by Elsbeth Vaino
Hip extension is a big deal. Faster, higher, stronger all require hip extension. It’s driven by some big muscles, and gets worked in the gym by some big exercises, like deadlifts, squats, and lunges.
It also gets worked by some smaller exercises, sometimes called accessory or corrective exercises. Exercises like glute bridges, bird dogs, donkey kicks, and hip CARs (controlled articular rotations).
Some trainers suggest you don’t need any of the little exercises if you do the big exercises. I’m not one of those trainers. Most people can benefit from improving the parts of a movement. This isn’t just true in the gym; it’s true in movement. If you’ve ever been coached or taught in a sport, you’ll probably be able to think of examples. When I taught skiing, most lessons involved working on parts of the movement to get a feeling and then working that feeling back into the overall movement. Usually we work on the parts that are not as skillful (yet). To me, this is what accessory or corrective exercise is: doing extra work on the part that is not as skillful (yet).
But here’s the kicker: when you’re doing accessory or corrective exercises to build your hip extension, are you?
Here’s a video of me doing some hip CARs in an all fours position:
Now, I don’t have the best hip mobility around. I know that. Which is one of the reasons I work on it. With exercises like this. I am someone who usually has very good body awareness, meaning I can often tell how my form is based on what I feel. And I have a solid understanding of movement; it’s kind of my job. Despite all my awareness and understanding, I thought I was getting exclusively hip extension when lifting my leg up. Well. Now here’s a video of me doing the same exercise except with a bench under my abdomen to prevent me from extending my back during the movement.
See the difference? Let me help with a screenshot of each:
That’s a lot less range when the bench is there. Which, if you think about it, means my hip extension in the first video is actually hip and back extension.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with back extension – it’s a natural human movement. But if I’m trying to work on hip extension, I don’t want back extension; I want hip extension.
Does it really matter that much?
It depends.
If you’re someone who is achieving the level of performance you want in your sprints, your sports, and your gym workouts, and your back doesn’t bother you while doing them, then no, mixing in a little back extension with your hip extension probably doesn’t matter.
But if you’re someone who can’t seem to get to drop shots in tennis, consistently has a tight low back after doing deadlifts or squats, I would argue you could do well with tidying up your hip extension.
Let me clarify what I just said there. I didn’t say a little extra back extension causes poor performance or back tightness. I said improving your hip extension may also improve your performance and reduce back tightness.
The thing is, your hip extensors are big muscles, while your back extensors are comparatively tiny.
They are tiny because their main job is to help you hold still while the big muscles push and pull your limbs and torso here and there. When we ask the little muscles to do big muscle jobs, they often don’t have what it takes and can get cranky as a result.
The cool thing is it’s an easy test and an easy fix: try doing a bird dog or hip CARs unimpeded, and then try doing them again with something that prevents your back from arching. Can you get the same range? If not, do the movement with a limit on your back movement for a couple of workouts to get the feeling for what true hip extension feels like. Then try doing them unimpeded again and see if you can control the movement. Now take that feeling back to your deadlift or squat (ideally with less weight to start, since it’s a new feeling). If you’re not sure, use a video so you can get visual feedback.
Is this necessarily going to fix your back tightness in squats and deadlifts? Only if extra back extension in your squat or deadlift form is the reason for your back tightness. Unfortunately pain and tightness is more complicated than that. But it’s not uncommon for back tightness to improve once you learn (and internalize) the difference between hip extension and back extension – and learn to apply that when squatting and deadlifting. That’s a pretty nice possible upside and there’s really no downside.