I’m a certified trainer but even I struggle with stiff hips—this is the one move that made a difference to how they feel

As a certified personal trainer, I understand the importance of stretching, but like most people, I struggle to find the time to do it.

However, when I returned to exercise after having my baby, I realized my hips and thighs had become super tight.

This was impacting my ability to move freely, so I decided to get serious about flexibility training.

I wanted to find something straightforward that I could do regularly, and I thought the happy baby yoga pose looked ideal.

“Happy baby is safe to do daily,” physical therapist Dr Karena Wu told me when I asked for her advice. “It’s a gentle stretch that opens up the lumbopelvic area and uses gravity to assist.”

With the sign-off from the expert, I was ready to go.

How to do the happy baby pose

How to Do the Happy Baby Pose: A Guide from Physical Therapists - YouTube

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• Lie on your back with your knees bent and feet flat on the floor.
• Bring your knees to your chest.
• Grab your feet or ankles.
• Spread your knees and feet apart and gently push against your hands until you feel a stretch in the inner thighs.
• Hold this position for 30-60 seconds.

My experience

Here’s what happened during my month of happy baby stretches.

I had to modify the position at first

Pregnancy really affected my mobility, so I couldn’t do the standard form of the stretch on my first few attempts.

Fortunately, I was able to modify the position by holding on to my calves instead of my feet. As the days passed and my mobility improved, I was able to grab my feet and deepen the stretch.

Running started to feel better

When I first started to run again postpartum, I noticed that my hips and back would start to ache almost immediately.

I pulled back on distance and interspersed a few walking intervals, but that still didn’t help.

Halfway through my happy baby month, my back and hips started to feel more open.

I could run for longer distances with less stiffness and pain, and was even able to increase my speed. By the end of the month, I was able to run a 5K without too many issues.

My pelvic floor symptoms improved

I dealt with some minor prolapse after childbirth, which caused a feeling of pelvic floor heaviness and a bit of pain.

My own physical therapist had suggested adding happy baby poses to my recovery program, but admittedly I hadn’t been consistent.

Doing the stretch every day for a month did a lot to relieve the symptoms I was having and motivated me to be more compliant with my other therapeutic exercises.