Exercise for hip bursitis. What to do AND what not to do.
A quick search on Google for the best hip bursitis exercises and you’ll discover all the usual suspects. Clamshells, leg lifts and planks to name just a few. But do these exercises work? Do they do anything to help alleviate your hip bursitis?
From my personal experience, they do not. They didn’t help me overcome my own chronic hip pain issues and they didn't help the hundreds of students I’ve worked with.
I can’t tell you how many people through the years have said to me “Maks, please no more clamshells.” Well, dear hipster, in this article I won’t tell you to do anymore clamshells. Instead, I’ll help you understand what exercise can do for your hip bursitis and even more importantly, what it can’t.
How to pick exercises for hip bursitis
What do you think the biggest obstacle is for people in their efforts to improve how their hips feel? The biggest challenge for most people is their mindset.
How you think about your pain and diagnosis will dictate how soon you’ll feel better. If you think about your hip bursitis diagnosis as an isolated hip problem, then all the exercises you do will be hyper-focused on the symptomatic hip. But this approach is too narrowly focused.
The body is connected to a highly sophisticated brain and nervous system. When you walk, the hip does not do its job while the shoulder and ankles wait for their turn. All joints and muscles in the body work together to move with as much efficiency as possible.
The absolute first step I recommend to anyone looking to resolve their chronic hip pain is to fully understand the role of the brain and nervous system in chronic pain patterns. If you are conditioned to look at exercise as some magic pill, you’ll inevitably be disappointed.