How This Simple Stretch Changes Your Hips, Permanently. — Key Takeaways
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How This Simple Stretch Changes Your Hips, Permanently.
Strength Side6mAug 5, 2026
Watch the originalStart with daily hip swivels (shin box, rotating knees side to side) to retrain your nervous system before progressing to 90/90 pigeon, then add shin box hip lifts with 3–4 second knee-press contractions in both directions to build internal rotation strength.
Key takeaways
PNF contractions in 9090: push knee up 3–4s, then press down 3–4s to unlock hip abduction range
PNF contractions in 9090: push knee up 3–4s, then press down 3–4s to unlock hip abduction range
- Alternating isometric contractions fire glutes and adductors in both directions, signaling the nervous system to release.
- 9090 back-leg limitation is often hip abduction + extension deficit, not just internal rotation — this drill addresses the actual constraint.
Shinbox hip lifts from the top position build internal rotation strength even when floor sit is poor
Shinbox hip lifts from the top position build internal rotation strength even when floor sit is poor
- Starting the lift from standing (top-down) bypasses the mobility floor and trains the eccentric lowering where IR gains occur.
- 6 months of shinbox hip lifts produced measurable squat depth improvement in a long-limbed individual who had plateaued.
In 9090 pigeon, rotating sternum toward shin (not just knee) targets piriformis more deeply
In 9090 pigeon, rotating sternum toward shin (not just knee) targets piriformis more deeply
- Tom Merek cues sternum over front leg first, then shifts toward shin to shift load from glute to piriformis.
- Small sternum position changes dramatically alter which tissue is under tension.
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In this video
- 1mIntro
- 1mShinbox
- 1mHip Swivels
- 2m90/90
- 2m90/90 Pigeon
- 3m90/90 Transfer
- 4mShinbox Hip Lift
- 5m90/90 Hip Abduction Problem
- 5m90/90 Back Leg Contractions
“It's not really stretching. It's more working with the nervous system to allow this basic human position.”
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