My wonky left hip has been causing me grief my whole life.

For as long as I can remember, my left hip isn't as mobile as my right.

I can't cross over my left hip because it's too stiff, and I can't do as many mobility drills on that side.

All of which lead to a pretty sucky experience.

So after many months of stretching...

Drilling myself mad using my M.U.S.C.LE strategy with the massage gun...

Hundreds of dollars spent working with my physio to nail down the cause....

House and hours scrutinising the muscles of the hip to figure out which one of them was causing the issue..

Psoas

Quadratus lumborum

Sartorius

Piriformis

Iliacus

Tensor facia latae

...

...

...

I THINK I FOUND THE SOLUTION!!

(albeit a pretty time consuming one)

Just before sitting down to write this email, I spent about 10 minutes doing some hip activation drills.

Yes, yes, I know I have a stiff hip so shouldn't I be doing more mobility work instead?

Well a couple weeks back I figured it was worth trying to attack the problem from an opposite approach—by giving my hip more strengthening vs endlessly trying to making it more mobile.

Strengthening has made my hip feel and move better so far.

If I were to dig deeper, I think I may just have a left hip that's predisposed to being weaker than it should and it will just need a lot more individual work to function at a normal baseline level.

The weakness in the hip leads to instability, which forces my surrounding hip muscles to tighten up as a result to offer more support to the joint.

This secondary tightness is the wonkiness I have felt in my hip my whole life😢

I can't say with 100% certainty though—I'll needa check with my physio in a few weeks' time to see if my hypothesis holds strong.

Just like my hip, we all have those "tight spots" in life where things feel rigid or painful—problems that have been around so long they almost feel like part of us.

And it’s easy to get trapped in old ways of thinking, convinced that a problem will actually fix itself.

Look, take it from me, someone who's suffered for years just trapping myself in my own head and needing boatloads of therapy to feel 'free' again.

Whenever you get stuck with an issue—experiment, experiment, experiment.

You're stuck because what you're trying isn't working, so it's better to free yourself quickly before 'getting stuck' becomes part of your identity.

When you cling on to methods that don't serve you anymore, all you do is reinforce your own frustrations and limit your potential.

But, by staying flexible and open to change, you give yourself the chance to grow—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

So, whether it's a wonky hip or an outdated mindset, consider loosening up on old beliefs/methods and start opening up to fresh perspectives.

You might just find that relief is one new approach away.

Nicholas Ng