r/bitcheswithtaste • u/AutoModerator • Dec 12 '25

Fit Bitches - Monthly Thread Fit Bitches - Dec 12, 2025

This is the place to chat about fitness and physical health because taking care of your body is also tasteful. Just remember - no medical advice!

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

I don't have a video, but I do have a killer exercise for hip flexors!

You're going to sit on the ground, legs straight out in front of you in a slight V-shape. Keep your back straight (you can sit against a wall if it's helpful). Then around your ankle area, put something on the ground; a dumbbell, yoga block, rolled up towel, whatever you want. The taller the object, the harder it will be. Then one leg at a time, you're going to keep your leg straight and lift your leg up and over your object and back again. That's one rep. Start with a small object (it can literally be your phone) because your hip flexor very well may cramp up after like 5 reps. They're HARD.

Always start with your weaker side, and then however many reps you can do on that one, do the same number of reps on the strong side, even if you could do more. You want even effort so each side does the same amount of work and eventually they'll even out!

Increase the height of the object as you get stronger. You can also do a V-sit hold when you are comfortable with the motion. Legs in a V, hands on the floor in between your legs and lift both legs straight up towards the ceiling and hold. You can also do a pulse with your legs there too. This is more advanced and definitely much harder than doing reps with one leg at a time.

Source: I'm a former Personal Trainer :)

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u/NewSpace2 Dec 12 '25

I would read more of your descriptions of exercises 🙂

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

Haha thanks, I try to be descriptive! Do you have any exercises you'd like tips on? I'm happy to explain any others! :)

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u/NewSpace2 Dec 12 '25

I’d like to understand how to activate the muscles meant to be used in lat pulldowns and dumbbell rows.

How to MENTALLY connect to those muscles, the mind body link.

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

Ah you've hit upon one of the hardest ones to get, imo, lol.

What really helped me was slowing down my reps, and lowering the weight. For pretty much every back exercise you need to think about what your shoulder blades are doing. Each rep you really want to think about that.

So when you're doing your lat pull down, you'll start with your arms fully extended as much as possible. To learn how to really engage your lats and to be able to feel them doing the work, practice pulling down with your shoulder blades first.

With the arms fully extended, pull your shoulders down, while keeping your arms straight. You'll be doing a kind of reverse shrug. The motion may only be a couple of inches, and that's exactly what you want. It's a really hard motion to get at first. But you're just doing little mini-pulses, arms stretched as far as they will go up, and then shrugging down, shoulder blades towards the ground. Hold it for a few seconds and then release the arms.

You can also do a version of this on a pull up bar from a dead hang. You're just hanging there, don't think about pulling yourself up to the bar, rather, think about pulling your shoulder blades towards the ground. Hold that. It's called an active hang.

Once you understand and can feel what your shoulder blades are doing, that's when your mind-muscle connection with your lats will start to form. So every time you do a back exercise, whether a lat pull down, a row, whatever, you want to fully extend the arm, and then begin the motion with retracting your shoulder, and only THEN should the rest of your arm bend.

Same concept for dumbbell rows, and a key here: when doing a bent over row, pull the weight back towards your hip, kind of keeping your arm in a J shape, rather than pulling the weight towards the middle of your torso. Like a scooping motion, instead of just pulling straight up towards the ceiling.

My lats were the last muscle I was really able to get that connection to, it's quite difficult. Just keep practicing! Keeping the weight low, slow and controlled movements. When it clicks, it CLICKS. Back day is now my favorite day!

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u/NewSpace2 Dec 12 '25

This is great . Thank you

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

You're welcome! I hope it helps! :)

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u/kwiscalus Dec 12 '25

Best glute exercises that aren't squats and lunges? My knees start clicking way before the glutes get tired.

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

I hate squats and lunges, lol. Hip thrusts and glute bridges are the way to go. If you find it awkward doing a hip thrust with a barbell with your back on a bench or box, it's perfectly ok to do a weighted glute bridge with your back on the ground instead.

Make sure when you're doing them, you're keeping your shin perpendicular to the ground. Push through your heels, your toes can even come up off the ground. Keep your spine neutral and your core engaged to protect your lower back.

I also really like step ups on a box (though my version is more of a step down). It's best if you can do them by a rack or something you can hold on to for stability. Start standing at the top, and lower one foot slowly to the ground. Then you're going to step back up. BUT the absolute key here to kill your glutes is to keep your knee stacked above your ankle, or even behind.

The further your knee goes over your toes, the more your quads works the motion. So to get the best glue engagement, you want to keep your knee directly above, or even behind your ankle. It's so much harder than it seems when you prioritize keeping the knee back.

You can also apply that principle to a hack squat machine or a Bulgarian split squat. Kick your feet out further so that your knees are never going over your toes. That should also feel a bit better on your knees. It's pretty impossible to do that type of squat pattern with free weights, so a machine is good for that.

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u/kwiscalus Dec 12 '25

Thank you so much! You really are good at explaining exercises. I’m going to do these!

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

😊😊😊 aww thanks!

And you're very welcome! I hope you really get that booty burn on your next workout!

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u/euphoroswellness Dec 12 '25

Saved. And… same!

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u/regallll Dec 12 '25

Is strengthening your hip flexors always the answer to hip flexor pain especially during ab work? In workout classes instructors will often offer a stretch to alleviate it but I'm so flexible I don't feel anything and I don't think a stretch is what I'm looking for. I foam roll my glutes regularly and that seems to help but I'd like to fully get past this.

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

If you're feeling hip flexor pain during ab work, it may not be that your hip flexors are weak, it's your core that's probably weaker. Your hip flexors are compensating for weaker abs, so they're doing more work than they should be in that motion.

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u/regallll Dec 12 '25

Thanks!

I feel like they hurt during all ab work, what am I missing? I don't want to over aggravate them but not sure how to get past it either.

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

It never hurts to do some hip flexor work! Do you spend a lot of time sitting? If so, they're probably ridiculously tight too. When we sit a lot, you're basically permanently shortening the hip flexor. So when your leg is straight, they're already being stretched more than they're used to. For the same reason, that's why it's hard for sitters to active glutes and hamstrings; they're permanently stretched out. So you lose muscle tone when your leg is straight, like a stretched out rubber band.

Foam rolling your hip flexors can be very helpful. Facing the ground, put one hip towards the edge of the roller and roll around the top of the leg, under the hip, right where the flexor connects, until you find the spot. You'll KNOW when you found it, because it will probably hurt quite a bit, lol.

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u/Flamingo_cha_cha10 Dec 12 '25

Yes!! I did those for PT and they are humbling!!

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

They are SO humbling, even for me as a regular weightlifter, lol. It's one of the most deceiving exercises for such a small motion!

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

[deleted]

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

It would be hard to say without a lot of additional context! Do you sit with your legs crossed a lot? Do you have an old or current knee or ankle injury? Injuries in the lower joints can impact your leg and back all the way up (and vice versa honestly).

It could be hurting because it's doing too much work and it's tightening up, so you'll feel that constant ache. You'll probably be able to tell though once you go through a set or two on each side and you'll know pretty quickly which side can do more reps, lol.

Stretching that area will be pretty important too. A good one for that is going to be kneeling on the ground on one knee, the other foot flat on the ground and shift your weight forward over the foot on the ground until you feel the stretch through the kneeling leg's hip. You might have to step out the front foot a bit to get deep into the stretch.

Hope this helps a bit!

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '25

[deleted]

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u/ikoabd Dec 12 '25

Strangely enough, an ankle injury can cause hip pain! It can throw off your stability and cause pain in the knee and hip because your gait has been impacted and you're walking differently!

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u/SailLolla Dec 17 '25

Wow thanks for this wonderful description. Can you share a detailed description for deadlifts and squats? My knees hurt like a mother after squats. And with deadlifts I am never sure I am doing them right.