Exercise · Protocol 4 of 4
Ten minutes to free your hips and shoulders
1In 30 seconds
Two to four times a week, spend ten minutes on four moves: a deep squat with a twist, a hip-flexor stretch, a reverse tabletop and the Founder pose. They target the hips, spine and shoulders that long hours of sitting tend to stiffen.
2Picture it
3Why do it
- 1
Opening the front of your hips undoes some of the stiffness from hours in a chair or behind a counter.
- 2
Freer shoulders and upper back help your posture and may ease neck and back aches linked to hunching over a phone.
- 3
Mobile joints make it easier to keep exercising, playing with children and doing chores without strain for decades.
4How to do it
- Deep sumo squat: with feet a little wider than your shoulders, squat low, press your elbows against your inner knees, then point one hand at the ceiling and follow it with your eyes for 3 to 10 seconds, doing 3 rounds per side.
- Knee behind your glutes: in a long standing lunge, ease the back hip forward until the front of that hip stretches, hold for 10 to 30 seconds while breathing out, and repeat 3 times per side.
- Then kneel with one foot flat in front, keep your torso upright, and gently stretch the back hip for 10 to 30 seconds, 3 to 4 times.
- Reverse tabletop: sit with knees bent and hands beside your hips, fingers pointing out, then lift your hips until thighs and body are flat, working towards a 10-second hold for 3 sets before moving your hands behind you with fingers pointing back.
- Founder pose: stand with feet wide, press your heels down, push your hips back about a third of the way to sitting, lift your chest, turn your thumbs out and raise your arms, then hold the deepest position for 5 seconds, 1 to 2 times.
- Move slowly and without pain, and expect to work through these progressions over months, not days.
5Make it work in India
- Many Indians grew up squatting to cook, eat or use an Indian-style toilet, so the deep squat may return faster than you expect; hold a door frame or window grille for balance at first.
- Do the routine on a yoga mat, folded durrie or rug in a small room; you need barely two metres of floor space.
- If you practise yoga, you will spot cousins of Malasana, Purvottanasana and chair pose here, so you can add these four moves to the end of your usual session.
6The long read: the science2 min read · tap to open
Mobility is your ability to move a joint through its full range with control. Flexibility is how far a muscle can lengthen. You need both to reach a high shelf, squat to the floor or twist round to reverse a car without wincing.
Modern life keeps certain muscles short. When you sit, your hip flexors, the muscles where your thigh meets your pelvis, stay bent for hours. Walking, cycling and climbing stairs bend them further. We rarely move the knee behind the body, a movement called hip extension. The lunge and kneeling stretches give your hips that missing direction.
Shoulders suffer in a similar way. Leaning over phones and desks rolls the shoulders forward, so many people can lift their arms in front but not behind them. The reverse tabletop gently trains that backward reach and also works the wrists.
The deep squat with a twist does several jobs at once. It opens the hips and inner thighs, rotates the upper spine and turns the neck. It also shows you whether one side is stiffer than the other, which is very common.
The Founder pose, popularised by chiropractor Eric Goodman, works the back of the body as one unit: hamstrings, glutes and the long muscles of the back.
The strength plan helps here too. Lifting through a full range and lowering the weight slowly has been shown in some studies to improve flexibility about as much as stretching.
Early evidence Some studies show that full-range strength training improves flexibility about as well as static stretching, but this specific four-move routine has not been tested in trials and rests mainly on coaches’ experience.
Questions people ask
Is ten minutes really enough?
It is a minimum dose, not the ideal. Combined with full-range strength training, most people notice they move more freely within weeks. If you enjoy it, do more.
What if I cannot lift into the reverse tabletop at all?
Lift your hips as high as you can and hold for as long as you can, three times. Practise each week until you can hold the flat position for 10 seconds, then try the harder version.
When should I do these moves?
Any time suits. Many people tack them onto the end of a workout or do them during a break in the working day.
7Be careful
Stretch to mild tension, never pain, and back off if a joint pinches or tingles. If you have a knee, hip, wrist or back injury, or have had recent surgery, ask a physiotherapist which moves are safe for you.
8Try it for 7 days
Tap a day each time you did my ten-minute mobility routine.
From the book: “Incorporate Brief Mobility and Flexibility Work Two to Four Times per Week” (Exercise Protocol 4). Evidence rating and India notes are our own.