Hip Pain Exercises to Avoid – If you’re suffering from hip pain, it can be really tempting to just tolerate it and push your workouts with the hope that it’ll get better. Unfortunately, some exercises may aggravate your soreness even more and delay your recovery. Not all movement is beneficial to the healing process, especially if the movement is stressing the structures around your hip joint (this may include the hip joint, tendons, and muscles). You need to be clear on which exercises should be avoided so that you are not promoting further injury, while encouraging a beneficial healing process.
Hip Pain Exercises to Avoid – Why Certain Exercises Make It Worse
Hip Pain Exercises to Avoid Usually, hip pain comes from inflammation, overuse, or joint misalignment. Here’s why some workouts might increase pressure on your hip joint:
- They add direct pressure on the hip joint
- They require repeated twisting or sudden movement
- They overload your tight or weak muscles
- They reduce joint space and implicate tendons and abrupt and/or bursae
Healing from damaging movement allows for your body to heal and prevent permanent dysfunction.
Hip Pain While Sleeping on Side
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Deep Lunges and Squats
These can look innocuous, but will stress the hip joint inappropriately if they are done poorly.
- Deep lunges will pull the hip into extreme flexion
- Squats below 90 degrees can trigger hip bursae or even the labrum
- All of this is especially bad if you have hip impingement or arthritis
If necessary, use modified versions guided for safety.

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High-Impact Cardio (Jumping or Running)
The repetitive impact creates inflammation.
- Running normally on hard surfaces means the hips have repeated repetitive characteristics.
- Jumping rope, plyometrics, or burpees put stress or impact through the joint.
- May worsen hip stress fractures or tendonitis.
- Consider low-impact cardio options like walking, swimming, or cycling.
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Leg Raises (Especially while lying down)
While they often get recommended, they’re not exactly hip-friendly:
- Leg raises can pull on irritated hip flexors
- Can exacerbate front hip pain or tightness
- Best to stay with bent-knee or bent-knee hip-bridge
Go slow and listen to what your body is telling you.
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Seated Hip Abduction Machines
Common gym piece, but potentially harmful if your hips are sensitive,
- putting your hips in a position to open up against resistance – this potentially will irritate the tendons where they attach
- People with bursitis and hip labral tears shouldn’t be performing this exercise
- People performing this exercise are usually moving too rapidly which can also have a strain on the joint.
So, am you do abduction exercises use the seated machine unless directed by a physical therapist to do so!.
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Rotational Core Movements
Exercises involving rotation such as Russian twists appear harmless but can have consequences.
- Include repetitive rotation of the hip and lower spine
- May result in hip pain if stability is compromised during the exercises
- Place stress on the hip and supporting structures
- Refer to core stability without twisting.
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Hypermobile Hips
More stretching is not always a good thing
- Hyper stretches of excessive hip openers (like pigeon pose or wide-legged stretches) can wear things down to ligaments.
- May exacerbate instability or pain
- A mild stretch held for a longest duration is much safer
- Never try to force a stretch that feels sharp or pinching.

Hip Pain Exercises to Avoid – Listen to your hips – When to call it quits
Hip Pain Exercises to Avoid While you are in movement, be mindful of your body. Stop if you notice any of the following:
- Sharp, stabbing pain in your hip or groin
- Sudden weakness or locking of the joint
- Enhanced discomfort after the activity
- It’s smarter to change activities than to deal with pain.
Hip Pain Exercises to Avoid – Conclusion
Not all exercise is safe for hip pain. You can still train without causing damage to your hips by avoiding deep squats, high-impact cardio, and aggressive stretching. To facilitate mobility, utilize low-impact, gentle movements, and work with someone to develop a stepped guide to strengthen. There are plenty of intentional, safe ways to be able to heal your hips flexibly, and effectively.