Side-Lying Hip Abduction
Equipment Needed
About This Exercise
A glute isolation exercise performed lying on your side, lifting the top leg upward to target the gluteus medius and hip abductors.
How to Perform
- 1
Setup
Lie on your side with your legs stacked on top of each other and your body in a straight line. Rest your head on your lower arm and place your top hand on your hip or in front of you for stability.
- 2
Lift the Top Leg
Keeping your top leg straight and your toes pointing forward, lift your leg upward by squeezing your outer glute and hip. Raise it as high as you can without rotating your hips or tilting your pelvis.
- 3
Squeeze at the Top
Hold briefly at the top of the movement and squeeze your outer glute hard. Keep your core engaged and your hips stacked throughout.
- 4
Lower with Control
Slowly lower your leg back to the starting position with control, maintaining tension in the glute. Repeat for all reps before switching sides.
Form Tips
- •Keep your hips stacked - do not roll forward or backward
- •Lead with your heel, not your toes, to better engage the glutes
- •Keep your core engaged and body in a straight line
- •Move slowly and with control throughout the movement
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- •Rolling the hips forward or backward during the lift
- •Rotating the toes upward instead of keeping them pointing forward
- •Using momentum to swing the leg up instead of controlled movement
- •Lifting from the lower back instead of engaging the outer glute
Primary Muscles
Secondary Muscles
Related Exercises
View all exercises
Banded Glute Bridge
Glute Medius, Glutes
A glute-focused exercise that adds resistance band tension to the standard glute bridge, increasing glute activation at the top of the movement.
Glute Bridge Abduction
Glute Medius, Glutes
A glute activation exercise that combines a glute bridge with a banded or bodyweight knee abduction at the top, targeting both the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius.
Clamshells
Glute Medius
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.
Fire Hydrants
Glute Medius, Glute Minimus
Banded glute activation exercise that targets the gluteus maximus.
Bird Dog
Core, Glutes
A core stability exercise that strengthens the abs, lower back, and glutes by extending opposite arm and leg from a tabletop position.
Plank Toe Taps
Core, Obliques, Transverse Abdominis
An advanced variation of the plank core exercise that targets the transverse abdominis.
Try Strong Curves Free for 7 Days
Get full access to home and gym workouts, recipes, progress tracking & our supportive community.
Start Your Free TrialCancel anytime.