Hip Impingement (FAI) Rehab for BJJ | Part 2 (20 min)

So as much as possible, we're going to work both sides. You've done that. Put the ball to one side. I'm going to go into an adductor stretch.

Now, I find that with these, when stretching the adductors, particularly for people with this kind of hip problem, it can be a difficult muscle group to stretch because what you tend to find is that you get a lot of pinching up here in the hip and not so much a stretch on the muscles. So this is the way I like to do this. You're going to take your legs out to the side as far as they will go comfortably. So if you start to get a pinching here, that's too far.

Bring them back in a little bit. And then from there, you're going to bring your back up very straight and try and lean forwards from the hip, keeping the back straight until you get a stretch here. So it's actually the forward lean that starts to put the stretch on. And as I say, you're looking for a stretch in these muscles, in the adductors, not a pinching at the groin.

So if you're starting to get a bit of a pinch here, you need to adjust the stretch slightly. And most people with milder forms of FAI, we can get a stretch using some variation on this. For a few people, if it's particularly bad, this isn't so effective. So like I say, if you can't find a comfortable way of doing this, then switch this up for the hip flexor stretch that we were doing yesterday instead.

And relax there. And just one more time, just lean into the stretch. So again, by keeping the back as straight as you can, you're actually minimizing the amount of flexion and abduction at the hip that you need to get that stretch. So it actually makes it more comfortable for the hip joint while still getting a stretch on the muscle.

And relax there. So the rocking exercise that we were doing yesterday, we're going to do the same thing again, but with the optional addition of a resistance band. So if you haven't got one, don't worry about it. You can do it without.

But by adding a resistance band around the thigh, so in this case, I'm assuming that my right hip is the more affected one. If it's the left hip, then obviously put the resistance band on the other side. I'm just going to put a little bit of tension on that band so I can adjust my position to get that right. And then I'm just going to rock forwards and back.

And often people will find they can get a little bit more movement with that tension on the band. So in many cases, I'd actually use an even stronger band. You can get these in a range of different strengths and they're always handy to have. So again, I'm just going up to that point where I start to feel that discomfort in my hip and come back off.

I'm not going to push into pain. It's really important that you're not trying to force this because that can often aggravate the problem. So I'm just using that comfortable range and just repeating that movement lots of times. Okay.

And just rest there. Go onto my back. So if you remember the bridges that we were doing in day one, we're going to do a very similar thing. I'm just going to lift up, but this time I'm going to hold this position, slowly straighten one leg, straighten the other leg and put it down.

Okay. We're going to repeat that. So hold that position. Try not to let your hips drop when you take one leg away.

So that's the challenge. So as you get better at this, you can start to put more of these together. So instead of just doing two leg lifts at a time, I can do four or six. To start with, we're going to break it into small chunks.

Okay. And from there, I'm going to go straight into a plank. Now, depending on how sore the hip is and which muscles are more affected, you may need to change your position slightly on this plank. So if you need to bring your hips up to get the hip into a comfortable position, that's fine.

I'm going to try and get that angle as straight as I can. Again, you should be feeling this into the hip flexors, muscles in the front of that hip joint. And if I can, I can start to take one leg away. So I can just focus it down even more into that affected hip.

Some of you won't need to go that far. You'll get the effect that we're looking for with both legs down. But if you need to, then that's fine. And rest there.

I'm going to go back to the hip bridge. Once again, lift up, lift the leg, lift the leg and back down. And then one more time into that plank position. So again, whichever slight variation on this loads those hip flexors for you.

So again, you're looking for that point with a little bit of mild discomfort, but no more than that. You can change legs if you wish. And rest there. So going back to one of the exercises we did in day one.

I'm going to get that position and put a bit of a squeeze between my heels. But this time, as I do this, I'm going to keep that squeeze going. I'm just going to add a little bit of flexion and extension at my knee. Just taking the heels away from me.

Again, only as far as I can go comfortably at the hip. If the hip starts feeling out of place or a bit clunky, then I just make the movement smaller. But the important thing is to try and keep that squeeze going through the movement. And relax there.

And then spin to your back. Now, you take one knee towards your chest. If this is painful here, you can take it out a little bit further. But the idea is I'm just going to hold that to fix this hip on the ground.

Okay, my other leg is going to come up as far as I can comfortably. If I only get it to there, that's not a problem. I'm just going to take it as straight as I can. And then I'm just going to take that out to the side and back up.

Now, in many cases, somebody with FAI, this movement is going to be much smaller. That doesn't matter. You're just going as far as you can comfortably. So again, you're taking the adductor muscles through their full range.

Sometimes later on in a rehab program, I will start to get people doing these with a little bit of an ankle weight for a bit of extra challenge. Usually this is a good place to start. And then I'm just going to switch legs. So once again, it's important that you're not jamming this hip into extension too much, the supporting hip.

So once again, it's important that you're not jamming this hip into extension too much, the supporting hip. So once again, it's important that you're not jamming this hip into extension too much, the supporting hip. And then we go one more time on both of those exercises. So squeeze the heels together.

And then bend and straighten at the knee. And then bend and straighten at the knee. Really keep that pinch going on between the heels. So you should start to get a little bit of a burn at the hip if you're doing this properly.

And we're back to here. So if you're struggling with your mobility, once again, it doesn't matter how far you manage to get. It's just that you're trying to use the full range that you have. So with all of these, it's not about forcing the hip into a position it doesn't want to go to.

We're just encouraging the muscles to work within the range that you've got, which will help you to use that range more effectively. And switch sides. And then finally, the last thing we're going to do, grab our thera-band again. This time it's going to go just below the knee.

And we're going to do some mini squats. So for people with FAI, often you'll find that if you take the legs a little bit further out and turn the feet out a bit more, we'll get a better movement at the hip. So with squats, you've got to find the right positioning that suits your hip joint. This idea is, oh, it's got to be exactly 10 to 2 or whatever.

That works for some people, but like I say, if your hip is a slightly different shape, we might need to adjust that. A lot of the time, adding a little bit of extra external rotation at the hip joint, that can make it much more comfortable. So from there, I'm going to make sure I keep my knees pushed out against that band. I'm just going to go as far into that squat as I can comfortably, and come back up.

So once again, I don't want to be getting a lot of pinching in the hip joint at the bottom of the movement. I can stop before that. If you want, you can have a bench or a chair behind you so you're squatting down to the bench. It just takes out that bottom range, and that can make people feel a bit more comfortable and confident with the movement.

So it's fine to use a chair if you want one, or just make the movement smaller. And then just relax, move the hips around. And we're just going to go for one more set on those. So once again, find that most comfortable position for you.

And we'll keep that tension on the band, so I don't want the knees to drop inwards when I'm doing this. Okay. And rest there. That's all for day two of our program.

So when you're ready, we'll see you back here for day three. Again, we'll just increase what we're doing slightly and make it a little bit more challenging for you.