Hip Joint Pain

Hi

I’m working on hip mobility because I lack it. I’ve done all of the stretches, read all of the articles, ive got Magnificent Mobility, etc. etc. so I’m covered as to the movements I need to get better mobility. But what bothers me is that when I’m stretching my hips or more-so doing mobility work to increase range of motion, I feel pain on the outside of my hips. It isn’t a good stretching pain, it feels like joint / bone pain rather.

For example, if I do a body weight squat, my toes invariably end up pointing at excessive outward angles (45+ degrees) to make up for my hip stiffness. In this case I get no hip pain, but squatting this way doesn’t let me go deep enough with an arched back.

on the other hand, If I hold onto something and force myself down into a body weight squat and keep my toes pointed straight or at a slight normal angle outward, I feel the pain in my hips, sort of combined with a good stretching sensation, but the pain concerns me.

any idea of what this could be? I know muscle stiffness can cause joint pain. I’m also using a tennis ball to roll my hips and use a foam roller regularly… i get a feeling that years of lack of physical exercise has contributed to my lack of hip mobility / muscle tightness, which in turn affected the joint’s movement pattern? I’m hoping that soft tissue work combined with stretching and mobility work can alleviate it.

for a point of reference, its not a crazy pain. it goes away instantly after I resume a normal position. Its just different enough from a “good” stretching-type pain that I am concerned about it. it feels like no matter how much mobility work i do its not getting better. this lack of mobility prevents me from squatting with good form and also affects my deadlifts.

roll a golf ball under the bottom of your feet?

[quote]Standard Donkey wrote:
roll a golf ball under the bottom of your feet?[/quote]

er… i do that but it doesnt seem to help anything much

Despite much improved hip mobility, I still have this problem. And yes, if I haven’t been doing a lot of squatting and deadlifting outside shoulder width the pain only occurs at the bottom. But if I take my stance out wide too often it becomes very uncomfortable to squat at all and the pain lasts a bit longer.

I assumed it was anterior femoral glide syndrome, so I took some time off squatting and worked on glute activation. Didn’t help me in the long run, but you should probably start there. Foam rolling the TFL and using a tennis ball on the piriformis provides temporary relief. I guess it’s possible I need to be more aggressive with psoas activation and hamstring stretching. Maybe I need ART. I’m waiting to see what Eric Cressey recommends.