When Elvis the pelvis gyrated and thrust his way across national television screens, audiences were delighted and censors were scandalised. But physiotherapists were probably standing up in their seats cheering at the display of such healthy and limber hip movements.<\/p>\n
Hips are a key weight-bearing joint, yet we rarely give them the amount of love and attention they deserve.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might not realise how important it is or how much it does until it\u2019s painful or restricted in some way, and you\u2019re no longer able to use it in the same way that you could before,\u201d says physiotherapist Dr Michael O\u2019Brien from La Trobe University in Melbourne. A hip fracture, particularly in elderly people, can precede a serious decline in health, which makes maintaining hip health vital for healthy old age.<\/p>\n
Strengthen your hip muscles<\/p>\n
The ball-and-socket hip joint is very mobile, able to move in many directions and rotate, so it\u2019s vital to keep the muscles around the hip joint strong to support it, and reduce the risk of pain and hip osteoarthritis, O\u2019Brien says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat can be doing reformer pilates, it could be doing some simple exercises at home, some simple weight-bearing exercises,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also important to work the hip across all the planes of movement, not just back and forth. Some simple exercises include standing on one foot and rotating your pelvis from side to side, or holding the lunge position and moving the front knee slightly from side to side.<\/p>\n
The gluteal muscles in the buttocks, and abdominal stabilising muscles are also important for hip health, says physiotherapist Dr Jillian Eyles from the University of Sydney.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tiny, boring glute exercises<\/a> actually really hurt [in terms of fatiguing muscles] and they\u2019re really boring \u2026 [but] they\u2019re the ones that are really helpful,\u201d Eyles says.<\/p>\n Gluteal exercises include squats, lunges and a \u201cgluteal bridge\u201d \u2013 lying on your back, planting the soles of your feet on the floor or bed and lifting your pelvis up off that surface. For abdominal core strengthening and stabilising, she also recommends reformer pilates or yoga.<\/p>\n Stay active<\/p>\n For all the hype about \u201c10,000 steps a day\u201d being the ideal \u2013 and unproven \u2013 goal for physical activity, the evidence actually suggests that significant benefits accrue at far lower step counts, says Professor Rana Hinman, a research physiotherapist at the University of Melbourne.<\/p>\n \u201c[Ten thousand] was a really scary number, I think even for someone who didn\u2019t have health problems \u2026 and for someone with joint pain, or someone who\u2019s older, that\u2019s just an unachievable goal,\u201d she says. But research suggests even 7,000 steps a day can have major benefits for health<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cEven for every extra 1,000 steps that you can do, we\u2019re seeing it now with mortality benefits, cardiovascular benefits, and we see it with osteoarthritis, with knowing that we can prevent functional decline over time as well,\u201d Hinman says.<\/p>\n She also stresses that even older people with hip pain or osteoarthritis shouldn\u2019t let it stop them participating in physical activity they enjoy. \u201cGenerally there\u2019s no evidence that physical activity is going to make your X-rays worse, for example, or push you to needing joint replacement surgery quicker,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s really much more about what the person enjoys doing, what their joint allows them to do, and feels comfortable with doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Falls prevention<\/p>\n