Pigeon Stretch

Move · Flexibility & Mobility · Movement, Typed Supps

The deep glute stretch — and the one people most often force.

Stage by stage

Set-up (Hip flexed, abducted, rotated): Front shin across, back leg extended, hips square, with support under the front hip.
During (Glute and deep rotators): The stretch reaches gluteus maximus and the deep external rotators in the front hip.
Watch for (Joint versus muscle): A pinch at the front of the hip is the joint closing down, not the muscle lengthening.
Weeks later (Rotation range): Range improves within the ceiling your hip anatomy sets, which differs a great deal between people.

Muscles trained

Primary: glutes
Secondary: hip abductors, hip flexors, lower back

Intensity

2.3 METs (Stretching, mild).

Time to effect

Weeks: Rotation range improves over weeks, up to a bony ceiling that varies between individuals.

Common myth

“If you can’t get your shin parallel, you need to stretch more.” In reality: Hip socket depth and thigh bone rotation vary so much between people that a parallel shin is anatomically unavailable to many of them. Chasing it with more force loads the knee, not the hip.