Lateral Hip Loading With A Kettlebell: How To Do It
Loads the side and back of the hip with a bit of rotation.
That is the control you need to decelerate and change direction, and it is the plane most rehab never touches.
The cue: Reach across, let the hip travel toward the corner of the room, and keep contact through the ball of your big toe even as your weight loads the heel.
What It Is For
Loads the side and back of the hip with a bit of rotation, building the control you need to decelerate and change direction.
Why It Works
This combines a hinge with rotation, so the side of your hip has to work in a position it usually avoids. Reaching across with the opposite hand while holding foot pressure creates the rotational demand that targets the deep hip rotators.
It mirrors real demands, like the backswing in golf, where keeping contact through the big toe while loading the outside heel is what lets you transfer power. That is the control rotational sport asks for.
How To Do It
- Start in your power position, weight over your midfoot and a slight knee bend.
- Place your opposite hand on your backside to begin with, to hold your posture.
- Reach your free hand toward your inner thigh. Left hand for a right leg stance.
- Let your hip travel toward the corner of the room as you reach down.
- Your weight shifts toward the heel, but keep contact with the ball of your big toe.
- Keep your knee angle the same. Do not bend it further through the movement.
- Push through your midfoot and the ball of your big toe to return to standing.
- When you add weight, keep the kettlebell close to your shin throughout.
- Drive your hip fully forward at the top.
- Do the prescribed reps, then switch sides.
Get It Right
Common mistakes
- Losing contact with the ball of your big toe.
- Letting your knee bend further on the way down.
- Not reaching far enough to create the rotational demand.
- Letting the kettlebell swing away from your shin.
- Not driving the hip fully forward at the top.
- Using your back instead of pushing through your foot to come up.
- Losing tension through the movement.
You have got it when
- You feel the side of your hip working through the movement.
- You keep contact with the ball of your big toe while loading the heel.
- Your knee angle stays the same throughout.
- You can push through your midfoot to come up without using your back.
- Your hip comes all the way forward at the top.
- It feels challenging but controlled.
Make It Easier
This gets more effective as you load it. Start with bodyweight to get the technique, then add weight once the pattern is comfortable.