Hips

• Stand tall in a long split stance
• One foot a good stride forward and flat on the floor
• The other foot back with its heel lifted
• Weight shared through both

Before you move forward at all, tuck your tailbone under so the front of your pelvis rolls up, and squeeze the glute of the back leg. Now, holding that tuck and that squeeze, ease your hips forward, letting the front knee bend a little, until the stretch builds across the front of the back hip. Hold there, tall and steady, then ease back.

• The glute squeeze and the tucked pelvis. They're the whole point
• The upper body upright throughout, no leaning back and arching
• The pull at the front of the hip and the top of the thigh, nowhere else. Feel it in your lower back and you've lost the tuck and the squeeze, so reset and try again

• The band looped around both legs, just above the knees
• Feet about hip-width apart
• A soft bend in the knees and your backside pushed back behind you, so you drop into a low, athletic half-squat
• A little tension in the band already

Staying low and level, step one foot out to the side, only a small step, an inch or two, then let the other foot follow, keeping tension in the band the whole time and never quite letting your feet click together. Take several of these small steps one way, then several back the other. The band should be fighting you every inch, and the muscle on the side of your hip should be the thing beating it.

• The work sitting squarely on the side of the hips
• Feet pointing straight ahead, not turning out
• The knees not dragged inward as you step
• Low and level throughout. No bobbing up and down between steps, no swinging your trunk to fling the leg out

• Lie on your back, knees bent
• Feet planted flat on the floor further out from you than feels natural, almost awkwardly far away, rather than tucked in close to your backside
• Feet about hip-width apart
• Arms resting by your sides

Squeeze your glutes and press down through your heels to lift your hips off the floor, until your body makes one straight line from your knees to your shoulders. Squeeze hard at the top, hold for a moment, then lower slowly back down. The lift comes from the glutes driving through the heels, not from cranking your lower back into an arch.

• The lift coming from the back of you, the glutes leading and the hamstrings chipping in behind them
• Felt in your backside and the back of your thighs, not in the front of your thighs and not as an ache in your lower back
• Heels planted, toes light
• A proper held squeeze at the top rather than a quick bounce

• Stand tall on one leg, the standing knee soft rather than locked out
• Bodyweight only to begin with

Slowly raise the knee of the free leg up towards hip height, hold it there for a beat, then lower it back down under control, without letting that foot touch the floor. That's one. Do your reps, then swap to the other leg.

• The standing hip staying level throughout while the other leg moves
• The standing ankle still and the foot busy underneath you, gripping and adjusting to hold you steady
• No swinging the knee up with momentum. Drive it up slowly and lower it slowly
• The standing knee sitting still and in line, no cave