Your hip feels stiff when you get up after a long meeting, or the outside of your hip aches when you lie on that side at night. In midlife, hip and glute pain becomes more common, often as routines change and time spent sitting goes up. Building strength and staying active can help you keep moving well.

Why hip and glute pain is common in midlife

Several things tend to come together in midlife:

• More time sitting, at desks, in cars and on sofas.
• Changes in activity, like stopping a sport or starting a new one.
• Gradual changes in muscle strength, which declines more quickly from midlife if you do not keep it up.
• Hormone changes, which can affect muscles and tendons, especially around menopause.

Pain on the outside of the hip is particularly common. Research suggests around one in four women in their 50s experience it. It often comes from the tendons that attach your buttock muscles to your thigh bone, which can become sensitive to pressure and sudden changes in load.

In most cases, hip and glute pain is not a sign of damage, and it responds well to the right changes.

Breaking up sitting

Long spells of sitting keep your hips bent and your glutes inactive. Some ideas for moving more through the day:

• Stand up and move every half hour or so.
• Take calls standing or walking.
• Choose higher chairs, or add a cushion to low seats.
• Sit with your legs uncrossed.

VIDA’s Pomodoro stretches, in the top right corner, can prompt you to pause and move during focused work.

Building hip and glute strength

Strong hip and glute muscles help support your hips, knees and back, and help you get up from chairs, climb stairs and walk comfortably. Something to try two or three times a week:

• Sit to stand. Rise from a chair without using your hands, then lower slowly.
• Bridges. Lie on your back with your knees bent, lift your hips, then lower slowly.
• Step-ups. Step up onto the bottom stair and down again, holding the banister.
• Reverse lunges. Step back into a lunge, going as deep as feels comfortable.

If you would like to follow along, VIDA has short videos of sit to stands, bridges and lunges you can use at your own pace. Start with a few repetitions and build up gradually.

If the outside of your hip is sore

If the pain is on the outside of your hip, the tendons there are often sensitive to being squashed. Some things that can help:

• Avoid crossing your legs or standing with your weight shifted onto one hip.
• Put a pillow between your knees when lying on your side.
• Leave out stretches that pull your leg across your body, as these can squash the tendon.

Gentle strength tends to help more than stretching for this kind of pain.

Staying active as routines change

Midlife often brings changes to how active you are, whether that is less time for sport, a new job or a change in family life. Some ideas for keeping active:

• Walk most days, building up gradually.
• Try swimming, cycling or classes if your usual sport is no longer practical.
• Keep strength work in your week, even when other activities drop.
• Build up gradually when starting something new.

A mild ache that settles by the next morning is usually fine. If your hip is sorer the next day, ease back a little.

Managing stiffness

Hips often feel stiffest after sitting or first thing in the morning. Starting the day with some gentle leg swings and hip circles, holding onto something steady, can help. A warm shower can help stiff hips loosen too.

If you would like a guided stretch, VIDA has short videos you can follow at your own pace.

Looking after your sleep

Hip pain can feel louder at night, and broken sleep makes pain feel worse. A pillow between your knees and a comfortable mattress can help. Your VIDA pain check-in can help you notice how your hips change as you build strength.

What to take away

• Hip and glute pain becomes more common in midlife.
• Break up long spells of sitting.
• Strengthen your hips and glutes two or three times a week.
• Avoid crossing your legs if the outside of your hip is sore.
• Keep active as routines change, building up gradually.

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