Functional exercises and the hip hinge: local segment with Patrick Zayas

The host introduced Patrick Zayas to explain functional exercises and how they help with everyday tasks such as lifting children, placing luggage in overhead bins and starting a lawnmower. Zayas described functional exercises as compound movements that involve multiple joints and muscle groups and said they ‘‘mimic activities of daily living.’’

Zayas demonstrated the hip hinge, instructing viewers to keep three points of contact with a dowel (back of the head, mid back and sacrum) while pushing the hips back toward a wall and lowering with a straight back to avoid transferring movement to the lower and mid back. He said the movement helps prevent back pain when bending to lift, do dishes or other daily tasks. Zayas recommended practicing the hinge using a dowel or broom, performing 2–3 sets of 10–15 repetitions each day and noted hamstring flexibility often limits depth at first.

The host and Zayas discussed benefits for the ‘‘posterior chain’’—muscles of the upper, mid and lower back, hips and lower legs—and framed the practice as a preventive strategy to reduce imbalances and daily pain. The segment closed with the host encouraging viewers to prioritize flexibility and injury prevention.