Expert Virtual Rehab for Hip Labrum Tears, Hip Flexor Strains, Groin Strains, FAI (Femoroacetabular Impingement), and Snapping Hip Syndrome

The Corexcell virtual hip rehab method is a proven online injury rehab program designed to help athletes and active adults across the United States fix hip pain from anywhere, without surgery, injections, or pain medication.

Athletic man experiencing hip and groin pain while running on trail

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How It Works

The Corexcell Rehab Method for hip pain is designed to help clients worldwide understand the true biomechanical causes behind hip and pelvic dysfunction and why most hip injuries do not originate at the site of pain itself. Instead, hip pain almost always develops when the deep stabilizers that control the pelvis and femur are too weak to properly stabilize the hip girdle.

Most physical therapists believe they are correcting hip stability by training the glutes using bridges, clamshell variations, and band walks. These exercises do train the glutes, but the wrong parts of the glutes, reinforcing compensation patterns in the lateral rotators (piriformis, TFL, biceps femoris, sartorius).

In most adult cases, these exercises exacerbate the hip problem, leading to more irritation with labrum tears, FAI impingement, hip bursitis, snapping hip, or chronic groin/hip flexor pain.

We believe this traditional philosophy is fundamentally flawed, which explains why so many people never fully recover through standard physical therapy.

At Corexcell, we take the opposite approach: rather than using exercises that create more compensations like clam shell variations, we focus on true hip stability by isolating the medial hip rotators that directly stabilize the pelvis and control femoral alignment. These muscles are:

  • anterior glute medius
  • glute minimus
  • adductor chain
  • medial hamstring

When these true deep stabilizers are weak or fail to activate properly, the pelvis tilts or rotates, the femur drifts inward or rotates excessively, and the hip joint is forced to absorb excessive torque, compression, and shear. This dysfunctional pattern is the root driver behind nearly every common hip condition, including labrum tears, FAI impingement, hip bursitis, snapping hip syndrome, groin strains, and chronic alignment-related pain.

The Corexcell online system restores proper pelvic and hip mechanics through four targeted exercises that strengthen these stabilizers while completely eliminating compensations. The rule is simple: you must feel only the target muscle working. If compensations take over and the target muscle is not felt, that muscle will not strengthen and progress will stop.

Note: We also teach how many knee, low back, and even foot & ankle issues originate from weakness in these same hip stabilizers.

Ready to start your recovery today?

Prefer In Person Sessions? Clients from across the country have the option to fly into Greenville, SC (GSP airport) for hands-on sessions – though most achieve full recovery completely virtually through our remote coaching and rehab app.

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Fix Chronic Hip Pain: 4 Targeted Exercises for Hips & Glutes

The Corexcell virtual hip rehab method uses a unique 4-exercise system that fixes nearly every type of hip injury without surgery, pain pills, or injections, all from the comfort of your home.

This proven online system isolates and strengthens the true weak link in your hips while eliminating the compensations that most traditional exercises unintentionally reinforce.

Most physical therapists prescribe familiar exercises like clamshells, band walks, hip bridges, or abductor machine work. The issue is that these movements activate the glute max, upper glute medius, TFL, piriformis, and other lateral rotators — the same overactive muscles already contributing to hip dysfunction.

Four foundational hip exercises Corexcell method for hip pain relief

These compensations cause the femoral head to glide forward or upward in the socket, increasing pressure on the labrum, tightening the hip flexors, and irritating the groin. This is why stretching and mobility work rarely solve hip pain long-term; the stabilizers remain weak, and the joint continues to load incorrectly.

The Corexcell system solves this by isolating the medial hip stabilizers — the muscles most rehab programs fail to target. These include the anterior fibers of the glute medius, glute minimus, deep adductors, and semimembranosus. When these muscles activate correctly, they center the femoral head inside the hip socket, stabilize the pelvis, and dramatically reduce joint irritation.

Anterior glute medius activation point showing where to feel the muscle

Once these stabilizers begin working through our virtual program, clients notice the hip feels supported instead of pinched, unstable, or stuck.

The goal is simple: you must feel only the target muscles working, nothing else.

If you feel compensations instead of the correct muscle, the weak link will never strengthen.

Our online system ensures perfect isolation through built-in activation tests in the COREX12 Rehab App and virtual coaching guidance. You’ll confirm you’re activating the right muscle in the correct range before adding weight or progressing.

The 4 Foundational Exercises Target

  • (Exercise 1) Anterior portion of the glute medius
  • (Exercise 2) Glute minimus
  • (Exercise 3) Adductor brevis, adductor longus, gracilis
  • (Exercise 4) Semimembranosus (medial hamstring)

Glute medius glute minimus and semimembranosus hamstring anatomy diagram
Gracilis and adductor longus inner thigh muscles anatomy for hip stability

Compensations You Must Avoid Feeling

If you feel any of the following muscles working, the weak link is not being activated:

  • Piriformis
  • TFL
  • Sartorius
  • Biceps femoris

TFL and sartorius hip compensation muscles anatomy to avoid activating
Piriformis biceps femoris and IT band compensation muscles to avoid

Ready to start your recovery today?

Problems with FAI & Hip Labrum Tear Surgeries

In many hip labrum tear and FAI cases, surgery can be avoided when the stabilizers of the pelvis and femoral head are retrained correctly using the Corexcell hip system. However, certain severe conditions, such as large or unstable labrum detachments, advanced cam or pincer impingement, or labrum tears that repeatedly catch, lock, or buckle the hip, may require surgery.

Hip labrum tear anatomy diagram showing torn and repaired labrum

Significant FAI bone deformities (large cam/pincer lesions) can physically block hip movement, making purely exercise-based rehab less predictable.

FAI femoroacetabular impingement anatomy showing cam and pincer types

Unstable or displaced labrum tears often create sharp pinching, clicking, or “giving way.” This prevents the hip from centering itself during walking, squatting, or rotational movement.

But the bigger issue is this: even after hip surgery, if the medial hip stabilizers remain weak, the femoral head will continue to glide forward or upward inside the socket. When this happens, the repaired labrum or reshaped joint continues absorbing excessive stress. The TFL, hip flexor, piriformis, and outer glute compensate again, the hip stays unstable, and the same cycle of pinching, snapping, and irritation returns. Surgery does not fix the root mechanical problem. Stabilizer activation does, through our virtual hip rehab program and its precise 4-exercise system.

Why You Shouldn’t Strengthen Hip Flexor or Hamstrings after Pulls

One of the biggest mistakes physical therapists make when treating hip injuries is assuming that when someone pulls their groin, adductors, or hip flexor, the solution is to strengthen those exact muscles. This approach is completely backwards. Groin strains and hip flexor strains almost never happen because those muscles are “weak.” They happen because those muscles are already overworking due to a lack of stability from the glute medius and glute minimus.

Groin and hip flexor strain rehabilitation exercise demonstration with anatomy overlay

When the glute medius and glute minimus fail to provide proper pelvic support, the groin and hip flexor are forced to take over during movements like kicking, sprinting, swinging, cutting, or even basic lifting patterns. Over time, the adductors and hip flexor become overdeveloped, overused, and overloaded, which is what leads to the eventual strain.

This is why so many people feel temporary relief when they strengthen the groin or hip flexor, only to flare it up again the moment they return to activity, because the underlying imbalance was never corrected.

For this reason, at Corexcell we do NOT strengthen the groin or hip flexor immediately after a strain, or in clients with a history of chronic groin or hip flexor pulls. Strengthening an already overworked muscle only reinforces the imbalance that caused the injury in the first place.

Instead, we correct the true root cause by using 3 of our 4 foundational hip exercises to target the glute medius, glute minimus, and semimembranosus, to help stabilize the pelvis. These muscles must activate correctly, with zero compensations, during our loaded exercise testing before the groin or hip flexor can be safely retrained through our virtual hip rehab program.

Once the glutes and medial rotators are firing properly, we reintroduce controlled groin and hip flexor strengthening variations to fully retrain the injured tissue and restore balanced, durable strength for sport.

By fixing the glute imbalances first, and retraining the groin or hip flexor second, clients experience long-term correction, not temporary relief or repeated setbacks.

Stop Strengthening Pulled Hamstrings

Hamstring strains follow the same pattern as groin and hip-flexor strains:

the injury happens because the hamstring is overworking, not because it’s weak.

The glute medius & minimus are the primary stabilizers during hip extension. When both muscles are weak and fail to control the pelvis, the hamstring is forced to take on far more work than it is designed for. This overload, not hamstring “weakness”, is what causes most hamstring pulls. Strengthening the hamstring after a strain may provide temporary relief, but it almost always leads to another flare-up once the client returns to sprinting, lifting, or athletic movement, because the true weak link was never corrected.

Outer hamstring strains (biceps femoris) are classic signs of lateral-rotator dominance. If a client performs band walks, clamshells, or other common PT “glute” exercises this involves lateral rotation, since the biceps femoris is a lateral rotator, you put even more stress on it doing these exercises. The medial hip rotators, the actual weak link, remain untrained.

Medial hamstring strains (semimembranosus/semitendinosus) often stem from weakness in the adductor chain and hip-flexor complex, combined with poor glute medius and minimus activation. But the rule remains the same: do not strengthen the hamstring until the hip stabilizers are fixed first.

At Corexcell, we temporarily remove all hamstring-focused exercises and shift the program to three primary movements targeting the glute medius, glute minimus, and adductor chain, with zero compensations. Once pelvic stability and alignment are restored, it becomes safe to reintroduce hamstring exercise variations to rebuild strength and durability without risking another pull through our virtual hip rehab program.

Fix Hip Rotation & Pelvic Alignment: Left vs. Right Hip Pain

Once clients master the major hip and glute weaknesses through the Corexcell 4-exercise system in our virtual hip rehab program, and you can begin loading the groin, hip flexor, and hamstring without pain, the next step is addressing pelvic rotation and hip hike. These imbalances create torque and compression on the hip joint and can directly contribute to labrum tears, hip flexor strains, groin strains, FAI (impingement), piriformis syndrome, and hamstring pulls.

However, attempting to manipulate the pelvis before the medial rotators are strengthened — including the anterior glute medius, glute minimus, adductor chain, and semimembranosus — is a major mistake. If these stabilizers aren’t firing correctly, rotational and lateral corrections only increase hip and lower-back pressure, even if the new position looks more mechanically “advantageous.”

Hip Rotation: Dominant-Leg Hip Injuries

Most people naturally rotate toward their non-dominant side throughout daily movement. For example, right-handed individuals typically rotate into their left side when reaching, lifting, or swinging. Over years, this creates a predictable imbalance: the pelvis drifts further into rotation, the dominant-side glute medius becomes rotationally weak, and the dominant-side hip flexor and groin become overactive.

This causes the dominant leg to absorb more frontal-plane load, dramatically increasing the likelihood of IT Band tightness, groin pulls, hip flexor strains, FAI symptoms, and labrum irritation. This is also why most labrum tears, and even hip replacements, in swinging and throwing athletes happen on the dominant-leg side.

In our online system, we correct this by retraining rotation toward the opposite direction of your habitual pattern. Using controlled isometric positions such as the standing punch or standing swing, the pelvis is rotated into the non-habitual direction and held at end range. Guided through the COREX12 Rehab App and virtual coaching, this strengthens the underactive medial hip chain, repositions the pelvis, and gradually reduces torque on the dominant hip.

Hip Hike: Non-Dominant-Leg Hip Injuries

Right-handed athletes (and most active individuals) also develop a second predictable compensation: the right side becomes compressed through the hip flexor, groin, and abdominal chain. Because they are constantly rotating left, the left glute max and upper glute medius become overly dominant, while the left iliacus, groin, and lower abdominal chain become weak and underactive.

This imbalance eventually creates a lateral pelvic shift and a slight S-curve in the spine. The left hip begins to sit higher, forming a classic hip hike. The left hip flexor, quadriceps, hamstrings, TFL/IT Band, and lateral hip tissues feel chronically tight. This pattern is also responsible for many cases of piriformis syndrome, SI joint pain, and a pinching sensation in the left hip flexor (sartorius, pectineus, and rectus femoris).

To fix a true hip hike in our virtual program, we use our Core Fixer, which activates the iliacus and transverse abdominis in a posterior pelvic tilt without feeding the

overactive psoas or rectus abdominis. This restores symmetry, corrects anterior pelvic tilt, levels the pelvis, and removes the torque that has been driving chronic one-sided hip pain.

Hip Weakness Causes Achilles Tendonitis, Plantar Fasciitis & Chronic Ankle Pain

Most lower-leg injuries, including Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, and recurring ankle sprains, rarely begin at the foot or ankle. They almost always originate at the hip. When the glute medius, glute minimus, and adductor stabilizers are weak, the pelvis becomes unstable and the femur collapses inward with every step. This forces the foot and ankle into poor alignment, creating excessive strain on tissues that were never meant to handle the load.

Hip weakness causing ankle pain Achilles tendonitis and plantar fasciitis anatomy

When the hip cannot stabilize the leg properly, the Achilles tendon is overstretched, the arch collapses and irritates the plantar fascia, and the ankle becomes unstable, making sprains far more likely and far slower to heal. These are not isolated foot problems; they are compensation problems caused by upstream hip weakness.

Once the medial hip rotators activate correctly using the Corexcell 4-exercise system in our virtual hip rehab program, the pelvis levels out, the leg tracks correctly, and pressure on the Achilles, plantar fascia, and ankle stabilizers decreases naturally. Only after hip stability is restored do we introduce loaded foot and ankle training such as calf raises, single-leg balance work, and controlled landing mechanics. Attempting these exercises before pelvic stability is corrected often leads to repeated ankle sprains or Achilles flare-ups.

This is why chronic foot and ankle issues resolve so consistently with our online system: fix the hip, and the entire lower chain finally moves the way it was designed to.

How Stretching Can Hurt Your Hip Injury Worse

Most people dealing with hip pain, whether it’s a labrum issue, hip flexor strain, groin strain, FAI, or snapping hip, are told the same thing:

Hip flexor stretch to avoid wrong exercise for hip pain with X mark

“You need to stretch your hip flexors, groin, piriformis, or hamstrings.”

In the Corexcell virtual program, stretching or mobility work too early almost always makes hip pain worse. When the hips and pelvis are unstable, the femur sits in a compromised position and is pulled out of alignment by compensations from the TFL, groin, hip flexors, or quads. Stretching into this imbalance simply increases joint pressure and further irritates the connective tissue.

Even advanced mobility techniques fail for the same reason: you’re trying to move a joint that isn’t properly anchored, which only reinforces the compensations.

Once the hip complex is strong enough to stabilize the femur and support the pelvis through our online injury rehab program, mobility improves naturally, because the body is no longer fighting against weakness or misalignment.

True mobility comes from strength and control, not forcing movement through instability.

Corex12 Full Body Rehab App

Our Rehab App is called COREX12 — the cornerstone of our virtual hip rehab program. It’s a 3-phase system built around 12 foundational exercises designed to fix the core, hips, shoulders, and legs: all accessible from anywhere in the US.

Corexcell rehab app and website displayed on laptop phone and tablet for hip program

You can follow the full-body program or focus only on the lower-body track (perfect for hip pain, labrum tears, FAI, groin strains, or snapping hip) or the shoulder track as needed. There are also additional modules for the neck, wrists, and ankles.

3-Phase Approach to Hip Rehab

Phase 1: The Foundations

Phase 1 focuses on mastering the four foundational Corexcell hip exercises through precise video instruction and built-in activation testing directly in the app. During this phase, clients learn how to feel the correct target muscle in each movement without letting compensations take over. The goal is to build a strong mind-muscle connection and perfect technique with light weight before progressing. We also include two key core exercises to fix anterior pelvic tilt and a wall-squat variation as a fifth exercise when pain-free, allowing clients to begin developing compound strength while still correcting the underlying weaknesses.

Phase 2: Advancements

Once you pass all four activation tests in the app, you advance into Phase 2. The original foundational exercises are replaced with more demanding variations that target the same stabilizers from new angles and at higher intensities, fully correcting the weakness patterns responsible for the injury. Because pressure is now removed from compensating muscles, this is also when we introduce hip-rotation and pelvic-alignment drills from the previous section, along with a structured stretching routine. Clients also begin a simple, high-rep strength program at this stage, including movements such as single-leg RDLs, dumbbell deadlifts, and bodyweight lunges and squats.

Phase 3: Corrective Lifting

In Phase 3, we combine the advanced corrective work from Phase 2 with a foundational lifting program. This phase adapts to each client’s training background and restores full hip strength, control, and durability so you can return to higher-level lifting, running, and sport without falling back into old compensation patterns

Ready to start your recovery today?

Man running pain-free after hip rehabilitation recovery

Frequently Asked Questions about Hip Pain & Corexcell Rehab

  • The fastest way to relieve hip pain is not more stretching, foam rolling, or random “glute” work. It is activating the medial hip stabilizers that center the femoral head and level the pelvis.
  • At Corexcell, our virtual hip rehab program uses a proven 4-exercise hip system that targets the anterior glute medius, glute minimus, deep adductors, and semimembranosus.
  • When these stabilizers fire correctly, the hip joint feels supported instead of pinched, and compensation from the TFL, piriformis, hip flexors, and outer glute finally shuts off.
  • This hip-first approach is why clients nationwide with labrum tears, hip flexor strains, groin strains, FAI, snapping hip, and recurring hamstring pulls often feel smoother motion and less irritation far faster than with traditional physical therapy.

  • Most clients notice meaningful improvement within weeks and significant pain reduction around the 2-month mark.
  • The hip starts to feel supported instead of pinched, movement becomes smoother, and daily activity gets easier because the stabilizers finally start doing their job.
  • However, early relief does not mean the hip is fully corrected. Full recovery requires rebuilding hip stabilizers so alignment holds under heavier loads.
  • The key is precise activation through our app tests and virtual coaching: the cleaner the technique, the faster the results.
  • Full recovery timelines (with consistent, compensation-free activation):
    • Hip Labrum Tear: 6–9 months
    • Hip Flexor or Groin Strain: 2–3 months
    • Hamstring Pull: 2–3 months
    • FAI (Femoroacetabular Impingement): 3–5 months
    • Snapping Hip Syndrome: 3–5 months

  • Most traditional programs focus on stretching the hip flexors, groin, piriformis, or hamstrings and strengthening with clamshells, band walks, bridges, and lateral hip drills.
  • These movements mostly activate the TFL, piriformis, hip flexors, glute max, and upper glute medius — the same overactive muscles already pushing the femoral head forward and upward in the socket.
  • Because the medial hip stabilizers are never isolated or tested for activation, the femoral head stays misaligned, and issues like labrum irritation, bursitis, FAI pinching, snapping hip, and groin/hip-flexor strains keep coming back as soon as you return to running, lifting, or sport.
  • Stretching can even worsen hip pain when done on an unstable pelvis, because it drives more motion through a joint that is not properly anchored.
  • Our online system fixes this with built-in activation tests and virtual guidance that guarantee compensation-free progress.

  • Yes, this is one of the most overlooked causes of downstream issues. Weak medial hip stabilizers allow the pelvis to tip and rotate and the femur to drift, rotate, or collapse, which changes how force travels through the entire leg and spine.
  • This upstream instability is a major driver of:
    • Groin, hip flexor, and hamstring strains
    • Piriformis syndrome and SI joint pain
    • Achilles tendonitis, plantar fasciitis, and chronic ankle sprains

Clients in our virtual program routinely report that fixing the hip stabilizers resolves or dramatically reduces these downstream issues

  • Imaging (MRI, X-ray) can be useful to rule out severe structural damage, but many people have labrum tears or FAI on imaging with no symptoms, while others have significant pain with “clean” scans. Mechanics matter as much as the picture.
  • In many non-surgical cases of hip labrum tears, bursitis, FAI, snapping hip, and chronic groin/hip-flexor or hamstring strains, injections and medications only mask symptoms while the same compensation patterns continue to overload the joint.
  • The Corexcell virtual program focuses on rebuilding hip and pelvic stability first so the femoral head centers properly during everyday movement.
  • As alignment improves and the hips begin doing their job, many clients experience dramatic reductions in pain and snapping and can avoid injections and surgery by correcting the mechanics that were overloading the joint in the first place.

  • Yes, the entire Corexcell shoulder rehab system is delivered online via the COREX12 app, video coaching, and virtual 1-on-1 sessions for clients across the US.
  • The COREX12 Rehab App or virtual private sessions are available worldwide. We have many users in Europe, Australia, and beyond successfully following the self-guided program.
  • Prefer hands-on? Clients can fly into Greenville, SC for intensive sessions — but most never need to.

See Our Testimonials >>

It’s simple, choose the option that fits you:

  • Self-guided Rehab App (available worldwide) — Purchase the COREX12 Rehab App directly on our website. Get instant access to all phases, videos, tests, and tracking. Start Phase 1 today.
  • NOTE: The COREX12 app is a web-based progressive app (PWA) delivered through our site, NOT in the Apple App Store or Google Play.
  • Private virtual coaching (available worldwide) — Book a 1-on-1 virtual session package for personalized assessment, form feedback, and faster results. The app is included free with any coaching package.

See Real Client Testimonials →

Corexcell client testimonials with 5 star reviews from real patients for hip rehab

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