Hip and Knee Stretches

The goal of this stretch is to increase motion accross the front of your hip joint. This will in turn decrease pelvic forward tilt, increase freedom of movement in the knee joint and take pressure off of your hip.

Most people who are tight accross the front of the hip can not get into the position as shown in this illustration. Note how the spine is straight and not arched backwards (which would put unwanted pressure on your spine) and that the bent knee is straight down. The follwing two images show the CORRECT positioning for this stretch.

The next two images (below) show some common mistakes in perfoming this stretch. They are NOT correct.

In the first image, the body is bent forward at hip. In the second image the leg is in front of the body or off to the side. Both positions are incorrect.
If you cannot grab your ankle and use the proper positioning, then rest your foot on a lower object, such as a chair (as in the pictures below). Once you get more motion, try a higher object.

Start with top on foot on the top of the chair. Remember to keep your back and hip straight. Once in the proper position, bend the knee of the foot on the floor to get additonal stretch on the bent leg.