Exercises for Hips

A pilates instructor teaches exercises to strengthen and tone the hips

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By Tatiana Novaes Coelho

Tone up and strengthen your hips and bum with two simple Pilates exercises. Before you try them, make sure you know the Pilates basics.

These exercises are undertaken at your own risk. Please speak to your doctor before undertaking exercise if you have any health problems. It is always best to exercise under the supervision of a qualified person.

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Use this exercise to strengthen the gluteus medius muscle, challenging the stability of the torso.

Start position: lie on your side with your legs bent at 45° and your feet in line with your hips. Breathe in to prepare.

Breathe out, drawing your navel towards your spine and keeping the waistline lifted. While you're doing this, lift the top knee towards the ceiling without allowing the top hip to move - it can be a very small movement. Think of lengthening the knee away from the hip joint.