The Stiff legged windmill with my left hand raised above head and right foot turned out causes pinching and pain in outside of right buttock/hip. Not sure if it is piraformis, gluteus medius or other. I have both a herniated disk in lower back and resurfaced hip. I've been working very slowly through first fundamentals and now foundation 1 and have moved past mobility/discomfort issues on all other exercises. But not this one. Suggestions for modifying and/or replacing this exercise to gain the mobility I need to complete it pain free?
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Stiff legged Windmill
Started by Brian Moss, October 12, 2016 · 2 Replies · 164 Views
It's hard to say without seeing a video of you doing them, but a couple of thoughts. The correct hip movement can be tricky for some people to find, and that can result in the issues you're having.
Start without any weight, and use a chair or door way to support yourself. Hold the bottom position and play there for a bit just looking for a pain free way of being there. There are no true right angles in this moment and ofttimes trying to be overly square will cause the issue.
Once you've found a good bottom position, use the support to help as you go up and down a few times. The movement is dynamic with a fair amount of hip shit involved, another cause of pinching is not allowing the hips to naturally shift. The direction of the shift is hard to put in words but will be diagonally back and towards the side with the lifted arm.
Finally it's also important to let the foot of the leg being stretched to turn out to the side. You'll have to experiment a bit with the right amount for you, but that foot will turn out more than the other foot.
Thanks, Cole. I will try to upload a video on next several days and will also work on your suggestions above. I do think the hip is probably not rotating as it is supposed to do as the right hip feels tight and sore when I rotate and the left does not when I work on the opposite side. I also wonder if my shoulder / scapula is not rotating fully and this is causing issues down stream as I get some pain in shoulder as well.