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The Ultimate Guide For Improving Hip Internal Rotation

hip internal rotation hip mobility Feb 03, 2025

One of the most important movements our can hips express is Hip Internal Rotation.

This motion is key for:

  • Producing Force
  • Accepting/Absorbing Force
  • Propelling our body forward
  • Touching your toes
  • Squatting/hinging/lunging and other hip flexion-based movements

There's no coincidence that it's also commonly limited in many people. 

In this article, I am going to discuss the mechanics behind hip internal rotation, how to assess it, hip impingement, and some exercises to improve it.

Hip Internal Rotation Anatomy

Before we can think about improving internal rotation (IR), we first have to understand the basic mechanics behind it from a joint level.

Although internal rotation is usually viewed at the femur level, it's important to appreciate that the motions of the ilium (wings of the pelvis), and the sacrum have key roles in expressing this motion.

At the pelvic level, we need the ilium to close at the top (inlet closing) which is also internal rotation,

This closing of the inlet allows the bottom part of the pelvis (outlet) to open.

The outlet opening is key because it puts the sockets of the hips (acetabulum) in a forward-facing position, or anteversion, which creates space for the femur to effectively glide in the socket and therefore, to internally rotate. 

Additionally, from a pelvic floor standpoint, the opening of the outlet allows the pelvic floor to ascend via the sit bones moving away from each other and the sacrum nutating (tail bone moving away from pelvis).

Now, if we zoom in on the hip, a major player in limiting internal rotation is the posterior capsule.

When the femur glides back into the socket, it requires there to be space in the back of the hip. If muscles in the posterior part of the hip (deep external rotators- piriformins, gemellis, obturator, quadratus femoris) are stiff, then the femur isn’t able to internally rotate.

This is why many will try to stretch the back of the hip in an attempt to open this space.

However, the reason why many fail with this approach is because they only think about the hip in isolation rather than how it integrates into movement, such as gait, squats, split squats and other dynamic movements.

Compensations

As with any limitation in motion, there are certain compensations that begin to show up during movement and posture.

Hiking of the hips, hip shifting in a squat, side-bending the ribcage, arch in lower back, hyperextending knees, valgus/varus knees, dumped in feet, among others, are all common ways that this limitation shows up.

Another common consequence of a limitation in internal rotation is Hip Impingement or Femoral Acetabular Impingement (FAI).

This usually feels like a pinch in the inside or outside part of the hip depending on certain factors such as pelvic position, environment (sports, job), among others.

From my perspective, there are two primary types based on an objective assessment:

  1. Hip flexion with internal rotation 
  2. Hip extension with abduction

Both of these are influenced by the position of the pelvis.

If you want to dive deeper into this concept, I did an entire youtube video that you can watch here:

 

Assessment 

Identifying these compensations during our assessment process is important for our exercise selection and programming process.

When assessing hip internal rotation, there are two primary measurements I like to use:

1)  Supine Hip Internal Rotation

By bringing the leg to 90 degrees to begin the assessment, we are effectively determining the status of the posterior capsule.

With a posterior capsule that is closed, we will see a drop off in internal rotation and potentially hip flexion.

Of course, as we’ve discussed above, it isn’t just the posterior capsule that would cause these limiting factors such as the position of the pelvis (forward and/or turning away from the tested side). 

2) Straight Leg Raise

In a previous post (hip extension post), I outlined how the straight leg raise assessment measurement measures the area between the sacrum and sit bone.

If there is space here, this means the pelvis is internally rotating and the sacrum is nutating. 

This indicates that the muscles in the back of the hip are in a position to allow for the hip to internally rotate.

Now, although I have only outlined 2 measurements, I use other measurements such as squat, toe touch, foot presentation, certain athletic movements (if required) and others, as a way to get a full picture of this view.

I discuss these at length in my EVOLVE Biomechanics Mentorship 

Programming Strategies

When thinking about programming ideas, we need to be thinking about a few things:

  • Influencing Pelvic Position/Shape
  • Integrate the foot and the ribcage to create a full-body change
  • Opening of the posterior pelvis and hip
  • Centre-of-gravity (forward or backwards shift depending on the goal)

With that in mind, I typically like to start on the ground in some way as it brings the Centre-of-Mass lower which reduces tension throughout the body, less coordination against gravity (more contact points with the ground) and therefore easier for the body to learn how to create the motions necessary.

Exercise 1: Arm Bar

The Arm Bar is one of my favourite exercises to restore hip internal rotation. By rolling over the pelvis, we get the help of the ground and body weight to laterally compress the pelvis creating the shape of the pelvis we’re looking for.

We’re also close to the ground so we can create a decompression effect throughout the body which removes the barrier of muscle tension.

 

Exercise 2: Front Foot Elevated Split Squat

Split Squats in general help improve hip internal rotation, but this variation in particular is one of the top ones for those who have stiffer hips and restricted motion.

By elevating the front foot, we create a natural “unweighting” of the front foot. This naturally loosens muscles in the back of the hip, tilting the pelvis back and even creating a turn of the pelvis towards this side (all of which are essential for hip IR).

Exercise 3: Cable Crossover Step-Up

This is a great movement for not only forcing the hip to internally rotate, but also getting a tremendous training effect as well.

The Crossover Step-Up is a great way to really start loading the body but also teach the body how to acquire hip IR and apply it immediately within the same movement.

 

Summary

Hip internal rotation is an important part of movement and performance. Most try to improve it with stretching exercises because they think it is about “tight muscles” when in fact, it has much more to do with other characteristics such as the pelvic, ribcage, knee, and foot, among others.

The more holistic our approach is to improve movement such as this, the better our programming and exercise selection becomes.

If you want to begin the process of understanding functional anatomy and the mechanics of the body, then you’ll enjoy our Foundations of Biomechanics Course!



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