways you can do hip isolations. She also includes drills on that dvd. I like Michelle's Drills Drills Drills as well. Good stuff on all Michelle's dvds.
 

Jujube

New member
but it's more common nowadays to teach a hip lift by contracting the obliques and/or psoas muscles in the abdomen to pull the hip bone up toward the rib cage.

Yes, this is what I know as a hip lift. Usually accompanied by glute squeezes to stop the motion and keep it sharp and controlled.

Nice post, Aziyade.
 

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
Yes, this is what I know as a hip lift. Usually accompanied by glute squeezes to stop the motion and keep it sharp and controlled.

Nice post, Aziyade.


Thanks! :) Hadia also teaches you to use the adductors to sharpen and emphasize the movement, but I've been away from her training for so long I think I forgot how!
 

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
Hadia's New Site


She is a FANTASTIC instructor. Her original dvds are great, but she has also released a 4-volume dvd set that I fully recommend. Unfortunately she doesn't tour the US much anymore, but if you get a chance to workshop with her, TAKE IT!
 

Nym

New member
Hey Aziyade,

Didi not get time to look up the psoas muscles as yet. Are they muscles we consciously use? If not, should I look for exercises/stretches that will help me become familiar with them. Would this approach make me more conscious of them when I am practising?

Thanx

Nym
 

Kashmir

New member
Didi not get time to look up the psoas muscles as yet. Are they muscles we consciously use? If not, should I look for exercises/stretches that will help me become familiar with them. Would this approach make me more conscious of them when I am practising?
The obliques are used quite a bit too. You use these when you lean to the side. For a hip movment you use the same muscles but hold your torso still.\

Another one I sometimes use is to get people to lie on the floor and try and get their hip moveing towards their ears. Hard to cheat with legs that way :D
 
The obliques are used quite a bit too. You use these when you lean to the side. For a hip movment you use the same muscles but hold your torso still.\

Another one I sometimes use is to get people to lie on the floor and try and get their hip moveing towards their ears. Hard to cheat with legs that way :D

I find these conversations fascinating, because I learned that hip movements were driven from the knees - still trying to unlearn it!
 

Amanda (was Aziyade)

Well-known member
Hey Aziyade,

Didi not get time to look up the psoas muscles as yet. Are they muscles we consciously use? If not, should I look for exercises/stretches that will help me become familiar with them. Would this approach make me more conscious of them when I am practising?

Thanx

Nym

When you're trying to find some of these internal muscle groups, I think it's usually easier to actually work out at the gym, remember where it's "sore" the next day, and think about the movement coming from the sore place.

Here is the ACE recommendation for strengthening and stretching the ilopsoas, but I would caution you to have a properly-trained coach or trainer help you with it:

To Stretch the Iliopsoas:
Stand in a forward lunge position with one knee flexed and foot flat, and the heel of the other leg off the floor. Activate the lower abs to slightly flex the lumbar spine and hold for 15 seconds. Be careful that you don't hyperextend the lumbar spine.

To Strengthen the Iliopsoas, the easiest way is to rest your upper back on a Swiss ball, while keeping the legs bent in front of you. Push the pelvis upward so that the pelvis is in line with your knees and shoulders. Hold that position for one breath, then relax and repeat 8-10 times.
 

Jane

New member
You can get a slightly different feel than Kashmir's idea; same idea standing up.

Stand up in good dance posture with your fingers resting lightly on something stable about waist height. Back of a chair works well.

Keep your supporting/weighted leg in neutral position. Be very careful to not sink in to this hip joint.

Lift your opposite/unweighted foot off the ground a couple of inches.

Pull with the muscles of the torso to lift the hip of the unweighted leg up and into the body.

Experiment with different muscle groups, including the glutes, to find the muscles that give you the look you are trying to accomplish.

Always repeat on the opposite side. :) This builds strength and muscle memory, but I also believe it's perfectly legitimate and authentic to push the hip up through the floor, to various degrees, to create a specific dynamic to an upward hip motion.

It's also useful to use this same exercise on the weighted leg and watch your body alignment closely.
 
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