Importance of Hip Mobility

The hip is effectively a ball and socket joint that allows the upper leg to move front to back, side to side – the movements of the hip are very extensive. The ball-and-socket anatomy also gives you the ability to rotate and to move forward but not backward.

Because the hip joint is more stable than mobile, it’s more prone to fracture than dislocation and is a common health problem associated with aging.

Restoring hip mobility will help in several areas. It should reduce or eliminate lower back and knee pain stemming from overcompension. It should improve your power output by allowing you to fully engage your posterior chain in training exercises, while making them safer.

Hip Anatomy

The thigh bone, femur, and the pelvis, acetabulum, join to form the hip joint. The hip joint is a “ball and socket” joint. The “ball” is the head of the femur, or thigh bone, and the “socket” is the cup shaped acetabulum. The joint surface is covered by a smooth articular surface that allows pain free movement in the joint.

The cartilage cushions the joint and allows the bones to move on each other with smooth movements. This cartilage does not show up on X-ray, therefore you can see a “joint space” between the femoral head and acetabular socket.

Pelvis

The pelvis is a large, flattened, irregularly shaped bone, constricted in the centre and expanded above and below. It consists of three parts: the ilium, ischium, and pubis. Femur The socket, acetabulum, is situated on the outer surface of the bone and joins to the head of the femur to form the hip joint. The femur is the longest bone in the skeleton. It joins to the pelvis, acetabulum, to form the hip joint. The upper part is composed of the Femoral head, Femoral neck, and Greater and Lesser Trochanters