When your hip hurts, it makes sense to want to fix it yourself. You start searching online, watching exercise videos, and trying every stretch or strengthening move you can find. The intention is great, but this is where things tend to go sideways. Many of the most popular hip exercises floating around the internet can actually make hip pain worse if you are doing them at the wrong time, in the wrong way, or without understanding what is going on in your hip. We deal with this constantly in Austin, TX physical therapy, and some of the people who come to us in the most pain are the ones who have been working the hardest at their exercises. The effort was there, but the exercises were working against them the entire time.
Here is the thing about Dr. Google: it does not know what is wrong with your hip. It cannot tell you whether your pain is coming from a labral tear, a tendon issue, impingement, bursitis, or just muscles that are not doing their job. It gives you a list of exercises, you pick the ones that look right, and you start doing them without any idea whether they are appropriate for your specific situation. Before you build an exercise plan around your hip pain, you need to know what you are actually dealing with, and that means getting assessed by a physical therapist who can look at your hip, test it, and tell you what is going on.
That said, there are certain exercises that tend to cause problems far more often than they help when hip pain is already in the picture, and if you have been doing any of these without improvement, there is a good chance they are part of the reason you are stuck.
Deep Squats and Pistol Squats
Common conditions this aggravates: hip labral tears, femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), anterior hip inflammation, hip bursitis, early hip arthritis.
Deep squats get recommended constantly for building lower body strength, and for a healthy hip they can be a fantastic exercise. But when you are dealing with any of the conditions above, dropping into a deep squat pushes your hip joint into extreme flexion, which jams the front of the joint together right where most of these problems live. If you have a labral tear or impingement, you are essentially squeezing the irritated tissue between the bones every time you hit the bottom of that squat. If you have bursitis or early arthritis, the compression at the bottom loads the joint in a way that keeps the inflammation going.
A study on squatting with hip impingement looked at how people with hip problems actually move during deep squats. They found that people with impingement end up shifting their pelvis and changing their hip position to try to avoid the painful pinch at the bottom. Those compensations mean other parts of the body pick up extra stress, which can lead to new problems in the lower back, the knee, or the opposite hip over time.
Pistol squats are even worse because all of your body weight goes through one leg in that same deep position with no way to shift the load. You do not have to stop squatting entirely though. Partial squats to a comfortable depth, goblet squats with a controlled range, or box squats where you stop at a set height can all build strength without jamming the front of the hip.
The Pigeon Stretch
Common conditions this aggravates: hip labral tears, femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), anterior hip capsule irritation, iliopsoas tendinitis, hip joint inflammation.
The pigeon stretch has become one of the most popular hip stretches on social media, and people with hip pain tend to love it because it feels like it is getting into that deep, tight area. The problem is that this position puts your hip into extreme external rotation and flexion at the same time, which loads the front of the hip joint heavily and can pinch or compress the labrum. If you have a labral tear, even a small one, this stretch can aggravate it every time you do it. If you have impingement, you are pushing the hip right into the position where the bones pinch together. And if you have iliopsoas tendinitis or capsule irritation, the pigeon stretch puts pressure directly on those structures.
The stretch might feel intense in the glute or deep in the hip, which people interpret as productive, but the pinching or aching in the front of the hip that shows up during or after is your body telling you that something is being compressed that should not be.
If you want to stretch the glutes and deep hip rotators without loading the front of the joint, a figure four stretch lying on your back works much better. You cross one ankle over the opposite knee and gently pull the bottom leg toward your chest, which gives you a similar stretch with far more control and far less joint compression.
Banded Hip Circle Walks with Heavy Resistance
Common conditions this aggravates: gluteal tendinopathy, greater trochanteric pain syndrome (lateral hip pain), hip bursitis, IT band syndrome.
Banded lateral walks and monster walks are popular for targeting the glute medius, which is the muscle on the outside of your hip. When done with the right resistance, they can be useful. But the version you see in most gyms involves a thick, heavy band around the ankles with instructions to stay low in a squat and push hard against the band with every step.
If you have gluteal tendinopathy or greater trochanteric pain syndrome, this exercise is one of the worst things you can do. These conditions involve irritated tendons on the side of the hip, and high-load repetitive side-stepping is exactly what keeps those tendons inflamed. Staying in a low squat while you do it also adds compression to the front of the joint, so you end up aggravating the outside and the front of the hip at the same time. If you have bursitis, the heavy resistance forces the IT band and surrounding tissues to rub repeatedly over the bony bump on the outside of the hip, which is what keeps bursitis going.
Use a lighter band placed just above the knees rather than around the ankles and stand taller instead of staying in a deep squat. This still activates the glute medius effectively but cuts down on the tendon irritation and joint compression.
Straight Leg Deadlifts Without Modification
Common conditions this aggravates: anterior hip impingement, hip labral tears, hamstring tendinopathy, lower back pain related to hip dysfunction.
Straight leg deadlifts and Romanian deadlifts are excellent for building glute and hamstring strength, but they require a large amount of hip flexion under load while the leg stays relatively straight. If you have anterior hip impingement or a labral tear, this creates the same kind of front-of-hip compression that deep squats cause, just from a different angle. The deeper you go and the heavier the weight, the more force gets driven into that compressed area.
If you have hamstring tendinopathy, the straight leg position places a big stretch load on the hamstring tendon at the sit bone while you are also asking it to control heavy weight, which is exactly what keeps an irritated hamstring tendon from calming down. Many people also round their lower back or lean too far forward during this movement, which shifts even more load onto the front of the hip.
Shortening the range of motion so you stop the descent when you feel the first hint of a pull rather than going all the way to the floor can keep this exercise productive without provoking the hip.
Aggressive Hip Flexor Stretching
Common conditions this aggravates: anterior hip impingement, hip labral tears, iliopsoas tendinitis, anterior hip capsule irritation, lower back pain.
The kneeling hip flexor stretch is one of the most commonly recommended exercises for anyone who sits a lot. For many people it is perfectly fine, but for people with any of the conditions listed above, it often makes things worse.
The classic kneeling lunge position, especially when people try to push deeper and deeper into it, creates significant compression on the front of the hip joint. If you have impingement or a labral tear, you are pushing the hip right into the position that pinches those structures. If you have iliopsoas tendinitis, the stretch is pulling directly on the tendon that is already inflamed. Many people also arch their lower back during this stretch to try to feel more of a pull, which adds even more compression to the front of the hip while stressing the lower back.
A lot of hip flexor tightness is actually driven by weakness rather than true shortness, which we covered in detail in our blog on loading versus stretching for hip flexors. If the muscle is gripping because it lacks strength, stretching it aggressively will not solve the problem. A standing hip flexor stretch with a gentle tuck of the pelvis tends to be much more tolerable, and spending that time on hip flexor strengthening may address the root cause more effectively than any stretch.
High-Impact Plyometrics
Common conditions this aggravates: hip arthritis, hip labral tears, gluteal tendinopathy, stress fractures, hip bursitis, general hip joint inflammation.
Box jumps, jump squats, broad jumps, and other high-impact plyometric exercises are demanding on the hips even when they are completely healthy. When hip pain is already present, the repeated high-force impacts from jumping and landing can significantly aggravate an already irritated area. If you have arthritis, those impacts speed up the wear on cartilage that is already thinning. If you have a labral tear, the landing forces drive the femur into the labrum over and over. If you have gluteal tendinopathy or bursitis, the rapid loading and unloading keeps the tendons and bursa inflamed. Every time you land from a jump, your hip absorbs several times your body weight in a very short window, and if the joint is already inflamed, those forces go straight into the irritated structures.
If you enjoy explosive training, there are lower impact options. Kettlebell swings train hip extension power without the landing impact. Sled pushes challenge the entire lower body without compression at the bottom of a squat. Band-resisted hip extension drills build explosive strength in a controlled range.
Leg Press with Full Depth
Common conditions this aggravates: anterior hip impingement, hip labral tears, hip arthritis, anterior hip capsule tightness, hip bursitis.
The leg press machine is a staple in most gyms, and people tend to load it heavy and push through a full range of motion. If you have any kind of anterior hip issue, the bottom of the leg press is where problems start because the knees come close to the chest, the hip gets pushed into deep flexion, and the front of the joint gets compressed under heavy load. If you have impingement or a labral tear, this is the exact position that pinches those structures. If you have arthritis, the heavy compression at the bottom of every rep loads the damaged cartilage at its most vulnerable point.
Limiting the depth so your hips never go past about ninety degrees of flexion can make a big difference. Using moderate weight with a controlled range rather than stacking plates and pushing to full depth lets you build quad and glute strength without jamming the front of the hip.
If you look at the exercises on this list, they share a few things in common. Most of them push the hip into extreme ranges of flexion, rotation, or both while under load, and most of them compress the front of the hip joint where irritated structures are most vulnerable. They feel productive in the moment but leave the hip feeling worse an hour or two later.
The goal is not to stop exercising, because exercise is one of the best things you can do for hip pain. The goal is to choose exercises that build strength and capacity without repeatedly aggravating the structures that are already causing you problems, which usually means controlling depth, managing load, and staying out of end-range positions until the hip has built enough tolerance to handle them.
At Move Empower Concierge Physical Therapy, we help active adults and busy professionals across Austin figure out exactly which exercises are helping and which ones are holding them back. If your hip pain has not been improving despite your best efforts, or if you are not sure which exercises are safe to keep doing, schedule a FREE discovery session with us today. We will come to your home or office, assess what is actually going on in your hip, and build an exercise plan that moves you forward instead of keeping you stuck.