💡 How to follow: The machines aren't the problem — how you use them is. Load your hip rotators on the hip-rotator machine, then use the leg press to strengthen the hip capsule's ability to rotate internally. Stronger hip capsules mean less back compensation.
1
Load the Hip Rotators
Drill 1Seated, per side
On the hip-rotator machine, the resistance helps you load your hip rotators — seated with one leg extended onto the support pad, rotating through the hip.
- Seat at the hip-rotator machine
- One leg extended on the support pad
- Resistance loads the hip rotators
- Rotate through the hip — not the back
2
Internal Rotation on the Leg Press
Drill 2Steady reps
On the leg press, strengthen the hip capsule's ability to rotate internally — feet on the footplate, legs bent, driving the knees toward internal rotation.
- Feet on the footplate, legs bent
- Focus: capsule rotating internally
- Control the rotation through the hip
- Keep the lower back neutral
3
Stronger Capsule, Less Back Compensation
PayoffConsistency
Stronger hip capsules mean less back compensation — your lower back stops making up for a hip that can't rotate, so rotation feels freer and pain subsides.
- Hip rotation carries the movement
- Less load dumped on the lower back
- Feel the hip capsule do the work
- Repeat consistently across sessions