Hip Pain: Exercises to Avoid (and What to Do Instead)

How do I know if an exercise is too much for my hip?

AAOS OrthoInfo's hip conditioning program puts it simply: you should not feel pain during an exercise, and if you do, talk with your doctor or physical therapist. Mild muscle effort or a gentle stretch is fine. Sharp, pinching or joint pain is a signal to stop.

Mayo Clinic adds that if pain gets worse or continues after exercise, you may be pushing too hard, and suggests shorter or less frequent sessions. A practical check is how your hip feels the next morning. If it is more painful or stiff than usual, scale back the last workout.

OrthoInfo also recommends warming up with 5 to 10 minutes of low-impact activity, such as walking or a stationary bike, before stretching or strengthening.

What should I avoid with hip impingement or a labral tear?

With femoroacetabular impingement (FAI) and labral tears, the hip tends to pinch in deep flexion, especially when combined with inward rotation. Cleveland Clinic notes that FAI pain is often worse with squatting, lunging and jumping, and that sitting still for long periods can also aggravate it.

Pivoting and twisting on a planted leg can also provoke a labral tear. The goal is to keep training while staying out of the pinch zone.

• Limit: deep squats, deep lunges and leg press with the knees near the chest
• Limit: pigeon pose, knee-to-chest stretches and deep hip flexor machines
• Limit: cutting and pivoting drills while symptoms are active
• Try instead: box squats to a comfortable height, glute bridges, hip thrusts
• Try instead: step-ups to a low box, side planks, trap-bar deadlifts

What should I avoid with outer hip or gluteal tendon pain?

Pain over the bony point on the side of the hip, often called bursitis, usually involves the gluteal tendons. These tendons dislike compression, which happens when the leg crosses the midline of the body.

Cleveland Clinic recommends avoiding low chairs, minimizing stair climbing, not crossing your legs and sleeping with a pillow between your knees. It also reports that most people with gluteal tendinopathy improve with physical therapy exercises.

Clamshells and side-lying leg lifts are common in hip programs, but doing many repetitions, or pushing through pain on them, can overload irritated tendons early on. A therapist can adjust the dose.

• Limit: IT band stretches that pull the leg across the body
• Limit: crossed-leg and figure-four stretches held for long periods
• Limit: high-repetition clamshells and side-lying lifts while pain is high
• Try instead: standing isometric holds pressing the leg out against a wall
• Try instead: bridges, sit-to-stands and walking on flat ground

What should I avoid with hip arthritis?

OrthoInfo recommends minimizing activities that aggravate hip arthritis, such as climbing stairs, and switching from high-impact activities like jogging or tennis to lower-impact options like swimming or cycling. Losing weight, when needed, can also reduce stress on the hip.

Mayo Clinic notes that people with hip arthritis are often advised to do low-impact exercise, along with range-of-motion, strengthening and aerobic work. Stopping exercise completely tends to leave the hip stiffer and weaker.

• Limit: running on hard surfaces, jumping and singles court sports
• Limit: forcing stretches into stiff, painful ranges
• Try instead: stationary bike, swimming, water walking and elliptical
• Try instead: gentle range-of-motion work and strength training

What about hip flexor pain?

With a strained or irritated hip flexor, avoid exercises that load the front of the hip hard, such as hanging leg raises, sit-ups with the feet anchored, sprinting and hill repeats, until it settles.

Gentle hip flexor stretches, glute strengthening and a gradual return to running or kicking usually work well. If pain is deep in the groin rather than in the muscle, the joint may be involved, and the FAI guidance above applies.

Walking is usually a good choice for an irritated hip flexor, as long as you start with shorter, flatter routes and build up gradually over a week or two.

What does a hip-friendly exercise week look like?

A balanced week mixes low-impact cardio, strength work and gentle mobility. For example, you might ride a stationary bike or swim on two or three days, do a short hip and core strength routine on two or three other days, and walk on flat ground most days.

Keep strength sessions simple at first: bridges, sit-to-stands, step-ups and side planks cover most of the hip muscles. Add load or repetitions slowly, about one change per week, and track how the hip feels the next morning.

Rest days count as part of the plan. Tendons and joint tissues adapt between sessions, so stacking hard workouts back to back is a common reason hip pain flares.

When should I stop exercising and get checked?

Exercise changes should make the hip feel better over a few weeks. If they do not, an exam can identify the cause and guide a safer program. Our team checks the lower back too, since back problems can mimic hip pain.

Seek urgent care for sudden severe hip pain after a fall, inability to bear weight, or hip pain with fever.

A physical therapist can turn these general rules into a plan built around your hip, your goals and your sport. When pain keeps limiting you despite good effort, our Saturday Hip Pain Clinic is a convenient place to start.

• Pain that is getting worse despite modifying your exercise
• Clicking, catching or locking in the hip
• A new limp
• Pain at night or at rest
• Groin pain that builds with each walk or run

Questions patients ask