This is one of my go-to Postural Restoration Institute drills for slotting in before more dynamic warm up activities.⠀

The hip lift does a lot of good things all in one go,  add in a reach with external rotation and an exhale and this can be a game changer for many people. ⠀

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If you just want to go ahead, copy, and try, then do this right at the beginning of your training sessions and just see how lots of things work a little better.  If you’re interested in some PRI science summarised then read on:⠀
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Biomechanically this drill takes the pelvis out of extension and allows you to ‘feel’ how the hamstrings anchor it.  A quick win for anyone who feels they have ‘tight’ hamstrings or hip flexors (spoiler alert here, they almost certainly don’t).⠀
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Adding the reach, external rotation and exhale has the added benefit of bringing serratus into the picture.  Anyone who has issues with grumpy shoulders, struggling with overhead motion, internal rotation or ‘winging’ scapula will almost certainly have been told what a key player serratus is in improving congruency between shoulder blade and ribcage.⠀If we envisage the ribcage as having a convex (curving outwards) shape, the shoulder blade has a corresponding concave (curving inwards) shape.  These two are designed to fit together, and serratus is responsible for ‘pulling’ the shoulder blade onto the ribcage.
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The more neutral pelvis position has the pelvic floor opposing the diaphragm and subsequently have your ribcage where you need it to be for optimal respiration. This allows you to actually breath into all of your chest cavity,  expand your entire ribcage and have the things that work together with it (your shoulders) have a better chance or doing what you want them to do.⠀In other words, you’re re-inflating the back of your ribcage and re-forming that convex ‘egg shape’.  Giving your shoulder blade somewhere to sit.
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Neurologically this improved breathing position almost immediately reduces sympathetic tone of the back extensors, neck, and jaw.  In simple terms if we aren’t in position to use our respiratory muscles to breathe (diaphragm, internal and external obliques, intercostals) then we have to use some others (upper traps,  anterior neck [scalenes, SCM]), as not breathing isn’t really an option.

Not only does the improved position and down regulation of overactive compensatory musculature allowing for more reciprocal movement of all 4 major joints,  but it also brings the person to a more ‘coachable’ state.  Quick win for clients or athletes who tend to be always ‘on’.⠀
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For the sake of an additional 2 mins at the start of your session,  not many reasons not to give this one a go!⠀
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