I featured this simple hip warmup on my Instagram @LaunsteinFitness last week. Before squats, especially heavy squats, it’s imperative to get your muscles and joints working like they should. This little sequence helps me get ready to hit some squat goals.
Exercises:
Fire Hydrants: On all fours, open your hips up to the side. You guessed it, just like a dog peeing on a fire hydrant. As horrible as that sounds, opening up your hips for squats is required to get the right form.
Glute Kickbacks: Stay on all fours, only this time balance on one knee and kick back the other leg. Kick it high or kick it straight, either way, keep core tight for balance and squeeze your booty.
Glute Bridge: Lay down and bend knees to keep feet flat. Using your abs, butt, and hip flexors, push you torso up so it is in a flat line from your knees to your shoulders.
Slider Out-Out-Ins: Start in a plank position with arms under chest and sliders under your feet. Take right foot out to side and back, left foot out to the side and back, then tuck both legs under chest.
Slider Pikes: Start in plank position with sliders under feet. Bring hips up using your abs and hip flexors, so that your body is in an inverted “V” position.
Slider Lunges: With a slider under one foot, push one leg back as you bring your body into a lunge. Repeat reps on one leg and switch to the next.
Amber Launstein 