Clamshells
Equipment Needed
About This Exercise
A glute activation exercise performed lying on your side with knees bent, opening and closing the top knee like a clamshell to target the gluteus medius and hip external rotators.
How to Perform
- 1
Setup
Lie on your side with your hips and knees bent at roughly 45 degrees, legs stacked on top of each other. Rest your head on your lower arm and place your top hand on your hip or in front of you for stability.
- 2
Open the Knee
Keeping your feet together, squeeze your glute and rotate your top knee upward as far as you can without letting your hips roll backward. Focus on driving the movement from your glute, not your lower back.
- 3
Squeeze at the Top
Hold briefly at the top of the movement and squeeze your glute hard. Keep your core engaged and your hips stacked throughout.
- 4
Lower with Control
Slowly lower your knee back to the starting position with control, maintaining tension in the glute. Repeat for all reps before switching sides.
Form Tips
- •Keep your feet together throughout the entire movement
- •Do not let your hips roll backward as you open your knee
- •Squeeze your glute hard at the top of each rep
- •Keep your core engaged and hips stacked
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- •Rolling the hips backward to get more range of motion
- •Using momentum instead of controlled glute activation
- •Not fully squeezing the glute at the top of the movement
- •Separating the feet instead of keeping them pressed together
Primary Muscles
Secondary Muscles
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