Hips don't lie!

“Powerful hip extension alone is necessary and nearly sufficient for elite athletic performance. That is, our experience has been that no one without the capacity for powerful hip extension enjoys great athletic prowess, and nearly everyone we’ve met with that capacity was a great athlete.”

That quote comes straight from the Crossfit Level 1 manual.  Hip extension is the center of all athletic movements and it would be a crime to not utilize it to it's full capacity.  Athletes need to train movement, not just develop muscle. By training proper movement patterns in the gym, you will see improvement in speed, quickness and jumping ability during play or life.  Hamstrings are knee flexors only in nonfunctional settings. During activity—life and sports that require running and jumping—the hamstrings also extend the hips. Some degree of hip dysfunction that creates postures and mechanics that reduce power and stability and are
generally unsound are lumped together in the term, Muted Hip Function, or MHF.  MHF is, ultimately, the postures resulting from the legs compensating for the hip’s failure – specifically, and foremost, using leg extension to compensate for weak or nonexistent hip extension.  MHF can be very evident during the push press, where instead of relying on hip movement (opening and closing) during the dip and drive, we see the knees jut forward and the pelvis roll backwards, pushing the belly forward.  Even the mildest cases of MHF will result in loss of power and instability.

So, how do we fix it?  Deliberate and focused training and practice of demanding hip extension movements is the only way to eliminate the effects of MHF.  The hamstrings are powerful hip extensors and they extend the hip in two positions:  straight-leg and bent-leg.  Thus we should practice explosive hip extension in both positions.  The squat and kettlebell swing are exercises where hip extension starts in the bent-leg position.  The GHD Hip extension, the good morning, and the Romanian Deadlift are examples of powerful hip extension with a straight leg.  In addition to deliberately training these movements, we shouldn't neglect mobility as a contributor to MHF.  In my opinion, the single best way to improve hip extension, other than training the movement, is by stretching the hip flexors.  My personal favorite is one from Mobilitywod.com, called the couch stretch.  Shown below, it should be performed almost everyday.  Followed by some foam roller or Lacrosse ball work to the anterior hip and hip flexors, the couch stretch will make a world of difference in your hip mobility, stability, and power.  Give it a try!