The Hip Hinge, A Beginners Guide to Preventing Back Injuries

Hip hinge and prevent back injuries

When it comes to protecting the lower back, there is no movement more important to learn than the hip hinge. The hip hinge is a term used in fitness and rehabilitation circles to describe bending at the hip instead of rounding the lower back. It’s taught in gyms as a precursor to exercises like the Deadlift and Squats. It’s kind of used like movement prep as hinging at the hip is a part of both of these exercises.

Now this is the important bit. The hip hinge doesn’t just belong in the gym. It’s a part of normal human movement. Every time you bend forward, you should bend at the hips and avoid rounding or flattening your lower back.

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Why your turned out duck feet are trashing your body

Standing with duck feet

Duck feet is a term used to describe out-toeing (flat turned out feet). In their normal alignment, your feet should be parallel with each other and pointing straight ahead. This may not seem important, but as I have said before, the human body is very much like a house of cards. Bend or remove a card and the whole structure becomes unstable.

Will duck feet cause your knees to explode or prematurely end your life? Does turning the foot out very slightly matter? No, of course not. If however, you stand like the guys in the picture above, you will slowly wear your joints out. It may also impair your sporting performance and increase your likelihood of injury.

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Prevent injuries using abdominal bracing

Setting the core using abdominal bracing

‘Prevent injuries using abdominal bracing’ is the first article in the ‘Essential Knowledge’ part of this website. This section of the site aims to teach you some simple techniques that are vital if you want to stay healthy, prevent injuries and correct or maintain your posture.

I want to make this clear from the start, when I say essential, I mean essential. The information I am going to share with you in these article is vital. If you don’t learn and practice these techniques then you have no chance of correcting your posture, getting rid of back pain or preventing injury.

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