#028 – A simple framework for building effective hip rehab programs

Having structure in rehab programs makes building effective exercise programs easy.

Building an effective rehab program is important for those wanting to return to high level activities. There’s nothing wrong with the classic 3×10 set/rep scheme for building strength. But developing qualities like power, stiffness and speed can help your clients return to sport and improve performance.

Unfortunately, most practitioners will give patients a long list of exercises to do in no specific order. They believe that the only thing that matters is that they get done.  

Rehab practitioners aren’t taught good exercise prescription.

Because of this, most hip rehab programs:

• • consist of only banded exercise
  • don’t build real strength/hypertrophy
  • don’t develop power/stiffness/speed
  • aren’t effective in returning clients to high performance

The good news is you’re here. You’ve read this far. And I’m about to share with you how I structure hip rehab programs for my clients who have built strength, power, stiffness and speed.

Here’s how, step by step:

Step 1: Warm up

For some reason, the fitness field seems to be moving away from general warm ups. I think they are a great opportunity for getting in some of you typical rehab exercises and movement quality training.

In general, my warm ups consist of 4-8 exercises. I use the RAMP acronym to structure it:

• R – range of motion. Foam rolling, lacrosse ball, static stretching. I usually focus on areas they are lacking
• A – activation. This will typically consist of more glute and core isolation exercises.
• Movement Prep –  These exercises are intended to do 3 things:
  • 1- Increase heart rate
  • 2 – Prepare for the movements in the current session
  • 3 – Develop quality movement in areas they lack (often lateral movement qualities)

Step 2: Power/Speed/Stiffness

This part is often skipped in rehab programs. But it’s so important for rehabbing the hip and groin as well as returning to sport.

Jumps, med ball throws, decelerations all fall under this section. I think most practitioners avoid these because they aren’t sure when and how to safely include them into a rehab program. But they aren’t doing these in a controlled rehab setting they are going to be at a higher risk of re-injury in sport.

Step 3: Main and accessory strength

Now that we’ve got through the hard stuff, this is where that real magic happens. 

The main and accessory strength portion is what most clinicians are more comfortable with. But I think we can still be better than a long list of exercises. I like to use opposing muscle supersets. For example, I’ll give a quad dominant exercise with an isolated hamstring exercise. This allows them to do more work in less time. And we’re hitting different areas that require strength.

In summary, here’s what this might look like all together: