The words "hip roller workout" and "hip roll" exercise have different meanings for different personal trainers. Some use it to describe a floor exercise that works your oblique abdominal muscles. Other trainers teach a tension-release hip-roller exercise on a foam roller. Exercises using a stability ball and Middle Eastern dance technique also have hip-rolling movements. The muscles worked depend on the body position of the exercise. Performing these exercises in sequence can give you a complete workout.
Stability Ball Hip Rollers
Prenatal exercise instructors and physical therapists working with back-pain patients use the stability-ball hip-rolling exercise for warming up the lower back and lubricating the hip joints. Sit upright on the ball with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor. Stabilize your upper body and rhythmically tilt your pelvis forward and backward. Continue until your lower back feels relaxed. Slide your hips from side to side. Perform 12 repetitions or six in each direction. Next, perform five clockwise and five counterclockwise full hip circles.
Belly Dance Hip Roller
The belly dance hip-roller move tones your waistline, loosens your hips and provides a sexy addition to your dance-floor repertoire. Stand upright with your knees slightly bent and your feet about 6 inches apart. Glide your hips all the way over to the right, while you simultaneously slide your upper torso to the left. Repeat in the opposite direction and continue until the movement feels sinuous and fluid. To exaggerate the movement and make it look and feel more dramatic, slide your hips to the right and lift your right heel from the floor. Keep your heel lifted until your hips slide completely to the left. Lower your heel and repeat in the opposite direction. Continue until your hips and lower back feel released --- or until the person for whom you are dancing reacts to your movements.
Foam Roller
The foam roller hip exercise combines the benefits of flexibility and massage. Assume a side-lying position with your right leg extended and your right hip resting on a cylindrical foam roller. Prop yourself up on your right forearm. Bend your left knee, placing your left foot flat on the floor in front of your right leg. Slowly roll back and forth, gently massaging your right outer hip. Continue for one minute, then repeat the exercise on your left side.
Supine Hip Roller
The supine hip roller warms up your lower back, stretches your shoulders and works your obliques, which run diagonally across your abdominal area. Lie supine with your arms extended to the side at shoulder height, making a letter T with your upper torso, and flattening your palms into the floor. Bend your knees and lift them from the floor, so that your legs create a table-top position with your shins parallel to the ceiling and your calves parallel to the floor. Contract your abdominal muscles, lift your right hip off the floor and bring your legs toward your left shoulder. Do not let them touch the floor. Push down with your right hip to return to center, and repeat to the other side. Perform 16 repetitions, or eight to each side.
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