Reverse Clamshells

Instructions

1. Lie on your side with your hips and shoulders stacked.

2. Bend your knees to about 90 degrees and keep your knees together.

3. Start with your feet stacked on top of each other.

4. Keeping your knees touching, lift the top foot away from the bottom foot.

5. Rotate from the hip as the foot lifts.

6. Move only as far as you can without letting your pelvis roll backward.

7. Pause briefly at the top.

8. Slowly lower the top foot back down with control.

9. Repeat for the prescribed number of reps, then switch sides.

Common Compensations

• Do not let your pelvis roll backward as you lift the foot.

• Do not let your knees separate during the movement.

• Do not twist your torso to make the range bigger.

• Do not rush the lifting or lowering phase.

• Do not tense your neck or shoulders unnecessarily.

• Do not force the motion if you lose control of the hip position.

Extra Info

• You should feel this mostly in the deep hip rotators and the muscles around the back of the hip.

• You may also feel the inner thigh and outer hip helping stabilize the movement.

• The motion is usually small, and that is okay.

• The goal is controlled rotation at the hip, not a large range of motion.

• You should not feel sharp pain in the hip, knee, or low back.