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Evaluating own hip hinge

Raaamil
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08/13/2020 - 9:13am
Evaluating own hip hinge

Hello dear community, dear teachers!

First of all: I really like hip hinging! Getting a nice stretch, training the back muscles. Whenever I rise again after a hip hinge I feel a little happier! xD

But I am still a little uncertain about the correct form... So I learned that I have to hip hinge with an even groove in the back, assuring a straight back. But that does mean that as soon as I can feel the L5 vertebra sticking out (being in one line with the sacrum) my form is already flawed right? When I look at me on a picture my back still looks quite straight though, which makes it super hard to guess whether I could still improve or not.

Also I fail to reach down to the ground when I hip hinge without my L5 aligning with the sacrum, even if I start to use the knees or take a wider stand. I guess this will get better as my iliosacral-musculatur will get increasingly flexible with every hinge. Right now it is a nuisance that sometimes I set up a hip hinge and the realize that I am not able to reach the desired object with a straight back. I cannot be the only one getting into such situations xD

Is there any recommended way of avoiding that? Because whenever I get into such a situation I have to give up a little bit on the form in order to reach the object.

I wish you all a merry christmas and a happy new year!

Kind regards

Ramil

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11/03/2015 - 2:37am

Hi Ramil,

I’m delighted to hear you are enjoying hip-hinging. There’s just something very satisfying about it, isn’t there?

Your body will certainly become more flexible as you practice, but during a hip-hinge the spine does deviate a little from a J shape to more of an I shape. I think this is what you’re describing. This is normal and healthy and is likely a reflection of our quadrupedal history. 

Congratulations on being so in tune with your body and enjoy exploring the techniques further :)

Best,

Tegan Kahn

Gokhale Method Teacher, Canberra, Australia 

Raaamil
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08/13/2020 - 9:13am

Hi Tegan Khan!

Thank you for your answer! Okay, I will know that some deviation from the J-spine can still be considered healthy and normal!

Kind regards,

Ramil

Elizabeth C
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07/06/2020 - 3:00pm

This is saying we are supposed to give up the L5 S1 angle when hinging?  I thought we just bend the knees when reaching the hamstring limit to keep the J shape.

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