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SORacing season is less than 40 days away so let’s lock in. These are my physio secrets I usually only share with clients but if you see this then you are the lucky few 🤔
Lots of rowers think hip mobility just means stretching their glutes, hip flexors or hamstrings. 2026 is for making this simple and effective so we can be successful. But if your hips can’t control movement through range, stretching won’t help your catch length, posture, or power at the front end.
In the rowing stroke, your hips need to flex deeply while staying stable so force can transfer from the legs into the handle - even under load and fatigue.
Here are my favourite exercises for each part:
Hamstrings
🌟hanging hamstring stretch. Experiment with pointing your feet in different directions.
🌟lying on the floor with your legs against a wall. Try keep the knee straight and get your bum as close to the wall as possible.
🌟hamstring stretch with a lift weight (aka Jefferson curl or RDL)
Glutes
🌟 figure 4 stretch with one leg against a wall. This is the easiest way to stretch your glutes and feels amazing.
🌟 elevated pigeon stretch. Add a weight and hinge to get even more benefit
🌟isometric hip hinge - I have a really good reel on this from December 2025 talking you through how to do it 😆
Hip flexors
🌟kneeling hip flexor stretch against a wall. Put your back leg against a wall and sit up.
🌟 Seated straight leg raises. You can do this and lift your foot over a water bottle and practice at different amounts. This is great to strengthen your hip flexors in a shorted range
🌟 runners lunge - add in 3 directions : forward, left lean, right lean and get your hips moving forwards, side to side and backwards.
This exercises focus on active hip mobility and control, not just range, so the positions you gain actually show up in your rowing.
Try this before your next erg or water session and notice how connected and strong your catch feels.
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