What Are Mobility Bands Or Hip Circles Good For?

Hip circle exercises are a staple in many a gym. They’re easy to do and are part of the warm up routine for a lot of gym goers.

These exercises promote flexibility on your hips, abs, and lower back, and prepare you to do more strenuous exercises for the day. While guys might shy away from these types of exercises, they’re definitely – and I stress, definitely – great for both men and women alike.

Resistance exercises are also great, for a lot of the same reasons. They’re easy to do, require minimal equipment or gear, and the benefits are just… plentiful, especially considering the minimal amount of effort you need to put into it.

This is where mobility bands come in (also known as hip circles, hip bands, butt bands, or booty bands). Exercising with mobility bands not only targets your glutes – something I’m sure by itself plenty of women and men will appreciate – but it also strengthens your hip flexors, which goes a long way when doing lower body exercises, especially exercises like squats that essentially work your whole body.

So while booty bands are famous for prime booty-making, it’s so much more than that. You strengthen your hip flexors, increase your hip mobility, and help prevent a lot of injury that may come your way in your journey to be the fitness beast you were born to be (yes. You are a fitness beast. Or will be soon enough, my friend).

So what exactly is a mobility band? It’s basically a resistance band that wraps around your thighs, just above the knee, that provides extra resistance to certain muscle groups while you’re performing different lower body movements. Because it offers resistance in your thighs that you wouldn’t normally get exercising without them, it activates and works these muscles in your thighs that otherwise would have been perfectly happy taking it easy, so to speak. Some people use these bands as part of their warm up routine, while others incorporate these bands into their training regimen – and there are plenty of exercises you can do with these on, don’t be afraid to get creative!

Some exercises you can take to the next level by using mobility bands:

• Squats
• Squat to lateral leg lifts
• Squat arabesque
• Clamshells
• Band walks
• Hip thrust
• Standing Glute Kickbacks
• Standing hip abduction
• Seated band abduction
• Glute bridges
• Lying side leg raises

And have we mentioned that mobility bands are also very cost effective? As far as other gym accessories and gear go, these are very affordable, and again, especially considering how plentiful the benefits are. They’re convenient and can be used by anyone exercising, and whatever their fitness level we guarantee you your workouts will be taken to the next level. The science is sound.

Check out our previous blog entry here for other great hip exercises you can do using mobility bands. Like we said, don’t be afraid to get creative – there are a lot more exercises you can do!