Exercise for hip arthritis can include movement practice, strengthening and aerobic activity chosen around a person’s symptoms, abilities and goals. The useful choice is not simply the longest exercise list: it is understanding what a movement is intended to practise and whether its setup suits you.
The evidence also deserves realistic expectations. A Cochrane review found small average pain and function benefits against usual care, with less certain pain results against sham treatment; it did not identify one best exercise or a personal dose.
Image context: The featured figure-four stretch is an editorial illustration, not a verified clinical demonstration or a recommendation to copy that position. The examples below describe different movements; anyone with hip-surgery restrictions should follow their surgical team’s instructions.
Use this guide to prepare an exercise discussion
- Identify the everyday activity you want to make easier.
- Compare a few movement examples and their practical limitations.
- Agree on selection, amount and symptom response with your healthcare professional when individual guidance is needed.
- Judge a plan by function and tolerability, without expecting joint repair or guaranteed pain relief.
Which Types of Exercise Are Used?
NICE recommends therapeutic exercise tailored to the needs of people with osteoarthritis, including local muscle strengthening and general aerobic fitness. It also advises considering supervised sessions and combining exercise with appropriate information and support.
That guidance is broader than a promise that every exercise will reduce hip pain. An exercise library supplies examples, while a guideline explains the place of exercise in care and a trial tests particular outcomes in particular people.
| Category | Example to discuss | Selection question |
|---|---|---|
| Movement practice | A heel slide, also described as a lying knee bend. | Can you comfortably use the lying position and move through the range selected for you? |
| Strengthening | Supported standing hip abduction or a bridge. | Does the standing or lying setup fit your balance, access and existing restrictions? |
| Aerobic fitness | An activity and setting selected around your overall health and mobility. | Which option is feasible to repeat, and what adjustments are needed for your symptoms? |
This table organizes choices rather than ranking treatments. It does not mean that the named movements outperformed alternatives in the Cochrane review or belong in everyone’s program.
Three Source-Based Movement Examples
The examples below describe movements shown in established patient resources. They explain the setup without supplying an individualized repetition count, resistance, progression or clearance decision.
Arthritis UK’s hip exercise guide provides the original written instructions and illustrations. NHS inform’s hip-osteoarthritis exercise library provides movement demonstrations and accompanying advice.
Heel Slide: Bending and Straightening
In the illustrated heel slide, a person lies on their back and slides one heel toward the body as the knee bends, then returns the leg. NHS inform describes moving only as far as comfortable.
The movement involves the hip as well as the knee. Ask about an alternative if getting onto the exercise surface, lying comfortably or using that range is difficult; the aim is not to force the heel to a particular distance.
Supported Hip Abduction: Moving the Leg Sideways
The standing example uses a chair or work surface for support while one leg moves sideways and returns. The source instructions emphasize keeping the body upright rather than leaning to create more apparent movement.
Balance and the stability of the support are relevant parts of the choice. A resistance band, ankle weight or larger range changes the task and should not be inferred from the exercise name or a photograph.
Bridge: A Controlled Hip Lift
In the bridge example, the person lies on their back with bent knees and feet supported, lifts the pelvis and lowers it again. Arthritis UK’s guide permits a floor or bed setup, while NHS inform also describes the lying version.
Being able to reach and leave the surface safely matters as much as recognizing the movement. If the position or movement conflicts with existing advice or causes new symptoms, seek an appropriate alternative rather than copying a higher lift from an image.
How Selection and Symptoms Fit Together
A list cannot determine which exercise is suitable after surgery or for a new, unexplained hip problem. These examples concern discussion of exercise for hip osteoarthritis; they do not diagnose the cause of pain or replace a rehabilitation plan.
Patient resources may differ in their suggested repetitions, holds and symptom rules. Taking the highest number from each source and combining them does not create an evidence-based personal program.
NICE notes that discomfort can increase when therapeutic exercise begins. NHS inform also advises stopping exercises that make symptoms worse or cause new pain and discussing worsening symptoms with a healthcare professional.
Those messages should lead to an agreed response plan, not an instruction to push through every symptom. Ask what response is expected for you, what calls for an adjustment and what should prompt assessment.
Someone with balance difficulties may need a different setup or supervision. Someone with recent surgery may have movement restrictions that a general hip-exercise page cannot override.
What the Cochrane Review Actually Compared
The 2026 update included 18 studies with 1,368 adults and assessed planned, land-based exercise. It excluded perioperative programs and studies comparing only one exercise type against another, so it cannot choose the best movement from the examples above.
| Comparison | Average result immediately after treatment | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| Exercise versus attention control or placebo | Pain benefit uncertain; function improved slightly. | Low-certainty evidence; the pain confidence interval included no difference. |
| Exercise versus no treatment, usual care or limited education | About 7.2 points better for pain and 8.8 for function on 100-point scales. | Moderate-certainty, small average differences, judged unlikely to be clinically meaningful. |
| Exercise added to another treatment versus that treatment alone | Little to no average difference in pain or function. | The incremental benefit of adding exercise is a different question from exercise versus usual care. |
These are group comparisons, not predictions of an individual’s improvement. The review also considered quality of life, treatment success, withdrawals and adverse events, with uncertainty about harms in some comparisons.
The review did not establish cartilage regrowth or a single muscle mechanism explaining its results. A named stretch or strengthening exercise cannot inherit a specific pain-relief estimate from a mixed-program review.
Why the Sham-Controlled Trial Still Matters
A 2014 trial randomized 102 adults with radiographically confirmed, painful hip osteoarthritis to a physical-therapy package or sham ultrasound and inert gel. Active care combined advice, manual therapy, home exercise and a gait aid when appropriate.
At the primary 13-week assessment, pain and function did not improve significantly more with active treatment than with sham. Mild adverse effects were reported more often in the active group.
This was a test of that combined package in that population, not a comparison of every possible exercise. It does not establish that a particular bridge, heel slide or supported leg movement is either the best treatment or universally ineffective.
The earlier 2014 Cochrane review also reported that pooled pain and function improvements persisted for at least three to six months after monitored treatment in five trials. That finding should not be replaced with a claim that the benefits simply faded.
Turn an Exercise Example Into Useful Questions
Bring the particular movement you are considering to an appointment, rather than combining several online routines. Describe the everyday activity that matters, such as putting on a shoe or moving around the home.
The questions below connect a published example to the decisions an individual plan still needs. This is a discussion aid, not a validated diagnostic score or a way to prescribe treatment for yourself.
| Record | Example of useful detail |
|---|---|
| Which exact movement? | Bring its source and name: a heel slide or lying knee bend is different from the featured figure-four position. |
| What is it intended to help me practise? | Explain the difficult shoe or household task instead of assuming that every limitation means weak muscles. |
| Which setup fits my situation? | Discuss the exercise surface, support, range and any surgery restrictions before adding resistance or copying a variation. |
| What amount and response rules should I use? | Record the instructions agreed with your professional, including what to modify, stop or report. |
| What should we review next? | Agree which daily activity and symptom response to discuss, and when to seek follow-up if the approach is not working. |
For example, difficulty putting on a shoe could involve reaching the foot, discomfort, balance or several problems together. The task describes the concern; it does not diagnose the cause or automatically select a stretch.
There is no need to force the position, perform maximal repetitions or create a home diagnostic test to make that question useful. Bring what normally happens and the instructions you already have.
When the Plan Needs Reviewing
NICE advises seeking follow-up when agreed management is not working within the agreed review period or when the person is having difficulty with it. The review point should reflect individual needs, treatment and ability to seek help.
Ask for assessment of a new or rapidly worsening problem rather than assuming every hip symptom is osteoarthritis. Recent trauma, a hot swollen joint or marked changes in symptoms are not problems an exercise list can classify for you.
For a known condition, useful next questions concern exercise selection, access, symptom response and a meaningful daily-life goal. The evidence supports realistic discussion and tailored care, not a promise that one movement will fix the joint or make pain disappear.
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References
Arthritis UK. Exercises for the hips. Original patient instructions and illustrations.
Bennell, K. L., et al. (2014). Effect of physical therapy on pain and function in patients with hip osteoarthritis: A randomized clinical trial. JAMA, 311(19), 1987 to 1997. Original indexed abstract.
Fransen, M., McConnell, S., Hernandez-Molina, G., & Reichenbach, S. (2014). Exercise for osteoarthritis of the hip. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD007912. 2014 review abstract.
Hall, M., et al. (2026). Exercise for osteoarthritis of the hip. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, CD007912. 2026 review abstract, DOI 10.1002/14651858.CD007912.pub3.
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2022). Osteoarthritis in over 16s: Diagnosis and management. NG226. Recommendations, including exercise and follow-up.
NHS inform. Exercises for osteoarthritis of the hip. Official exercise library and accompanying advice.
Medical disclaimer: This article provides general fitness and health information, not a diagnosis, personal rehabilitation plan or exercise clearance. Consult a qualified healthcare professional about hip pain, existing conditions, surgery restrictions and the exercise options appropriate for you.
