A deep ball and socket
The socket covers about 40% of the ball, and the labrum, a ring of cartilage around its rim, deepens it further and seals the joint. The fit of the bones makes the hip very stable.
Joint guide
The hip: how the ball and socket works, and how to keep it strong and mobile
The hip is a deep ball and socket: the top of the thigh bone sits in a cup in the pelvis, deepened and sealed by a rim of cartilage called the labrum and wrapped in some of the body's strongest ligaments. It moves in every direction and carries about two and a half times your body weight with every step and stair.
Hips keep most of their range well into later life, except for taking the leg behind you, which is worth protecting. Strength and balance matter most: exercise programmes cut falls in older adults by about a quarter. For hip arthritis, exercise is still the first treatment, though the average benefit in trials is modest.
This guide explains how the hip is built and moves, its normal ranges by age and sex, what keeps it healthy, and the moves to do. If your hip hurts, start with our hip pain guides.
The short version
Big muscles move it
The gluteus maximus straightens the hip, the gluteus medius and minimus keep your pelvis level when you stand on one leg, and the iliopsoas lifts the thigh.
Normal ranges
Adults bend the hip about 127 to 134 degrees and take the leg back about 13 to 18. It turns out about 39 to 42 degrees and in about 30 to 35; textbooks give about 45 degrees out to the side.
Range holds up with age, except one direction
In a US survey, most hip movements were only 3 to 5 degrees smaller at 65 to 74 than at 25 to 39. Taking the leg behind you fell by more than a fifth.
Source 8
It carries big loads
About 2.4 times body weight when walking and 2.5 to 2.6 times on stairs, measured in 4 people with instrumented hip replacements.
Source 9
Strength and balance pay off
Exercise programmes cut falls in older adults by 23%, and NICE (the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) makes exercise a core treatment for hip arthritis.
How the hip is built
The ball and the socket
The ball is the head of the femur (thigh bone), the longest, heaviest and strongest bone in the body. The socket (acetabulum) forms where the three bones of each side of the pelvis meet, and the growth cartilage there fuses by about 20 to 25.
It's a synovial ball-and-socket joint that moves around three axes: forward and back, out and in, and turning in and out. The fit of the bones makes the joint inherently stable: the socket covers about 40% of the ball throughout its motion. When a hip does dislocate, it goes backwards 90% of the time.
The labrum
A ring of tough fibrocartilage around the rim of the socket. It adds about 22% to the joint surface and about a third to the socket's volume, limits extreme movement, and seals the joint, holding a thin layer of pressurised fluid that lubricates it and helps it share the load.
The capsule and its ligaments
The capsule's ligaments spiral around the neck of the femur, tightening as the hip straightens and slackening as it bends.
- Iliofemoral ligament: at the front; it limits extension and outward rotation and lets you stand with little muscle effort. StatPearls calls it the strongest ligament in the body, though another chapter says the same of a sacroiliac ligament, so "among the strongest" is safer.
- Pubofemoral ligament: limits taking the leg out to the side and behind you.
- Ischiofemoral ligament: at the back; limits inward rotation and crossing the leg in.
- Ligamentum teres: inside the joint; it carries a small artery in children and adds a little stability in adults.
Cartilage and bursae
Smooth (hyaline) cartilage covers the ball and socket, thickest where the load is greatest. Bursae, small fluid-filled cushions, sit where tendons pass over bone: on the outer hip over the bony point (greater trochanter), at the sitting bone, and at the front under the iliopsoas tendon. Pain on the outer hip is now mostly put down to the gluteal tendons, with or without an irritated bursa.
Muscles that cross two joints
Three of the four parts of the hamstrings run from the sitting bone to below the knee, so they straighten the hip and bend the knee at the same time; the fourth, the short head of the biceps femoris, starts on the thigh bone and crosses only the knee. The rectus femoris, one of the quadriceps, crosses the front of both joints and helps lift the thigh.
The muscles that move your hip
The gluteus maximus straightens the hip for standing up and climbing but does little on flat ground; the gluteus medius and minimus hold your pelvis level every time you stand on one leg; the iliopsoas lifts the thigh; the adductors pull it in; the hamstrings help straighten it; and small deep rotators, including the piriformis, turn it out.
How the hip moves
Bending and straightening
In the CDC (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) study of 674 healthy people, measured by physical therapists with a hand-held angle gauge, adults bent the hip (knee towards chest) about 127 to 134 degrees. Lying on their side with the knee straight, they took the leg behind them about 13.5 to 18 degrees.
Turning in and out
In 120 adults aged 20 to 60, the hip turned out about 39 degrees lying on the back and 42 lying face down, and turned in about 30 and 35. Range varies a lot between people: in 151 students, men turned out further and women turned in further.
Out to the side and across: textbook values
Textbook values are about 45 degrees out to the side (abduction) and about 25 degrees across the body (adduction). We couldn't find a study measuring these in healthy adults to check them against, so treat them as rough.
Source 1
Where sources differ
StatPearls lists lower "functional" values (bending 120 degrees, extension 10, inward rotation 15 and outward rotation 35), and a US national survey found population values differed from textbook figures by up to 18 degrees.
What everyday life uses
Squatting with your heels flat needed about 95 degrees of hip bend on average in 30 healthy adults, with a wide spread between people.
Source 18
How range changes with ageStrong evidence
In 1,683 US adults, most hip movements were only 3 to 5 degrees smaller at 65 to 74 than at 25 to 39. Only extension, taking the leg behind you, fell by more than a fifth. The authors conclude that a big loss of hip movement before about 75 shouldn't be put down to age alone.
Women are more mobile in most movementsStrong evidence
Women had more hip bend than men at every adult age in the CDC data, and were more mobile in nearly all joints.
What the evidence says
Strength and balance exercise prevents fallsStrong evidence
Across 108 trials (23,407 people living at home, average age 76), exercise cut the rate of falls by 23%, with high-certainty evidence, and the number of people who fell by 15%. It may also reduce fractures from falls, though that evidence is less certain.
Source 10
Exercise is the first treatment for hip arthritisStrong evidence
NICE says to offer everyone with osteoarthritis exercise tailored to them, such as local muscle strengthening and general aerobic fitness. It warns that joint pain may increase at first, but that regular, consistent exercise will be good for the joints.
Source 11
How much it helps: modest, on averageMixed evidence
The 2014 Cochrane review found exercise lowered hip arthritis pain by about 8 points on a 100-point scale and improved function by about 7. The 2026 update (18 studies, 1,368 people) found that, compared with no treatment, exercise probably reduces pain slightly, by about 7 points, and improves function by about 9, changes its authors judge unlikely to matter much on average. Against a sham or attention control, it may make little or no difference to pain.
Averages hide a wide spread, and some people improve a lot. Exercise is still the core treatment.
Running isn't bad for hipsEmerging evidence
In 17 studies (114,829 people), recreational runners had less hip or knee arthritis (3.5%) than people who didn't run (10.2%); elite runners had the most (13.3%). These are observational studies, so they can't prove cause and effect.
Source 22
The forces in your hipEmerging evidence
Measured with instrumented hip replacements in 4 people, the hip carried about 2.4 times body weight walking at about 4 km an hour, 2.5 times climbing stairs and 2.6 times going down them.
Source 9
Labral tears are common on scans of hips that don't hurtEmerging evidence
Across 29 studies, labral tears showed on scans in 54% of people without hip pain and 62% of people with it. The labrum matters for sealing the joint, but a tear on a scan isn't the whole story.
What helps: our starting points
Strengthen your hips 2 or 3 days a week
Our editorial starting point: 2 or 3 days a week of hip strength work, such as 2 to 3 sets of 10 to 15 glute bridges, 2 sets of 12 to 15 clamshells each side and 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 12 sit-to-stands, adding load as they get easy (doses from our workouts). For arthritis, NICE's advice is the same in principle: local muscle strengthening plus general fitness.
Practise standing on one leg
Stand on one leg next to a counter, 2 holds of 20 to 30 seconds each side (the dose in our strength and balance workout), and make it harder over the weeks. The gluteus medius and minimus do this job with every step, and balance and strength training together prevented falls in trials.
Keep the leg-back range
Taking the leg behind you is the hip movement most lost with age. Our editorial suggestion: a half-kneeling hip flexor stretch, 30 to 45 seconds each side on most days, plus glute bridges, which work the hip through extension.
Source 8
Walk, run or cycle
Regular walking, running or cycling suits healthy hips: recreational running went with less arthritis, not more. With hip arthritis, NICE pairs strengthening with general aerobic fitness.
With arthritis or impingement
Use a smaller range in deep squats, Cossack squats and the frog rock, and expect some extra discomfort at first, as NICE warns. Our hip arthritis guide has a staged plan. After a hip replacement, follow your surgical team's movement limits.
Source 11
Mobility: every direction
Move slowly and stop short of a pinch at the front of the hip. Starting doses from each move's page and our workouts: 3 slow circles each way for hip CARs (controlled articular rotations), 8 to 10 slow 90/90 switches, and 30 to 45 seconds each side for the hip flexor stretch.
3D demoStanding hip CARsBeginner · A wall
3D demo90/90 switchIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoHip Windshield WipersBeginner · No equipment
3D demoHalf-kneeling hip flexor stretchBeginner · No equipment
3D demoReclined figure four (eye of the needle, Sucirandhrasana)Beginner · No equipment
3D demoPigeon preparation (Eka Pada Rajakapotasana prep)Intermediate · No equipment
3D demoSupine hamstring stretch with a strapBeginner · No equipment
3D demoCossack squatIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoDeep squat holdIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoSupine heel slideBeginner · No equipmentStrength: glutes, adductors and single-leg control
2 or 3 days a week, 2 to 3 sets of 8 to 15, adding load as it gets easy (our editorial starting point; doses on each move's page). Work from the floor moves to standing ones, then to loaded and single-leg versions.
3D demoGlute bridgeBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSingle-leg glute bridgeIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoClamshellBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSide-lying leg raiseBeginner · No equipment
3D demoStanding wall-press hip abductionBeginner · A wall
3D demoLateral band walkBeginner · A band
3D demoSide plank with leg liftAdvanced · No equipment
3D demoSit to stand from a chairBeginner · A bench or box
3D demoStep-upBeginner · A step
3D demoSplit squatIntermediate · No equipment
3D demoDumbbell goblet squatIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoDumbbell Romanian deadliftIntermediate · A dumbbell
3D demoSingle-leg Romanian deadliftAdvanced · A dumbbell
3D demoLying adductor ball squeezeBeginner · Other / check instructions
3D demoCopenhagen plankAdvanced · A bench or box
3D demoStanding marchBeginner · No equipment
3D demoSingle-leg standBeginner · A wall
3D demoBarbell hip thrustIntermediate · A barbell + A bench or boxRoutines to follow
With hip arthritis or impingement, take the deep squat hold, Cossack squat and frog rock in the hip mobility routine to a smaller range.
Hip mobility routine
A 15-minute hip opener: 90/90 switches, windshield wipers, CARs, Cossack squats, frog and pigeon.
15 minIntermediate8 movesA wall
Yoga for tight hips
A hip-opening yoga sequence: low lunge, lizard, goddess, pigeon, bound angle and happy baby.
20 minBeginner7 movesNo equipmentGlute workout at home
A 25-minute glute workout with bodyweight and a mini band: bridges, clamshells, band walks, kickbacks and lunges.
25 minBeginner9 movesA wall, A band
Glute workout (gym)
A 50-minute gym glute workout: hip thrusts, deep squats, Bulgarian split squats, back extensions and hip abduction, with sets, reps and rest.
50 minIntermediate11 movesA band, A barbellBeginner lower body workout
Learn to squat, hinge and lunge: a 25-minute beginner lower body workout with bridges, clamshells and calf raises.
25 minBeginner11 movesA wall, A bench or box
Strength and balance exercises for seniors
A 40-minute strength and balance session for over-65s, built from the Otago home programme and NHS exercises, using a chair, a counter and a step.
40 minBeginner18 movesA bench or box, Something with weight
Balance exercises routine
Balance practice in 10 minutes: tandem stance, single-leg stands, marches, heel walks, tree pose and floor transfers.
10 minBeginner7 movesA wall, A bench or box
Arthritis exercise routine: a joint-friendly circuit
A 30-minute joint-friendly circuit built like the GLA:D and ESCAPE-pain programmes: a gentle warm-up, chair, step and band strength moves, balance, then stretches.
30 minBeginner14 movesA bench or box, A stepPlans
4 days a week
Glute workout plan
An 8-week glute workout plan: two glute days and two upper-body days a week, with hip thrusts, squats, hinges and side-hip work, plus a home option.
4 training days50 minIntermediate3 days a weekWorkout plan for seniors (65 and over)
A 12-week exercise plan for over-65s: strength and balance three times a week, short balance sessions and daily walks, based on falls-prevention trials.
3 training days40 minBeginnerCommon problems
A one-line orientation for each; the guides below have the detail, a staged plan and the warning signs.
Hip pain
Our hip pain guide sorts it by where it hurts: the groin, the outer hip or the buttock.
Arthritis and replacements
Exercise is the first treatment for hip arthritis. Our hip replacement guide covers recovery stage by stage, the movement precautions and the signs of a dislocation.
The outer hip
Outer hip pain, often called bursitis, usually involves the gluteal tendons rather than just a bursa.
Inside the joint
Hip impingement shapes and labral tears are common on scans of hips that don't hurt, so exercise usually comes first.
Muscles and tendons around the hip
Hip flexor pain, groin strains, high hamstring tendinopathy and piriformis syndrome each have a guide; most buttock pain isn't the piriformis.
Pain from the back
Pain felt in the buttock can come from the lower back or the sacroiliac joint; see our sciatica and SI joint guides.
Guides to these problems
Warning signs
Call 999 (911 in the US) or go to A&E
If you have severe hip pain after a fall or injury, you're unable to walk or put weight on your leg, or you have any tingling or loss of feeling in your hip or leg after an injury.
Source 24
Get an urgent GP appointment or call NHS 111
If you have severe hip pain that started suddenly but you've not had a fall or injured your hip; your hip is swollen and feels hot; the skin around your hip has changed colour; or you have hip pain, feel generally unwell and have a high temperature (or feel hot, cold or shivery). In the US, contact your doctor or urgent care.
Source 24
See a GP
If hip pain is stopping you doing normal activities or affecting your sleep, is getting worse or keeps coming back, hasn't improved after treating it at home for 2 weeks, or you have hip stiffness for more than 30 minutes after waking up.
Source 24
Children
The NHS has separate advice on hip pain in children. Our editorial advice: a child with hip pain or a limp should see a doctor rather than exercise through it.
Source 24
While you exercise
Stop a move that causes a sharp pinch at the front of the hip, pain that builds through the session, or pain, tingling or numbness down the leg. After a hip replacement, follow your surgical team's movement limits (our editorial advice, as in our hip pain guides).
Myths
"Clicking hips mean damage"
Snapping can come from a tendon sliding over the bony point on the side of the hip, from the iliopsoas tendon at the front, or from inside the joint. Clicking that comes with pain, catching or locking deserves a check.
Source 5
"A labral tear on a scan needs surgery"Emerging evidence
Tears show on scans of more than half of people without hip pain. Our labral tear guide covers when exercise comes first.
Source 23
"Running wears out your hips"Emerging evidence
Recreational runners had less hip and knee arthritis than people who didn't run, in observational studies.
Source 22
"Hips stiffen inevitably with age"Strong evidence
Most hip range changes by only 3 to 5 degrees up to the age of 74. Taking the leg behind you is the exception, and a big loss deserves attention.
Source 8
"Exercise will wear out an arthritic hip"Strong evidence
NICE recommends exercise for everyone with osteoarthritis. Pain may rise a little at first, but regular exercise is good for the joint.
Source 11
Read next
Questions people ask
What type of joint is the hip?
A ball-and-socket synovial joint: the ball at the top of the thigh bone sits deep in a socket in the pelvis and can move in every direction. The socket covers about 40% of the ball, and a rim of cartilage, the labrum, deepens it further, so the joint is very stable.
What is the hip labrum?
A ring of tough fibrocartilage around the rim of the socket. It deepens the socket, seals the joint so a thin layer of pressurised fluid can lubricate it and share the load, and limits extreme movement. Tears show up on scans in more than half of people without hip pain, so a tear isn't always the cause of pain.
What are the ligaments of the hip?
Three ligaments thicken the joint capsule: the iliofemoral at the front, the pubofemoral below it and the ischiofemoral at the back. They spiral around the neck of the thigh bone and tighten as the hip straightens, which helps you stand with little muscle effort. A small ligament inside the joint, the ligamentum teres, carries an artery in children.
What's the normal range of motion of the hip?
In adults, bending about 127 to 134 degrees and taking the leg back about 13 to 18 degrees (CDC data), turning out about 39 to 42 degrees and in about 30 to 35. Textbook values for taking the leg out to the side and across the body are about 45 and 25 degrees. Women are more mobile than men in most directions.
Does hip mobility decline with age?
Only a little for most movements: 3 to 5 degrees between the late 20s and early 70s in a US survey. Taking the leg behind you is the exception, falling by more than a fifth, so it's worth stretching. A big loss of range isn't just ageing and is worth getting checked.
What muscles move the hip?
The gluteus maximus straightens it, for standing up and climbing; the gluteus medius and minimus hold your pelvis level on one leg; the iliopsoas lifts the thigh; and the adductors pull it in. The hamstrings help straighten it, and small deep muscles turn it out. Each has its own guide.
How much force goes through the hip?
About 2.4 times your body weight when walking and 2.5 to 2.6 times on stairs, measured in people with instrumented hip replacements. Your hip is built for this, and strong muscles help it cope.
Is running bad for your hips?
Not for recreational runners: they had less hip and knee arthritis (3.5%) than people who didn't run (10.2%). Elite runners had a little more (13.3%), and these studies can't prove cause and effect.
Is exercise good for hip arthritis?
Yes: NICE says to offer exercise to everyone with osteoarthritis, and it may hurt a little at first. The average improvement in trials is modest, about 7 to 8 points on a 100-point pain scale, and some people improve a lot more. Our hip arthritis guide has a staged plan.
Why do my hips click or snap?
A tendon can snap over the bony point on the side of the hip or at the front of the joint, or the click can come from inside the joint. Clicking with pain, catching or locking deserves a check; our labral tear and impingement guides cover the causes inside the joint.
How do I keep my hips healthy as I get older?
Keep them strong, keep the range (especially taking the leg back), stay active, and practise balance on one leg. Exercise programmes cut falls in older people by about a quarter.
Sources
- Glenister 2023 · Anatomy of the hip (reference chapter, StatPearls)
- Gold 2023 · Anatomy of the hip joint (reference chapter, StatPearls)
- Elzanie 2023 · Anatomy of the gluteus maximus (reference chapter, StatPearls)
- Shah 2023 · Anatomy of the gluteus medius (reference chapter, StatPearls)
- Bordoni 2026 · Anatomy of the iliopsoas (reference chapter, StatPearls)
- CDC · Normal joint range of motion study: reference values from 674 healthy people aged 2 to 69 (US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
- Kouyoumdjian 2012 · Hip rotation range in 120 adults (study, Orthop Traumatol Surg Res)
- Roach 1991 · Normal hip and knee range of motion by age in US adults aged 25 to 74 (national survey, Physical Therapy)
- Bergmann 2001 · Hip forces measured in 4 people with instrumented hip replacements (study, J Biomech)
- Sherrington 2019 · Exercise to prevent falls in older people: 108 trials, 23,407 people (Cochrane review)
- NICE 2022 · Osteoarthritis in over 16s: diagnosis and management (NG226 guideline)
- Chang 2023 · Anatomy of the femur (reference chapter, StatPearls)
- Bsat 2016 · What the hip labrum does (review, Bone Joint J)
- Wong 2023 · Anatomy of the sacroiliac joint (reference chapter, StatPearls)
- Hu 2026 · Anatomy of the hamstrings (reference chapter, StatPearls)
- CDC 2010 · Normal joint range of motion dataset: data description and measurement methods (CDC Stacks)
- Han 2015 · Hip rotation sitting and lying face down in 151 healthy adults (study, J Phys Ther Sci)
- Hemmerich 2006 · Hip, knee and ankle range in deep everyday movements: 30 adults (study, J Orthop Res)
- Soucie 2011 · Range of motion reference values by age and sex in 674 healthy people (study, Haemophilia)
- Fransen 2014 · Exercise for hip osteoarthritis: 9 trials, 549 people (Cochrane review)
- Hall 2026 · Exercise for hip osteoarthritis: 18 studies, 1,368 people (Cochrane review)
- Alentorn-Geli 2017 · Running and hip and knee arthritis: 25 studies, 125,810 people (systematic review and meta-analysis, JOSPT)
- Heerey 2018 · Hip findings on scans in people with and without hip pain: 29 studies (systematic review and meta-analysis, BJSM)
- NHS · Hip pain in adults
Education about how your joints work, not a diagnosis, and clinical review of these guides is pending. For a painful, swollen or injured joint, see the pain guide for that area and a doctor or physiotherapist, and stop any exercise that causes sharp or increasing pain. Health disclaimer.