How to improve hip mobility for a better pop-up

Shakira was right. Hips don’t lie.

Even the New York Times is talking big about hip mobility. And here I was thinking it’s only beneficial for a better pop-up. Off I go into the hips rabbit hole.

Let’s start with the non-fun bit. It can happen to anyone. 1 in 10 women and 1 in 17 men (in the USA) will get a hip replacement during their lifetime. This is waaaaay higher than I thought. Most common reason? Wear and tear due to gradual breakdown of cartilage in the joint. Sometimes arthritis, sometimes genetics.

Bad news is that you can’t always completely prevent hip joint wear and tear (especially from aging or genetics), but you can absolutely reduce your risk and slow down degeneration. And that’s done by exercising—yay, surfing is low impact—building muscle strength and making sure that your hips aren’t tight or out of alignment.

Plus, it’s absolutely possible to surf after a hip replacement. 

“This was my first time surfing — 13 weeks after surgery! Woohoo… this girl is still surfing ” – Brandy

“My husband has had both hips replaced and he surfs better now than before!” – Sheila

“Best decision I made. I was back on my board in 9 weeks!” – Karen (got her hip replaced at 46)

We have video proofs, too!

If you’re too young to care about getting your hip replaced, let me tell you that hip mobility is crucial for surfing—whether you’re popping up, carving, or just trying to stay comfortable during long paddle-outs. So, if you’re sitting down, stand up immediately, because sitting is killing our hips!

You would not believe what else beside the pop-up, you rely on your hips to provide. Something as simple as getting in and out of your car, or getting in and out of your bed, or leaning down to pick up all the coffee beans you’ve just spilled. 

As for surfing, hip mobility is everything.

1. The pop-up:
   You need good hip flexion and rotation to bring your front foot through and land in a balanced stance quickly or do to a proper explosive pop-up where you’re literally swinging your legs below your body.
   
2. Wave riding:
   Maneuvering on the wave requires fluid hip rotation—especially when trimming, bottom turning, or cross-stepping on a longboard.
   
3. Paddling posture:
   Tight hips can affect your lower back and pelvis alignment, so if you paddle for longer than a few minutes, you will feel it.
   
4. Injury prevention:
   Hip immobility affects other parts of your body, it can lead to strain in the knees, low back, and even shoulders. If your hips don’t move well, your body finds less efficient (and often riskier) ways to get things done.
   

Yeah, yeah. I have ZERO problems with my hip mobility. My hips are very fine thankyouverymuch.

Oh really? Here are just a few signs that your hip mobility needs work.

You can’t sit cross-legged comfortably
Try it. No cheating and leaning against the wall! And now rock left and right for a good measure. Feeling good?

Your low back aches after standing or walking
I try to prevent sitting down by using a standing desk, and holy potato, my back hurts after a couple of hours and I need to sit down again. Or when I go to see a concert and I’m standing up for the duration. Agony.

Your knees collapse inward during squats
If you don’t squats often, you will notice that you need to consciously push your knees outward. Chances are if you squat a lot, you don’t have this problem at all.

You struggle to fully extend your hips when standing
What this means is that your hips don’t open all the way into the upright, neutral position when you’re standing, and you look like you’re slightly leaning forward and standing tall feels a bit awkward. 

And now that you know that you could work harder on your hip mobility, here’s every single SIMPLE exercise I could find that will help you improve it.

1. Leg swings back and forth
2. 90/90 seated hip switches
3. World’s Greatest Stretch
4. Standing hip circles
5. Cossack squats
6. Deep goblet squats with pause at bottom
7. Hip bridges
8. Single-leg glute bridges
9. Yoga flow: cat-cow → lunge → lizard → pigeon → forward fold
10. Lateral lunge
11. RDL—never knew it stood for Romanian Deadlift!—you will need a weight for it

If you want to try some pop-up specific ones, you will need sliders or a smooth surface and a towel for most of these.

1. Squatting 90/90s
2. Slider climbers
3. Slider pikes
4. Slider reverse and lateral lunges
5. Slider circles
6. Slider roll-outs (hips up!)

And now, tada, for the most idiotic exercise in the universe (I genuinely don’t think the gyms should encourage it, I always feel like I’m just about to hurt myself pretty bad).

Rowing machine pike-ups…