Why Does Hip Mobility Matter?

One of the most common issues we see at Uplifted is people dealing with lower back pain, so we wanted to shed some light on a topic that could make a real difference. A great question came up this week from a patient dealing with back pain:

“Why does hip mobility matter? What does moving my hips more do for my back?”

Here’s the gist of the conversation that followed:

In an ideal world, both the hips and lumbar spine would have full mobility in all directions. But for many people, that’s not the case. Hips tend to be stiffer, while the lumbar spine often has more available motion. This can be due to factors like prolonged sitting, muscle imbalances, movement habits, or even the way our bones are naturally shaped.

So what does that mean when we do something like walk or squat?

Our bodies always take the path of least resistance. If the hips are stiff, the body compensates by asking the lumbar spine to do more of the work. Over time, this increased motion in the lower back—especially when it’s repetitive—can lead to strain and eventually, pain.

Take squatting, for example. If your hips can’t move through a full range of motion sitting into a squat, your lower back often picks up the slack by arching too much (excessive extension) or rounding too much (excessive flexion). That means the load isn’t being shared the way it should be, and the lumbar spine ends up bearing more than it's designed to handle. 

The same goes for walking. Every time your leg extends behind you during a step, your lower back is ideally meant to stay stable while your hip moves into extension. But when hip extension is limited, the lower back often compensates by extending and rotating excessively. Over time, this repeated compensation can lead to pain from overloading the spine.

Of course, not everyone has stiff hips and hypermobile lower backs—but this is something we see frequently in our patients.

If this sounds familiar and you’re wondering if your hip mobility might be affecting your back, we’d love to help. Reach out for an evaluation, and let’s work together to get you moving better and feeling your best!