6-Minute Bed Routine Builds Hip Strength Faster After 60

Building stronger hips doesn’t have to start on a gym mat — or even require getting out of bed.

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For many people, especially those with limited mobility, bed exercises can be a practical and more comfortable way to strengthen the hips. Compared with floor-based movements, they may feel easier on the joints and less painful to perform. They can also serve as a simple daily movement option when time or energy is limited. For people who struggle with sleep, gentle, low-intensity exercises in bed may also help slow the heart rate and encourage a calmer transition into rest.

If you’re looking for an accessible way to move, a six-minute bed routine may help rebuild hip strength more effectively than relying only on floor stretches after age 60.

“If getting onto the floor requires considerable effort, causes pain, creates fear of getting back up, or requires another person nearby, then a theoretically excellent floor program may have almost no real-world value,” says Dr. Jackie Sanders, Doctor of Physical Therapy and Certified Running Coach at WAVE Physical Therapy. “A bed changes the entry cost. Someone can begin in a familiar environment without kneeling, getting onto an uncomfortable hard surface, pushing themselves up from the floor, worrying about whether they’ll be able to get back up, or making exercise into an elaborate event. By starting in an approachable way, doing a few exercises in bed, the individual may progress to the point of doing more intensive exercises.”

Bed exercises also give you the opportunity to stack this habit with other beneficial rituals. Plus, they’re seamless to weave into your morning or nighttime routine.

Single-Leg Hip Bridges

“Hip bridging is a great movement to start with. It works the muscles of hip extension, which are the muscles that keep us standing upright. It is also an easy exercise to make more challenging by adding a resistance band at the knees or a ball squeeze,” Dr. Sanders explains.

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1. Lie flat on your back with bent knees, feet flat on the bed, and arms at your sides.
2. Press your lower back into the mattress.
3. Extend your left leg straight out.
4. Press through your right heel to lift your glutes off the floor and toward the ceiling.
5. Squeeze your glutes at the top.
6. Lower with control.
7. Perform the exercise for 30 seconds on each side.
8. Rest for 1 minute before moving into the next exercise.

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Side-Lying Clamshell

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“A side-lying clamshell exercise addresses the frontal plane and works on the muscles that prevent excessive lateral sway with walking,” Dr. Sanders says.

1. Lie on your side with your knees stacked and bent.
2. Keep your feet together as you lift your top knee, like a clamshell opening.
3. Lower.
4. Avoid rotating through your lower back throughout.
5. Perform the exercise for 30 seconds per side.
6. Rest for 1 minute before moving into the next exercise.

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Quadruped Leg Extension

“Lastly, I would include a quadruped leg extension to again facilitate the leg moving behind the body to propel the body forward during walking. It’s another exercise that can be made harder by lifting the opposite arm in conjunction with the leg or even taking the leg to the side,” Dr. Sanders tells us.

1. Start on all fours with your hands under your shoulders and knees beneath your hips.
2. Activate your core.
3. Slowly shift your weight onto your right leg and both hands.
4. Extend your left leg straight behind you until it’s parallel with the mattress.
5. Hold for a moment, squeezing your left glute.
6. Return to the start position.
7. Repeat on the other side, performing the exercise for 30 seconds per side.
8. Rest for 1 minute.