Top Hip Impingement Exercises to Relieve Your Discomfort

Have you ever gone to the gym for a leg workout only to find out you have to stop because of this pinching pain in the front of your hip when you are squatting? Or you might notice this same sensation every time you go to sit down at home. You could be dealing with hip impingement, otherwise known as FAI (femoroacetabular impingement). Often, we overlook the hip’s role in our daily movements. A condition like hip impingement can profoundly impact our quality of life. This predicament is about understanding the mechanics of the hip. Understanding these mechanics can unlock the potential for relieving these symptoms, all through physical therapy exercises for hip impingement. Targeted hip impingement exercises can help improve hip mobility so you can get back to squatting, sitting, and all other normal activities without constantly feeling like your hip is “stopping,” catching, or pinching. This post will review what FAI is, why you get this pinching sensation in your hip whenever you sit or squat, and will go over what exercises you can do to help prevent this from getting worse while also relieving your hip discomfort.

TAKE ME STRAIGHT TO THE EXERCISES!

**This is not medical advice. Please consult your medical provider for more information.

What is Hip Impingement and Why Does it Hurt?

FAI is a fancy term for hip impingement and stands for femoroacetabular impingement. The word “femoroacetabular” simply refers to your hip joint where the femur (thigh bone) meets the acetabulum of the pelvis, creating the ball and socket joint of the hip. Hip impingement is a condition where there’s abnormal contact between the hip joint’s ball and socket. During hip flexion, the top of the femur jams into the pelvis, creating friction and causing pain. This is why you get a pinching sensation in your groin or the front of your hip when doing activities like squatting, sitting, riding a bike, or bending forward to grab something from the ground.

The main symptoms you’ll experience with FAI are deep aching in the front of the hip or within the groin, as well as sensations of clicking, catching, or locking. FAI can also cause referral pain to the buttocks, low back, and down into the thigh or knee. These sensations and pain are often experienced with any form of hip flexion where the knee comes up close to the chest. Not only is this common with sitting and squatting movements, but it can also be commonly seen in athletes playing soccer, basketball, and even dancers.

The Different Types of FAI

FAI is a condition that could be congenital or develop over time due to repetitive movements and poor form. There are three different types of hip impingement. Pincer impingement is found when there is a bony overgrowth over the rim of the acetabulum, causing the labrum of the hip to get pinched. In cam impingement, the femoral head does not rotate smoothly within the acetabulum because the femoral head is not a rounded shape as it should be. When both pincer and cam impingements are present, this is a combined impingement, creating the third type of impingement.

These structural differences can increase the risk of arthritis due to the wear and tear that happens to the cartilage within the hip joint. Hip impingement exercises under physical therapy guidance can manage symptoms and improve quality of life.

How is Hip Impingement Treated?

Understanding why hip impingement occurs and the mechanics behind the pinching and catching sensations make it easier to understand why specific exercises are used to treat it. Enhancing hip mobility and making sure there is adequate strength while also reducing muscle imbalances is one of the best ways to treat hip impingement.

Foundational steps aims to regain functional use of the hip joint. Ensuring the hip moves in all three planes of motion as it was intended to is key. After that, establishing a strength training program aimed at the hips and core is key.

As a physical therapist, I want to make sure I am getting you back to what you want to be doing. This ensures a holistic and tailored approach to each individual. While two different individuals may both have FAI, they may present differently. One individual might want to get back to running while another wants to be able to back squat 200lbs. The goal for both cases is to get each individual doing exactly what they love and without pain.

Areas of Focus for Hip Impingement Treatment

There are areas to focus on when treating hip impingement. The goal is to reduce muscular imbalances and limit pinching in the groin and front of the hip based off of the mechanics of the hip. While treatment plans should be tailored to every individual, here are some areas of focus to get you started.

Hip Mobility Exercises

Firstly, ensuring you have adequate hip mobility is a must. We want to make sure you have movement in all directions, but here, we are going to focus on a few key directions.

We want to normalize hip extension range first. This will stretch the hip flexor muscles at the front of the hip, mainly where you tend to experience the pinching or catching sensation. Not only is stretching this area important for FAI, it is important for many other issues as well. This includes adductor strains, hamstring stiffness, quad strains and even low back pain.

The other directions you want to make sure you can move in are hip rotations (internal rotation and external rotation). Many of us tend to be stiff into one direction. Some of us my be stiff into both. It is critical we work on both of these to limit muscle imbalances. Hip internal rotation and external rotation are used in for many things in daily life. You need it for sitting and standing, squatting, and getting into and out of cars. If you enjoy working out, going to the gym, or are an athlete, you will need to rely on hip rotational movements even more.

If you’re interested in learning more about hip rotation and its importance, check out this post on hip internal rotation and this post on strengthening your hip external rotators.

Strength Training for the Hip

Having mobility in the hip is important, but strength is also a requirement. The demands placed on our bodies through our daily activities requires us to have strong muscles to support our actions that we carry out. Strength training exercises are important as they specifically target the muscles support the hip joint and those surrounding. It provides stability, supports and strengthens our bones, and can significantly reduce impingement symptoms.

Compound movements are a great way to strengthen the hip as they tend to be very functional movements and incorporate many different muscle groups at once. Examples of compound movements are squats and lunges. They work many muscle groups at once, including your hip flexors and extensors, just to name a couple. This offers balanced muscle development around the hip.

Now I do understand squats and lunges may be difficult at first depending on the degree of your hip impingement. That is why it is important to gradually build up to these more challenging hip impingement exercises. If it is too painful or too challenging at first, start with something that you can tolerate at first. Try these exercises first before moving on to full squats and lunges.

And if you are ready and eager to learn how to improve your squat depth, check out this post here!

Core Strengthening Exercises

When dealing with FAI, it’s not just your hips that need attention. Your core is also an ally when managing this condition. Strengthening and stabilizing your core also helps support your hip joints. A strong core ensures better posture and helps alleviate unnecessary stress on the hips.

Integrating core strengthening exercises also lays down a foundation for improved functionality in daily activities, as well as lowers the risk of further injury. Check out some of these posts below to learn more:

Other Articles Related to Core Strengthening

• What It Actually Means to ‘Engage Your Core’
• Forget Crunches! There are Better Ways to Improve Core Strength
• How to Strengthen Your Deep Core
• Unlock Your Athletic Potential With Core Stability Exercises
• Core Strengthening Exercises to Reduce Back Pain

Hip Impingement Exercises

Try out some of these exercises if you are dealing with symptoms related to hip impingement.

1/2 Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch

1/2 Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch with Lateral MWM (Mobilization with Movement)

Quadruped Rockback in ER/IR

Alternating Forward and Lateral Lunge

Kneeling Sissy Squat

Lifestyle Modifications

Making small adjustments to your daily life can have a profound impact on managing hip impingement. Activity modification can be an important part of your healing journey, especially in the very beginning. Listen to your body and recognize activities that exacerbate your symptoms. It may require scaling back on high-impact exercises such as running and jumping. Instead, focus on low-impact forms of movement like swimming or cycling that maintain hip mobility without the harsh impact.

The use of tools may also be beneficial. A foam roller can aid in myofascial release and reduce soft tissue stiffness around the hip joint. Focusing on the glutes, quads, and IT band may offer a sensation of reduced stiffness and be a good warm-up prior to engaging in a workout or when incorporating some of the exercises provided above.

Remember, you don’t have to live with the pain from hip impingement or FAI. There are things that can be done to help improve how you move about your day. Try the exercises above, learn about how your body moves, and if you have more questions or are still unsure about what steps to take next, feel free to contact me! My goal is to get you moving pain-free.

TL;DR

You could be dealing with hip impingement, or FAI, if your experience pinching pain in the front of your hip when you are squatting or sitting. Understanding the mechanics of the hip can unlock the potential for relieving these symptoms. Targeted hip impingement exercises through physical therapy can help improve hip mobility so you can get back to squatting, sitting, and all other normal activities. This post reviews what FAI is, why you get this pinching sensation in your hip whenever you sit or squat, and goes over what exercises you can do to help prevent this from getting worse while also relieving your hip discomfort.