Foundational Movements for Motocross: The Hip Hinge

Part 1: The Hip Hinge

Hey everybody! Thanks for tuning in once again for a Moto Strong blog. I’m pretty excited about this particular subject because diving into the foundational movements for motocross encompasses so many lessons I’ve learned training on my own, listening to great trainers, and in textbooks and lectures. Since that’s the case, my goal with this series is not to dive into every nitty gritty detail, but to dive into these three (in my opinion) foundational movements on a surface level. Time to dive into movement #1, the hip hinge!

What do bending over to pick up a pen, sitting on the toilet, and blitzing a whoop section have in common? The HIP HINGE! Yes ladies and gentlemen it’s that widespread of a movement in our lives! That is why it’s such a foundational movement to master. My man Jacob Pennisi and I have had a conversation about the importance of a strong hip hinge pattern on the bike for SX whoops, which prompted me to bring up these two pictures. Check out what the body position in these pictures have in common:

Bent knees, flexed at the hips, strong at the ankles. The only real difference between my position during a stiff-leg deadlift and JMart’s through a whoop section is the position of our arms! 

Loading the hip hinge pattern during off-the-bike training is incredibly important to improving riding position for multiple reasons:

• Increases the body’s familiarity of the position
• Increases the body’s ability to produce force in the position
• Decreases risk of injury because the body can withstand more external forces
• Increases muscular endurance in the attack position
• Increases overall core strength and involuntary core bracing

Some Tips

Now that I’ve outlined the reasons that the hip hinge is foundational to motocross riding, I want to give some ways to perfect your hip hinge and implement it into your off-the-bike training. 

Tip #1 is to begin perfecting your hip hinge using a wooden dowel or PVC pipe. Hold the dowel so that it touches the back of your head, between your shoulder blades, and your lower back just above your pelvis. Shift your hips back while simultaneously bringing your shoulders forward and toward the floor. As long as the wooden dowel does not lose contact with any of those three areas of your body, you’re good! In the picture above of me doing the stiff-leg deadlift I would critique my form by lowering my head and bringing my hips further back just a tad. The position I’m in would remove the dowel from between my shoulder blades, which puts unnecessary strain on the posterior neck.

Tip #2 is to then get on your bike while it’s on the stand and work to shift your body into a hip hinged position. This gives you great “seat time” to increase your body awareness of good positioning on the bike without adding in all of the other variables that coming along with actually riding on a track.

Tip #3 is finally to begin loading the hip hinge position during your workouts. Start with low weight, move slowly through the position, constantly monitor your body position, and progress from there! It is important to remember that my hip hinge and yours will look slightly different, so never try to compare your “perfect” position to somebody else’s. We are all slightly different biomechanically, so just worry about you! 

Thanks all for tuning in, and be ready for the next foundational movement, the squat!

Major thanks to Jacob Pennisi. He is a trainer at Millsaps Training Facility, one of the premier amateur training facilities in the country! Check his quality content on Instagram @jacob_pennisi and on YouTube at Jacob Pennisi MX.