There are somewhere between a thousand and seven thousand hip mobility exercises floating around the internet. Some are great, some are better than nothing, and most are a waste of time. Out of the seven thousand, one stands above the rest.
And that’s the half-kneeling windmill. If you’re unsure what the hell that is, here’s Matt demoing it.
I like to take the rotation a step further by gradually reaching the ground arm towards and eventually past the toes on the leg that’s up. That gives a bit deeper hip hinge and more upper back rotation.
What’s so special about the half-kneeling windmill?
Instead of passively sitting in a stretch, you’re using the weight in the windmill to improve your flexibility and sort of “press save” on it, letting your body know you can control the newly found flexibility.
This means that the body doesn’t see the increased flexibility as a threat and then try to stiffen you up again to keep you “safe.”
That’s what I see training many hypermobile women: there is plenty of flexibility to go around, but because there’s no strength to control it, the body will tighten things up. More stretching will usually only make things worse.
Anyway.
Once you’re confident in the half-kneeling windmill, pair it with the get-up. You’ll get a big hit of core, shoulder, and hip strength, along with all that mobility.
-J