Hip Pain Rehab Workshop Recap: Hip Pain Relief for Long Beach & Los Angeles Athletes | Workshop Recap

Sports Chiropractic Care · Long Beach, CA

Suffering from hip pain in Long Beach or LA? Dr. Andrew breaks down FAI, labral tears & the best hip rehab exercises for climbers, runners & lifters.

On June 27th, we hosted the Hip Pain Rehab Workshop here at Elite Motion Chiro, your local sports chiropractor and rehab specialist in Long Beach, CA. If hip pain has been holding you back from climbing, running, or lifting anywhere in the Long Beach or greater Los Angeles area, this post is for you. Whether you found us searching for "hip pain relief Long Beach," "hip pain chiropractor near me," or "hip rehab Los Angeles," you're in the right place. Below is a full recap of what we covered, from the most common hip injuries we see in climbers, runners, and strength athletes throughout the LA and Long Beach area, to the exact rehab exercises we recommend, to my own story with hip injuries, and how our Long Beach clinic can help you get back to doing what you love.

Dr. Andrew D.C., sports chiropractor in Long Beach, California

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Common Hip Pathologies (And Why They Matter for Climbers, Runners, and Strength Athletes in LA and Long Beach)

We kicked things off by breaking down a few of the most common hip issues we see in active people throughout Long Beach, Los Angeles, and the surrounding South Bay area, and why they tend to hit climbers, runners, and strength athletes especially hard. If you train at one of the many local climbing gyms, run along the Long Beach shoreline, or lift at a gym anywhere in LA County, these are the hip issues our chiropractic office sees walk through the door most often.

Part 1

The Culprits

The "Tight Hip Flexor" Myth

Almost everyone who walks into our office with hip pain tells us the same thing: "my hip flexors are so tight." It's one of the most common complaints we hear, and it's also one of the most misunderstood. That nagging, tight feeling in the front of the hip is rarely caused by an actual shortened or restricted muscle. More often, it's a sign that the hip flexor is being asked to do more than it can currently handle, and it's responding with tension and discomfort. This distinction matters a lot for treatment, because if you keep stretching a muscle that actually needs to get stronger, you'll keep chasing the same tight feeling without ever fixing the real problem.

Femoral Acetabular Impingement (FAI)

FAI happens when there's extra bone growth or shape irregularity along the femoral head of the hip socket (acetabulum), causing the two to pinch against each other during certain movements. For climbers, this often shows up during high steps and hip-flexed positions on the wall. For runners, it can create pinching pain at the front of the hip during the drive phase of the gait cycle. For strength athletes, deep squats and hip-flexion-heavy lifts can become a major pain point. FAI doesn't always require surgery. In many cases, the right combination of mobility work, motor control, and strengthening around the hip can significantly reduce symptoms and improve function. If you've been searching for FAI treatment in Long Beach or a chiropractor near you who understands hip impingement in athletes, this is exactly what we specialize in.

Labral Tears of the Hip

The labrum is a ring of cartilage that lines the hip socket, helping to deepen the joint and provide stability. Labral tears often develop alongside FAI, but they can also occur from repetitive stress, especially in athletes who spend a lot of time in deep hip flexion or rotation, like climbers reaching for high, twisted footholds or lifters working through a big range of motion in the squat. Symptoms often include a deep, achy pain in the hip or groin, catching or clicking sensations, and a feeling of instability. Just like FAI, a labral tear diagnosis doesn't automatically mean surgery is the answer. A well-built rehab program can often restore pain-free function and get athletes back to their sport. We work with climbers, runners, and lifters throughout Long Beach and Los Angeles who are managing labral tears and want a non-surgical path back to full activity.

Free 15-Min Injury Screening for To Finally Fix Your Hip Pain

Part 2

Rehab Exercises That Actually Help

After covering the "why," we got into the "what to do about it." Here are the three exercises we walked through at the workshop, along with the coaching cues we gave.

1. Hip 90/90 Stretch (with Heel Lifts)

This stretch targets the posterior capsule of the hip, an area that's often overlooked compared to the front of the hip.

How to do it: Set up in the classic 90/90 position, with your front leg bent to 90 degrees in front of you and your back leg bent to 90 degrees behind you. Focus on feeling the stretch along the back side of the front leg. That's your cue that you're getting into the posterior hip capsule, which is exactly what we want.

To deepen the stretch, place a hand at the hip crease of the front leg and gently press down and forward. This shifts the fulcrum slightly forward and increases the stretch.

From here, you have two options: hold a static, deep stretch, or gently oscillate while in the stretched position.

Once you've spent some time stretching the posterior capsule, shift your attention to the back leg. From the 90/90 position, lift your heel up off the ground, working on internal rotation of that back leg. This pairs a mobility component with an active strengthening component, which is exactly the kind of combination that tends to produce lasting results.

2. Hip CARs (Controlled Articular Rotations)

Hip CARs are one of the most underrated tools for hip health, and for good reason.

The idea: Most people have plenty of hip range of motion on paper, but they've never actually trained control at their end ranges. Think about it, how often in daily life or even in your sport do you spend real time at the very edge of your hip's range of motion, under control? Almost never. That means those end ranges are essentially untrained territory, making them vulnerable.

Hip CARs slowly and deliberately move the hip through its full circular range of motion while maintaining maximal control the entire way, especially at the end ranges.

When to use it: This exercise works great as a standalone drill in a weight training program, as a warm-up before a hip-heavy lifting day, or as prep before a long day of climbing.

3. Anchored Bench Hip Flexor Crunch

This one is more advanced, but it directly addresses the "tight hip flexor" myth we talked about earlier.

What you'll need: A bench and a heavy kettlebell.

Setup: Place the kettlebell about two feet away from the side of the bench. Sit on the side of the bench facing the kettlebell, and put one foot into the handle/loop of the kettlebell.

The movement: Lower your upper back down and back, reaching toward the plane of the bench. Then crunch back up, just like a regular ab crunch. Because your leg is anchored by the kettlebell, this puts the hip flexor of that anchored leg under heavy tension throughout the movement.

Important coaching note: This exercise is intense on the hip flexor, so start with a limited range of motion and slowly increase it as you get stronger. Remember, the goal isn't to stretch the hip flexor. The goal is to strengthen it so it can actually handle the demands you're placing on it, whether that's climbing, running, or lifting heavy.

My Story with Hip Injuries

Toward the end of the workshop, I shared a bit of my own journey with hip injuries. Like a lot of the athletes I work with, I've had to dig myself out of an injured status, and it wasn't a quick fix. What actually worked wasn't endless stretching or passive treatment. It was applying real principles of strength training and rehab consistently over time: building strength through full ranges of motion, respecting the process, and trusting that the tissue needed to get stronger, not just looser. That experience shapes how I approach every patient who walks through our door with hip pain.

Part 3

How Elite Motion Chiro Can Help You (Your Long Beach Hip Pain Specialists)

Hip pain doesn't have to mean giving up the sport or activity you love. Whether you're dealing with FAI, a labral tear, or that stubborn "tight hip" feeling that just won't go away no matter how much you stretch, we can help. As a chiropractic clinic based in Long Beach and serving athletes throughout the greater Los Angeles area, our goal isn't just to reduce your pain, it's to get you back to climbing, running, or lifting at full capacity, with a body that can actually handle what you ask of it. If you've been putting off dealing with your hip pain, or you've tried other Long Beach chiropractors or physical therapists without lasting results, we'd love the chance to show you a different approach.

Ready to Take the First Step?

Book a Free 15-Min Injury Screening to Get Started

If you're dealing with hip pain and you're ready to stop guessing and start getting real answers, we'd love to help. Book your Free 15-Minute Injury Screening with us here at Elite Motion Chiro in Long Beach, serving patients throughout Long Beach, Los Angeles, and the surrounding South Bay. It's a no-pressure, no-obligation way to find out what's really going on with your hip and what it will take to get you back to full strength.

Serving hip pain patients in Long Beach, Los Angeles, Signal Hill, Lakewood, Seal Beach, and the greater South Bay area.