Perimenopause Hip Stability Exercises: Why Your Hips Need Extra Attention Right Now

You bend down to pick something up and feel a deep ache in your hip. You notice your hips feel wobbly going down stairs, or that your knees track inward when you squat in a way they never used to. Maybe you have started waking up with hip stiffness that takes a while to shake off in the morning.

If any of this sounds familiar, you are not imagining things. Your hips are genuinely changing during perimenopause, and the reasons are rooted in real hormonal biology. The good news is that targeted hip stability exercises can make a significant difference. You can build strength in this area, protect the joint, and move through your days with a lot more confidence.

What actually changes in your hips during perimenopause

Estrogen does far more than regulate your menstrual cycle. It plays an active role in maintaining joint health, collagen production, and the connective tissue that holds your hips together and keeps them moving smoothly.

As estrogen levels fluctuate and gradually decline during perimenopause, several things happen in and around your hip joint. The cartilage in your hip becomes more vulnerable to wear, because estrogen normally helps regulate cartilage metabolism and keep it resilient. The ligaments and tendons that stabilize your hip can lose some of their tensile strength, making the joint feel looser or less reliable. Muscle mass also tends to decline with hormonal shifts, particularly in the glutes and outer hip muscles that your hip depends on for stability.

There is also a fat redistribution pattern that many women notice during this transition. Body fat that previously settled around the hips and thighs begins shifting toward the abdomen. This changes your center of gravity in subtle ways, which can alter how you load your hip joint during walking, climbing stairs, or exercise.

Some women in perimenopause also report a feeling of increased looseness or instability in their hips and pelvis that reflects the broader hormonal landscape. None of these changes are permanent or inevitable. They are your body's signal that your hips need more intentional support than they required before.

Why hip stability matters beyond just comfort

Hip stability is not just about avoiding soreness. Your hips are the foundation of nearly every movement you make. When they are unstable, the effects ripple throughout your whole body.

Unstable hips increase wear and tear on the knee joint. When the muscles around your hip are not doing their job, your knees compensate. This is one reason knee pain is so common during perimenopause. Your lower back is also directly affected. Weak hip stabilizers force your lumbar spine to take on load it was not designed to handle, contributing to the back pain many women notice during this transition.

Fall risk is a real concern too. Research consistently shows that declining estrogen is associated with reduced balance and proprioception, which is your body's ability to sense its own position in space. Strong hip stabilizers are one of the most important physical buffers against falls. Bone density is another factor: perimenopause is the window when bone loss accelerates. Protecting your hip joint and building strength around it now directly reduces your risk of hip fractures later.

Strong, stable hips mean better walking mechanics, more confident movement, and less pain throughout your whole kinetic chain. The investment in hip stability work pays dividends far beyond the hip itself.

The best hip stability exercises for perimenopause

These exercises target the muscles that matter most for hip stability: your glutes, your hip abductors, your hip external rotators, and the deep hip stabilizers that act like a corset around the joint.

1. Clamshells. Lie on your side with your knees bent at about 45 degrees and your feet stacked. Keeping your feet together and your pelvis still, lift your top knee toward the ceiling as far as you can without rolling your hips back. Lower slowly. This targets your gluteus medius, the key muscle for lateral hip stability. Do 15 to 20 reps per side. Add a resistance band just above your knees when bodyweight becomes easy.

2. Side-lying hip abduction. Lie on your side with your bottom knee slightly bent for stability and your top leg straight. Lift your top leg to about 45 degrees, pause, and lower slowly. Keep your toes pointing forward throughout. This works the full hip abductor complex. Do 12 to 15 reps per side.

3. Single-leg glute bridge. Lie on your back with knees bent. Extend one leg straight. Press through the heel of your bent leg to lift your hips. Hold for 2 to 3 seconds at the top. Supporting your hips on one side fires your glutes and hip stabilizers much more intensely than the standard two-legged version. Do 10 to 12 reps per side.

4. Hip hinge. Stand with feet hip-width apart. Push your hips back (not down) while lowering your torso toward the floor, keeping your spine neutral. Stop when you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Drive through your heels to return to standing, squeezing your glutes at the top. This teaches proper hip mechanics, the foundation of stable hip movement under load.

5. Lateral band walks. Place a resistance band just above your knees or around your ankles. Stand with a slight bend in your knees and a neutral spine. Step sideways 10 to 15 steps to the right, then 10 to 15 steps back to the left. Keep tension on the band throughout. This builds the hip abductors and gluteus medius in a functional, standing position.

6. Step-ups. Stand facing a step or box (start with 6 to 8 inches of height). Step up with your right foot, driving through the heel to lift your body. Bring your left foot up to meet it, then step back down leading with your left. Do 12 reps per side. Focus on not letting your standing-leg knee cave inward, which is often a sign of gluteus medius weakness.

7. Sumo squat. Stand with feet wider than hip-width and toes turned out at about 45 degrees. Lower into a squat, keeping your knees tracking over your toes and your chest tall. Drive through your heels to return to standing. The wider stance emphasizes the inner hip stabilizers and adductors alongside the glutes. Do 12 to 15 reps.

If you are dealing with existing hip pain or a diagnosed hip condition, some of these exercises may need to be modified. Work within a pain-free range and consider consulting a physical therapist before adding load or resistance.

How to build a hip stability routine

You do not need a complicated program. Consistency with a well-chosen set of exercises matters far more than doing every possible variation.

Two to three days per week: Complete a 20-to-25-minute hip stability circuit. Choose four or five exercises from the list above and do 2 to 3 sets of each. Rest 45 to 60 seconds between sets. Rotate which exercises you include each session to train your hips from different angles.

Progress gradually. Start with bodyweight for all exercises. Once you can complete the reps with controlled form and no compensation (watch for hip hiking, knee cave, or breath-holding), add a light resistance band. Progress from a light band to a medium band over several weeks. Stability must come before load.

Include hip stability work in your broader strength training. Many compound movements like squats, deadlifts, and lunges build hip stability naturally. Focus on single-leg variations like split squats and single-leg deadlifts for an extra stability challenge.

Daily: mobility maintenance. Spend 5 to 10 minutes each morning on gentle hip mobility work: hip circles, figure-four stretches, and hip flexor stretches. This keeps the joint moving well and prepares it for the demands of the day. Stiff hips are more vulnerable to irritation than mobile ones.

Protecting your hip joint while you build strength

Building strength around your hip is important, but protecting the joint itself during that process is equally critical.

Warm up before every session. Cold, stiff joints are more vulnerable to irritation. Spend at least 5 minutes warming up with gentle movement before loading your hips. Walking, hip circles, and bodyweight squats get blood flowing to the area.

Control the eccentric phase. The eccentric phase is the lowering or lengthening portion of an exercise, like slowly lowering your leg in a clamshell or sinking into a squat. Slowing this phase down builds more tendon and connective tissue strength and reduces joint stress. If an exercise takes you 2 seconds up, take 3 to 4 seconds on the way down.

Watch your knee tracking. If your knees cave inward during squats or step-ups, your hip stabilizers are not firing well enough for that load or range. Reduce the depth or the weight until you can maintain proper alignment.

Avoid high-impact loading until you have a strength base. Running, jumping, and plyometric movements are much safer once your hip stabilizers are already doing their job. Build strength first.

Pay attention to hip flexor tightness. Most people sit for long portions of the day, which keeps the hip flexors shortened. Tight hip flexors pull your pelvis forward, which changes hip mechanics and can contribute to instability and pain. Stretch them regularly, especially if you spend a lot of time at a desk.

How your hips connect to your whole body

Your hips connect your upper and lower body. When they work well, nearly everything else moves better too.

Women who build strong hip stabilizers during perimenopause often notice improvements in areas they did not expect: less lower back pain, fewer knee complaints, better posture, and more confidence on uneven terrain. These are the downstream effects of a stable, well-functioning hip girdle.

Core strength and hip stability are also deeply intertwined. Your deep core muscles work alongside your hip stabilizers to create a stable base for all movement. If you are working on hip stability, pairing it with intentional core training will accelerate your results and provide even better joint protection.

PeriPlan's day-type system can help you match your hip training intensity to where your body is on any given day. On high-energy days, push the progressive overload. On lower-energy days, focus on gentle mobility work. Honoring those differences is what makes a training practice sustainable over time.

What to expect as you progress

Hip stability work takes patience. You will not feel dramatically different after one session. But within four to six weeks of consistent training, most women notice real changes.

You might notice less stiffness when you get up from a chair. Stairs feel more controlled. That wobbly feeling during single-leg activities diminishes. Hip aches that used to wake you up at night start to ease.

At around eight to twelve weeks, the changes become more pronounced. Exercises that felt shaky start feeling solid. You are ready to increase resistance. Your whole lower body moves with more coordination and confidence.

Keep your expectations realistic and your focus on consistent practice over perfection. Some days will feel harder than others, particularly around hormonal shifts. That is normal. What matters is showing up regularly and building the habit over months, not days.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not replace medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider about your specific situation.