Hips
Hip stretches you can do in bed
Six hip stretches done lying on your back, for the morning or the end of the day. Each one has a gentler version, and none of them needs a floor.
This isn’t a workout to push through. It watches how your body responds and adjusts as it goes.
Before you start
Stop and see a clinician if a stretch brings on sharp or pinching pain in the hip, or if the hip pain followed a fall. Stop and speak to a clinician if a movement brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and seek urgent care for any loss of bladder or bowel control or numbness around the saddle area.
This is the version everyone gets. Yours is different.
Start your first sessionYour hips, without getting up
Lying on your back takes your weight off the hips, and the bed holds the pelvis still, which is exactly what these stretches need. A firm mattress works best. On a very soft one the pelvis sinks and rolls, so ease into each stretch more slowly.
Hold long enough, not hard enough
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends about 60 seconds per flexibility exercise, two or more days a week. A 2025 review found that stretching gains come mostly from less overall stiffness and a better tolerance of the stretch, not from the muscle getting longer.
So the aim is a stretch you can relax into, not one you brace against.
Every direction the hip moves
The hip moves in more directions than most joints, so the sequence covers the back and outside of the hip (figure 4 and the twist), the inside (half happy baby and the reclined bound angle) and the back of the leg (the strap stretch).
The sequence
- 1
Single knee to chest · 30 to 90 seconds each side
Gentle movement in the hip joint to begin with, one side at a time.
- 2
Reclined figure 4 · 1 to 3 minutes each side
The deep stretch for the back and outside of the hip, with no kneeling.
- 3
Half happy baby · 2 to 3 minutes each side
The inner and back of the hip with your back fully supported. Hold behind the thigh for a softer pull.
- 4
Supine twist, bottom leg long · 1 to 3 minutes each side
Rotation that runs a long line through the outside of the hip.
- 5
Reclined hamstring stretch with a strap · 30 to 60 seconds each side
The back of the leg, with the bed holding your pelvis still. A belt or towel works as the strap.
- 6
Reclined bound angle, supported · 4 to 6 minutes
Soles together, pillows behind your upper back and under each knee. The inner hips open while you rest.
Ease into each one and breathe. A stretch should feel like a pull you can relax into; sharp or pinching pain, or anything that travels down a leg, is the signal to come out.
That sequence was written for everyone with this. Yours would be built around your answers.
Start your first sessionWhat the research says
The American College of Sports Medicine position stand recommends a series of flexibility exercises for each major muscle and tendon group, totalling 60 seconds per exercise, on two or more days a week.
A 2025 systematic review with meta-analysis found that neither single nor repeated static stretching significantly changed muscle fascicle length; range of motion gains were associated with reduced overall stiffness and greater tolerance of the stretch. That is why these are held and eased into rather than pushed.
These are flexibility exercises, not a treatment for a hip condition. For hip pain, the hip pain guide linked below covers what the evidence recommends, including the exercise and education approach from the LEAP trial.
Sources
- 1American College of Sports Medicine position stand, quantity and quality of exercise for apparently healthy adults (Garber et al., Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 2011)
Adults should do a series of flexibility exercises for each of the major muscle and tendon groups, totalling 60 seconds per exercise, on two or more days a week.
- 2Mechanisms underlying range of motion improvements following acute and chronic static stretching, systematic review with meta-analysis (Sports Medicine, 2025)
Neither acute nor chronic static stretching significantly changed fascicle length; range of motion gains were associated with reduced overall stiffness and increased tolerance to passive tension.
Common questions
Can you stretch your hips in bed?
Yes. Every stretch here is done lying on your back. A firm mattress works best, because a very soft one lets the pelvis sink and roll as you stretch.
How long should I hold a hip stretch?
About a minute in total per stretch, on two or more days a week, is the ACSM recommendation. The figure 4, the twist and the reclined bound angle can go longer if they stay comfortable.
What is the best hip stretch to do in bed?
The reclined figure 4 is the most useful single one. It reaches the deep muscles at the back of the hip, which are hard to get at any other way, with no kneeling at all.
Should hip stretches hurt?
No. Expect a pull you can relax into. Sharp or pinching pain in the hip, or anything that travels down a leg, means come out of it. If hip pain is why you are here, the hip pain guide covers what helps.
This is the version everyone gets. Yours is different.
Start your first sessionAlso called hip stretches in bed, hip stretches lying down, bed stretches for hips, hip stretches before bed, morning hip stretches in bed. Movements are drawn from the clinically authored Vinys library. This page is general movement information, not medical advice, and it is not a diagnosis. How the method works.