When people think about building strong hips, the conversation almost always focuses on the glutes. Exercises like squats, hip thrusts and deadlifts dominate most strength programs and while these movements are valuable and great to have at the forefront, they only train part of what the hips are responsible for.

The hip joint is designed to move in multiple directions and planes of motion. It needs to flex, extend, rotate, shift laterally and stabilise the pelvis while the body moves through space. To do this effectively, the hips rely on coordination between several muscle groups — including the glutes, adductors, hip flexors, deep rotators and the muscles of the core that help control the position of the pelvis and ribcage.

When hip strength training only focuses on the glutes, we often miss the muscles responsible for frontal plane stability, rotational control and pelvic positioning. Over time, this can lead to hips that feel tight, unstable on one leg, or unable to control movement during activities like running, lifting, or changing direction.

Developing strong, resilient hips means requires building strength and control through hip rotation, lateral movement and single-leg stability, while maintaining good coordination between the pelvis, trunk and lower body.

In this blog post, we’ll look at the key components of well rounded hip strength, why these qualities matter for both performance and injury resilience, and exercises that help develop stronger, more controlled hips in real movement.

This Missing Piece of Hip Strength

To fully understand hip strength, it helps to look at the different qualities the hips need to perform well during movement. Strong hips aren’t just capable of producing force, they also need to control motion, stabilise the pelvis and coordinate with the trunk and lower body.

Here are four key components that are often missing from traditional hip training.

1. Adductor Strength

The adductors, located along the inner thigh, play a much larger role in hip function than many people realise. While they are commonly associated with bringing the legs together, they are also important stabilisers of the pelvis during single leg movement.

During walking, running, lunging and stepping patterns, the adductors help control the pelvis and support the hip as the body shifts weight from one leg to the other. They also assist with hip flexion and extension, working together with the glutes and hamstrings to create balanced hip mechanics.

When the adductors are undertrained, the body often relies excessively on the lateral hip muscles, which can lead to instability or tension around the hips and lower back.

2. Hip Rotation

The hip is a ball and socket joint, which means it is designed to rotate. Rotation becomes particularly important during single leg activities. As the body moves over one leg, the hip needs to rotate and adjust while the pelvis remains stable. Without adequate rotational control, the body often compensates through the lower back, knees or feet.

Developing hip rotation can improve movement efficiency and reduce unnecessary strain on surrounding joints.

3. Frontal Plane Control

Many lower body exercises happen primarily in the sagittal plane — forward and backward movements such as squats, deadlifts, and lunges. While these are important, they do not fully prepare the hips to handle side to side movement and stability.

Frontal plane strength becomes essential when the body shifts laterally, lands on one leg, or needs to control the pelvis during dynamic movement.

Without adequate frontal plane control, the pelvis may drop or shift excessively during single-leg activities, increasing stress on the knees and lower back.

4. Pelvic Stability

Finally, effective hip strength depends on the ability to control the position of the pelvis and trunk during movement. The hips do not work in isolation. Their ability to produce force and control motion depends on coordination with the muscles of the core, including the obliques, deep abdominal muscles and diaphragm.

When the pelvis and ribcage are not well aligned, the hips may struggle to generate force efficiently. This can lead to compensations such as excessive lower back movement or difficulty stabilising during single leg exercises.

Signs Your Hips May Be Missing These Movement Patterns

When the hips lack strength, rotation, or control, the body often finds ways to compensate. These compensations don’t always show up as obvious weakness. Instead, they often appear as feelings of tightness, instability, or difficulty controlling movement during everyday exercises.

Here are some common signs that your hip training may be missing key components.

Your Hips Feel Tight Despite Regular Stretching

Many people stretch their hips frequently but still experience persistent tightness. In many cases, this sensation is not caused by a lack of flexibility but by a lack of strength and control. When the body does not feel stable through the hips and pelvis, surrounding muscles may increase tension to protect the joint. Strengthening the adductors, glutes and deep stabilisers can often reduce this feeling of tightness by improving overall stability.

Single-Leg Movements Feel Unstable

Exercises like lunges, step downs, or single leg squats require the hips to stabilise the pelvis while supporting the body on one leg. If the hips lack frontal plane control or adductor strength, you may notice:

• difficulty maintaining balance
• the pelvis shifting side to side
• the knee drifting inward
• the torso leaning excessively

Improving hip control and lateral stability helps make these movements feel more controlled and efficient.

The Lower Back Takes Over

When the hips cannot move or stabilise effectively, the lower back often compensates. This can show up as excessive arching during exercises like hip thrusts or difficulty maintaining pelvic control during single leg work. Developing better coordination between the hips, pelvis and trunk allows the hips to produce force without relying on the lower back for stability.

Rotational Movements Feel Restricted

Because many training programs rarely challenge hip rotation, people often lack strength and control in this range of motion. This may show up as difficulty maintaining alignment during movements that involve rotation or shifting, such as running, stepping laterally, or changing direction. Exercises that train controlled hip rotation can improve movement quality and help distribute load more evenly through the hips and pelvis.

Exercises That Build Well-Rounded Hip Strength

Once you understand the qualities that contribute to strong hips, the next step is choosing exercises that train these in a coordinated way. Instead of relying solely on sagittal plane movements, incorporating exercises that challenge rotation, lateral stability and inner-thigh strength helps build hips that are capable of controlling movement in multiple directions.

The following exercises develop the key elements discussed above and can be integrated into a well-rounded strength program:

Loaded Hip Airplane

The hip airplane is one of the most effective drills for developing hip rotation and pelvic control. Standing on one leg, the body hinges forward while the pelvis rotates around the femur of the standing leg. This exercise trains the deep hip stabilisers and glutes to control rotation while the pelvis remains stable. When loaded with a dumbbell, it also challenges balance and coordination, making it a powerful tool for improving single leg control. A great movement for your warm up!

Supported Skater Squat

The skater squat is a single leg strength exercise that emphasises frontal plane control and pelvic stability. By supporting yourself lightly on a rack you can focus on controlling the descent and maintaining alignment through the pelvis and knee. This movement builds strength in the glutes and quadriceps while teaching the hips to stabilise the body during single leg loading. A great secondary/accessory leg day addition!

Lateral Step Down

The lateral step down strengthens the hips’ ability to control movement side to side. The eccentric lowering phase challenges the glutes and adductors to stabilise the pelvis as the body moves toward the ground. This exercise is particularly effective for improving knee alignment and building resilience for activities that require single leg control, such as running and jumping.

Copenhagen Side Plank

The Copenhagen plank is a highly effective way to develop adductor strength and pelvic stability (a must for my postpartum programs). By supporting one leg on an elevated surface while holding a side plank, the inner thigh muscles work to stabilise the pelvis against gravity. Dynamic variations of this exercise further challenge the adductors to control movement while maintaining trunk stability. What I love about the Copenhagen, although challenging, can be easily scaled by shortening the level of the leg, or reducing height of bench.

Short Lever Side Plank with Banded Clam

This variation integrates lateral hip stability and core control. The side plank position activates the obliques and lateral trunk muscles while the banded clam targets the glute medius and external rotators. Together, these muscles help stabilise the pelvis during single leg movement and lateral loading.

Hip Flexor Sit Up

The hip flexors play an important role in stabilising the pelvis and assisting with hip flexion during walking, running and lifting. When trained alongside the core, they contribute to better control of pelvic position during movement. The hip flexor sit up strengthens this relationship by coordinating the hip flexors and abdominal muscles while maintaining trunk control.

Bringing It All Together

When hip training includes elements like adductor strength, rotational control, lateral stability and single-leg coordination, the result is a system that can handle load more efficiently and move with greater control. This not only improves performance in strength training and sport, but can also help reduce unnecessary strain on the knees, lower back and surrounding joints (and especially in the postpartum period!!).

If you’d like to start applying these principles, I’ve put together a Hip Strength & Control Workout inside the Lift with Emily app that brings all of these elements together. The workout includes breath work, hip mobility drills and progressive strength exercises designed to build stronger, more resilient hips. Try it today for FREE when you sign up for a 7 day free trial with a new app subscription.

Inside the app, you’ll find full strength programs, self-guided workouts and structured training plans designed to help you build strength while improving mobility, core coordination and movement quality through pregnancy, postpartum and the years beyond.