If you get up from your desk at the end of the day and your hips take a minute to straighten out, you’re in good company. Long days of sitting are a big part of why people come to our Stretch & Recovery class at our Lewisham studio.
Why sitting makes your hips feel tight
When you sit, your hips stay bent for hours. The muscles at the front of them spend the day in a shortened position, and when you stand up they take a while to let go.
Your shoulders tend to get in on it too. They creep up towards your ears and forward towards your screen, which is why the tightness often doesn’t stop at your hips.
What you can try at your desk
Get up more often. Take a call on your feet, or walk to fill your water bottle, so you’re never sitting for hours at a stretch.
When you’ve got a minute, step one foot back into a small lunge and hold for a few slow breaths. You should feel a gentle stretch at the front of your back hip. Swap sides, and stop if anything feels sharp.
How we work on it in class
Stretch & Recovery is a deep stretching class, and we use the reformer as a tool. The springs and carriage support you into each position, so you can stretch deeply with longer holds, light resistance and nothing forced.
Your teacher guides the whole class with clear, breath-led cues and offers easier and deeper options for every position. For anyone who sits all day, that means opening the hips, lengthening the muscles that sitting keeps short, and giving your shoulders somewhere to be other than up round your ears.
How often should you come?
If you’re starting out and mobility is what you’re after, we’d say two classes a week. That’s a good starting point, and you can build from there. Come for a few weeks and notice how you sit differently on the way home.
It’s open to every level from day one, so it’s fine if you’ve never been on a reformer. Your teacher will show you around the machine before anything moves.
If it’s more than tightness
If you’re working through an injury, or pain that isn’t going away, have a word with your GP or physio first, and tell your teacher at the start of class. They’ll cue you towards the options that suit you.
Come and try it
Our intro offer is three classes for £33 over fourteen days, and it works on every class on the timetable. Bring grip socks (we sell them at the studio if you forget). The door opens fifteen minutes before class, so there’s time to settle in.