Hip Rotation, What I Learnt That Can Make A Difference In Back Pain.

When most people think about hip strength, their minds go straight to squats, lunges, or glute bridges. But there’s a deeper, often ignored element that quietly drives almost every step we take: hip rotation.

And at the center of this rotational system? A small but critical player—the piriformis.

Why Rotation Deserves More Respect

Your hips are built to rotate. Not just forward and backward like a hinge, but through a spiral—subtle, controlled, and intentional. Rotation allows your body to adapt with ease to uneven ground, helps you maintain balance during a step or a shift, and lets you move fluidly in everyday life.

But when hip rotation becomes limited—as it does for many over time—something else picks up the slack: the lower back or QLs.

It doesn’t take long before that compensation shows up as discomfort, tension, or nagging back pain that seems to have no clear cause. The truth is, a stiff hip can echo up the chain.

The Piriformis: A Small Muscle with Big Influence

The piriformis sits deep in the back of your hip, just beneath the glute muscles. It helps rotate the thigh outward and plays a key role in stabilizing your pelvis, especially when you’re standing on one leg or shifting direction.

When this muscle gets tight—often from long hours of sitting, lack of mobility work, or simply the way your body has adapted over the years—it can irritate the sciatic nerve, leading to discomfort in the buttocks, hips, or even down the leg.

But here's the good news: the piriformis responds incredibly well to targeted movement and mobility work.

When Hips Don’t Rotate, Backs Compensate

Without proper hip rotation, your spine starts doing more than its fair share. This can lead to:

Tightness in the lower back

Muscle fatigue and inflammation

Reduced freedom of movement

Long-term wear and tear on joints

Many people assume back pain is just something they have to "put up with"—but often, it’s the result of a deeper imbalance that can be changed. And it can start at the hips.

A Better Way to Move

When you reintroduce healthy hip rotation through gentle, purposeful exercises, you allow the spine to relax and return to its supportive role. You'll feel the shift—not just during workouts, but when standing, walking, or bending to pick something up.

In the video attached, I’ll guide you through simple but effective movement to restore hip rotation, activate the piriformis, and free up the lower back. These drills are joint-friendly, adaptable, and designed to meet your body where it's at. They can also be done regularly, remember don't work through pain, let's master our bodies to end the cycle of pain.

Hip Rotation

Final Thought:

You don’t need to train harder—you just need to move smarter. Hip rotation is a fundamental piece of that puzzle, and when it's working well, the rest of your body feels it. This isn’t about doing more—it’s about doing what matters.