TrainersEye · Hip & Hamstring Health
Hip & Hamstring · 30 Sessions

Thirty sessions.
Twelve minutes each.
Hips that drive you.

Five phases, 180 different movements, no repeats — from isometric glute holds to sprint mechanics and the Nordic curl. Written to separate five problems that get treated as one: lateral hip tendon pain, hip-related groin pain and hip osteoarthritis, proximal hamstring tendinopathy, hamstring strain, and adductor-related groin pain.

Before you start

See a doctor first — do not start — if you cannot bear weight after a fall or the hip looks deformed; with a hot, swollen hip or fever; a sudden pop with bruising and no ability to walk; numbness in the groin or saddle area or new bladder or bowel changes; progressive leg weakness; unexplained night pain with weight loss; or in a child or teenager, a limp or knee pain with no injury.

The pain rule: up to 5/10 during, back to your normal by the next morning, no worse week to week.

Pain on the point of the hip (gluteal tendinopathy): the fastest win is removing compression — stop crossing the legs, stop standing on one hip, sleep with a pillow between the knees, and do not stretch it. The classic figure-four and ITB stretches squash the tendon against the bone.

Deep buttock pain when sitting (proximal hamstring tendinopathy): load it, do not lengthen it. Keep the hip angle shallow in Phase 3 and deepen it week by week; avoid long sits on hard seats.

After a hamstring strain: the muscle feels normal long before it is strong at length. Phase 3 and Phase 5 are the part that stops the second tear.

Progression: every movement has an easier and a harder version. Two clean sessions on a level earn the next.

Kit: a chair, a wall, a step, a towel, a ball or pillow and a loaded backpack or two water jugs.

Phase 1Settle and unload

ASettle the hip. Wake the glute. Nothing stretched.Six drills that load the hip and hamstring without compressing or lengthening them. Isometrics only — no stretching today, and none of the ones that made it worse. BTilt. Squeeze. Nothing compressed.Pelvic control and isometric loading in four directions — plus the first adductor work, which almost nobody does. CTurn it in. Turn it out. Keep the pelvis still.Rotation range at the hip, prone glute work, and the hamstring loaded with the hip shallow — the position an angry sit-bone tolerates. DLevel pelvis. Long spine. Load the side.The side of the hip takes its first real work, and the hamstring its first long-lever hold. EOpen the front. Load the back. Stand up strong.Hip extension range at the front, glute work at the back, and the first standing loaded pattern. FSix sessions in. The glute fires. The pelvis holds.Phase 1 check-in: full range at the hip, a full bridge, and the first honest single-leg work.

Phase 2Glutes and pelvis

GThe side of the hip. Where it fails.Phase 2 opens on the gluteal muscles that hold the pelvis level — trained out from the midline, never across it. HExtend the hip. Not the back. Know the difference.Hip extension under load — and the rule that the lower back does not arch to fake it. IOne leg. Level hips. Every rep.Single-leg loading and the first lateral step-down — where the pelvis either holds or gives it away. JSideways strength. The plane everyone skips.Frontal-plane loading: lateral lunges, shuffles and the hip airplane, with the pelvis under control throughout. KBridge higher. Walk further. Brace the middle.Longer levers on the bridge, the first anti-rotation work, and a carry that tests the pelvis honestly. LTwelve in. Count the bridges. Compare the sides.Phase 2 check-in: the single-leg bridge test, abduction endurance and the first loaded hip thrust.

Phase 3Hamstrings

MLong. Slow. Loaded.Phase 3 opens on the hamstrings at both ends — the knee end with curls, the hip end with hinges. NOne leg. Hips square. Back long.Single-leg hinging — where hamstring strength meets balance, and where deficits hide in plain sight. OLong levers. Long muscle. Real strength.Long-lever bridging and the first lengthened-state work — strength where the hamstring actually tears. PThe three that bring hamstrings back.The lengthened-state protocol in full — the diver, the glider and the extender — with heavy hinging behind them. QHinge with load. Curl with control. Both, every week.Hip-end and knee-end hamstring work loaded in the same session, the way the muscle actually works. REighteen in. Test the hamstring. Both sides.Phase 3 check-in: the free single-leg RDL, the Nordic break point and the endurance sets that show which side is behind.

Phase 4Strength through range

SDeep. Loaded. And the groin too.Phase 4 opens with heavy slow squatting and the Copenhagen plank — the adductor drill with the best prevention evidence in sport. TSit low. Reach wide. Own the ends.Range under load: the deep squat, the Cossack and the long-lever Copenhagen. UThrust heavy. Pull heavy. Walk it off.The heaviest hip extension in the programme, from the floor and from the bench. VKneel. Stand. Nothing tilts.Kneeling strength takes the ankles out and leaves the hip nowhere to hide, plus anti-rotation under load. WOne leg. Full depth. Both sides equal.The hardest single-leg strength in the programme — and the adductors trained through range, not just held. XTwenty-four in. Loaded, deep and level.Phase 4 check-in: the heaviest squat, the full Nordic and the squeeze test that predicts groin trouble.

Phase 5Speed and return

YFast hips. Long strides. Clean mechanics.Phase 5 opens on running mechanics — the hip flexors and hamstrings working fast, but still under control. ZAccelerate. Then stop dead.Acceleration and deceleration — the two moments that tear hamstrings and roll hips, trained deliberately. AADrive the knee. Pull the heel. Both at speed.Front and back of the stride at speed, then the stairs where the hip has to drive hard. ABCut. Turn. Hold the line.Change of direction — where the groin and the gluteal tendon take their biggest loads. ACFull speed. Full range. Full strength.The hardest session in the programme — speed on top of everything built in the first four phases. ADThirty sessions. Both legs. Within ten per cent.Graduation: the bridge test, the hop test, the squeeze test and the glider — left against right, written down.