Exercises

Side-lying hip abduction

Lift your top leg sideways while keeping the pelvis stacked. This trains the lateral gluteal muscles without added equipment.

Side-lying hip abduction with the upper leg straight and lifted, lower knee bent and pelvis stacked.

No equipment · Mat

Source: ACE · Side Lying Hip Abduction

Step by step

  1. Lie on your side, support your head and bend the lower knee for balance.
  2. Keep the top leg straight, aligned with your torso, with toes facing forward.
  3. Lift the top leg a short distance without rolling your pelvis backward or hiking the hip.
  4. Lower slowly and complete your repetitions before switching sides.

Common mistakes

  • Rolling backward or turning the toes toward the ceiling.
  • Swinging the leg or moving it far forward.

Anatomy and technique: the references below. Region boundaries and movement diagrams are schematic. Exercise images are AI-generated illustrations.