Let’s unpack how to spot hip weakness early, why it matters for your run economy (and injury resilience), and—most importantly—how to fix it with purposeful, performance-driven strategies.

At The Impact Initiative - Woodstock Physical Therapy, we’ve worked with enough athletes to know: not all “tight” hips are actually tight. Sometimes, the issue isn’t stiffness—it’s weakness. And treating them the same way? That’s where frustration and plateaus begin.

When we talk about muscle activation, we’re talking about building intentional movement pathways that translate to stronger lifts, better running mechanics, and injury resilience.

At The Impact Initiative - Woodstock Physical Therapy, we don’t rely on dry needling as a one-size-fits-all solution. We use it strategically—when your system needs a reset, when you’re hitting a wall in your training, or when you’ve plateaued in your movement quality. And then we train your body to keep the change. Because pain-free movement is great—but pain-free performance is what we’re after.

A proper warmup is about priming your body for peak performance while reducing your risk of injury.

Activation exercises “wake up” dormant or underutilized muscles, ensuring they’re ready to perform their job during complex lifts like squat

Incorporating glute activation into training is essential for enhancing athletic performance, preventing injuries, and alleviating pain.