I call this the ‘best’ hip mobility exercise for mixed martial artists because it targets 3 areas that are often tight in fighters (and dudes in general):
- Hip flexors
- Hamstrings
- Adductors (groin/inner thigh)
It not only mobilizes and lengthens these muscles, but it also improves your balance, co-ordination and strength at challenging ranges of motion.
Plus it takes the femur through a good rotational range of motion in the joint capsule – something that we don’t do often and doing so with this exercise will help keep the capsule from tightening up and limiting your kicks.
OK , so maybe you won’t get THIS mobile, but if you can do this exercise in perfect form, you’ll be pretty good and you’ll have healthy hips.
The exercise is called the Cossack Warrior and I learned it from Scott Sonnon and my buddy Adam Steer.
Watch the video to learn how to do it:
If you can’t do the full Cossack Warrior, I also show you how to work your way up to it, so make sure you start at whatever level you’re able and work up.
I always tell my athletes – stop the set the instant that form falters. Even better – stop it just before you lose good form.
Your goal should be to perform 20 reps (10 per side) of the Cossack Warrior in perfect form with decent depth.
And if you find it’s a bit tough to get right down deep, then you definitely want to check this out:
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