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“A lot of the hip stretches that I do incorporate a lot of other things—you’re stretching your hip, but you’re also stretching your glutes or your quads,” says Rogan. This way, all the muscle groups that work together to maintain good hip mobility are getting released at the same time.
“I always start with like a runner’s lunge,” says Rogan. “You’re stretching your hips in opposition—front hip is flexed and you’re getting a stretch on the underside of it, and then the back hip is extended, so you’re getting into that hip flexor.”
For this one, Rogan comes into a lunge position with her back leg straight and front leg bent at 90 degrees. Then, with her hands on her front knee for support, she gently leans her upper body forward to deepen the stretch.
2. Quad stretch.
From her runner’s lunge, Rogan puts her back knee on the ground and bends it, using her hand on the same side to grab for her foot and gently pull it toward her glute. “I can get even further into the hip stretch,” she says.
3. Fire log
Be warned, this deep hip opener can be intense, to say the least. Having props nearby like yoga blocks or throw pillows is a good idea. For it, you’ll sit, as Rogan says, “crisscross applesauce” on the floor and then bring the foot of your top leg onto the knee of your bottom one. The goal is to get your shins to be parallel and stacked on one another (hence the name).
“I like to add a lateral side bend opposite from my top foot. You really, really feel it,” says Rogan. “It’s one of my other favorites.”
4. Figure four
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From there, Rogan flows into another hip opener, but this time, lying on her back. “I pull the bottom leg towards my chest to deepen the stretch in my other hip,” she says.
5. Supine fire log
While she’s lying on her back, Rogan returns her legs to the same position as the fire log stretch to give a little more love to the external rotators on the outside of her hips. “If you find that same shape with your legs and pull your knees toward your chest, it’s a really, really great hip opener,” says Rogan.
6. Pigeon pose
“I like to do pigeon pose again with like my chest all the way forward, another deep hip opener,” says Rogan. “And then I’ll do my my front splits on both sides and in a straddle.”
7. Sumo squat
“I always finish with a sumo squat,” says Rogan. “That’s definitely one of my favorite hip stretches, just to reset everything. You can really see if your hip are even, which is huge for us as dancers, making sure that we’re level on both sides and everything is aligned.”
In all, doing these hip stretches takes Rogan about 10 minutes, which she says is well worth the time: “I promise you, it feels great, and your body will really, really thank you.”
