Strength exercise

# Hip hinge

Bending forward by pushing your hips back while your spine stays long. It is the movement pattern behind deadlifts and behind picking things up safely.

Also called: hip hinge exercise, how to hip hinge

- **Type:** Strength

- **Equipment:** No equipment

- **Area:** Lower back

- **Level:** Beginner

- **Starting dose in Remedy:** 3 sets of 12

## How to do it

- Stand with your feet hip-width apart and your knees softly bent.
- Put your hands on the front of your hips.
- Push your hips straight back, letting your chest come forward while your back stays long.
- Go until you feel your hamstrings stretch, then stand up by driving your hips forward.

## Form cues

- Push the hips back, not the knees forward.
- Keep a long back and soft knees.

## Common mistakes

- Bending from the waist and rounding the back.
- Turning it into a squat by bending the knees too much.

## Easier and harder versions

- **To make it easier:** Hold a broomstick along your back, touching your head, upper back, and tailbone. If any point loses contact, you are rounding.

- **Harder:** [Banded Romanian deadlift](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/banded-romanian-deadlift) or [Single-leg Romanian deadlift](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/single-leg-romanian-deadlift)

## Why it helps a sore back

Learning to bend from the hips is one of the most useful things a person with a sore back can practice, because it is how you pick things up every day. Remedy uses it to build the pattern before adding load.

## How Remedy uses it

In the app it is called **Bodyweight Hip Hinge**. Remedy is more likely to pick it if you say your back is bothered by bending or lifting. A typical starting dose is 3 sets of 12, and the program adjusts reps as the weeks go on. Every exercise in the app has a demonstration video.

General fitness information, not medical advice. Stop any exercise that causes sharp pain, or pain, numbness, or tingling spreading down a leg.

## More strength exercises

[Strength

### Banded Romanian deadlift

A hip hinge against a resistance band anchored under your feet.
Band or dumbbells · Intermediate](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/banded-romanian-deadlift)
[Strength

### Single-leg Romanian deadlift

A hip hinge on one leg while the other leg reaches straight back.
No equipment · Intermediate](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/single-leg-romanian-deadlift)
[Strength

### Dumbbell Romanian deadlift

A hip hinge holding a dumbbell in each hand.
Band or dumbbells · Advanced](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/dumbbell-romanian-deadlift)

## Guides that use it
[Guide
### Lower back pain exercises
The kinds of exercise that help a sore lower back, with a simple routine to start.Read the guide](https://remedyrecoveries.com/guides/lower-back-pain-exercises)[Guide
### Sore back after the gym
Normal soreness vs a tweak, and how to keep training without guessing.Read the guide](https://remedyrecoveries.com/guides/sore-back-after-gym)[Guide
### Back routine with no equipment
What a home routine for a sore back needs, using only the floor.Read the guide](https://remedyrecoveries.com/guides/back-exercises-no-equipment)

[More exercise guides](https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/)

## Get a back program you can actually keep

Free to download on the App Store. Answer a few questions and your first session is ready in minutes.

[](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/remedy-back-pain-relief/id6813745106)[Read the guides](https://remedyrecoveries.com/guides/)

---
Source: https://remedyrecoveries.com/exercises/bodyweight-hip-hinge
Remedy is a fitness and wellness app, not medical care.
