Objective To study changes in kinematics and joint coordination of the waist and hips during sit-to-stand and stand-to-sit tasks in patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Methods The Vicon 3D motion capture system was used to collect the kinematics data from 20 healthy controls and 20 LDH subjects, and differences in movement patterns of the lumbar spine and hip joints during sitting and standing tasks were compared between two groups through statistical parametric mapping (SPM). Results During sit-to-stand task, the lumbar spine flexion and extension range and hip joint abduction angle of LDH subjects were significantly limited, and the hip flexion angle increased. SPM analysis showed that for both groups at initial stage of sit-to-stand (10%-13%), there was a statistically significant difference in flexion angle of the lumbar spine, and lumbar flexion angle of LDH subjects was significantly reduced, while hip flexion angle at 2%-14% phase was significantly increased. During stand-to-sit phase (65%-69%), LDH subjects showed increased hip abduction angle. Conclusions LDH subjects have limited lumbar flexion and hip abduction functions during sitting and standing, and they need to be compensated with increased hip flexion activities to complete functional tasks. In clinical evaluation, changes in motor function of the spine and hips should be focused on.