Fire Hydrant

Muscles worked by the Fire Hydrant

Primary

AbductorsHip AbductorsGlute MediusGluteus Medius

Secondary

GlutesGluteus MaximusDeep CoreTransversus Abdominis

Also called: hip abductors, outer thigh, abductor muscles, glute med, gluteus medius, side glute.

Equipment

No equipment — this is a bodyweight exercise.

How to do the Fire Hydrant

1. Set up on hands and knees with the hands under the shoulders, the knees under the hips and the back flat.
2. Brace the trunk so the hips stay level and square to the floor.
3. Keeping the knee bent at about 90 degrees, lift one knee out to the side until the thigh is roughly parallel to the floor.
4. Pause briefly at the top without rotating the pelvis or leaning away from the working side.
5. Lower the knee back to the starting position under control.
6. Complete the repetitions on one side, then switch legs.

Form tips

• Move only at the hip; if the lower back twists or the torso tips, the range is too big.
• Keep the knee bent at the same angle for the whole set.
• Press the supporting hand and knee into the floor so the standing side does not sag.

At a glance

Fire Hydrant in German & Spanish

Descriptions, instructions and tips ship in all three languages in the JSON.

Related exercises

• Banded Clamshell
• Banded Fire Hydrant
• Banded Seated Hip Abduction
• Banded Standing Hip Abduction
• Banded Sumo Walk
• Clamshell Hold
• Clamshells
• Machine Hip Abduction

Exercise data (JSON)

The record below is exactly what exercises.json ships for this exercise — names, descriptions, instructions and tips in English, German and Spanish.

{
  "id": "fire-hydrant",
  "name_en": "Fire Hydrant",
  "name_de": "Fire Hydrant",
  "name_es": "Hidrante de Fuego",
  "description_en": "A bodyweight glute exercise performed on hands and knees: one knee is lifted out to the side, like a dog at a fire hydrant, while the hips and spine stay square to the floor. It targets the gluteus medius and the other hip abductors with no equipment.",
  "description_de": "Eine Gesäßübung mit dem eigenen Körpergewicht im Vierfüßlerstand: Ein Knie wird seitlich nach außen angehoben, wie ein Hund am Hydranten, während Hüfte und Wirbelsäule zum Boden ausgerichtet bleiben. Sie trainiert den Gluteus medius und die übrigen Hüftabduktoren ganz ohne Geräte.",
  "description_es": "Un ejercicio de glúteos con el peso corporal que se hace a cuatro apoyos: se levanta una rodilla hacia el lado, como un perro frente a un hidrante, mientras la cadera y la columna permanecen cuadradas respecto al suelo. Trabaja el glúteo medio y el resto de los abductores de cadera sin necesidad de equipo.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "push",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "body_part": "upper_legs",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "abductors",
    "gluteus_medius"
  ],
  "secondary_muscles": [
    "gluteus_maximus",
    "transverse_abdominis"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "endurance"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "leg_day",
    "glute_focus",
    "lower_back_safe",
    "no_axial_load"
  ],
  "variation_group": "hip-abduction",
  "is_unilateral": true,
  "is_bodyweight": true,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Set up on hands and knees with the hands under the shoulders, the knees under the hips and the back flat.",
    "Brace the trunk so the hips stay level and square to the floor.",
    "Keeping the knee bent at about 90 degrees, lift one knee out to the side until the thigh is roughly parallel to the floor.",
    "Pause briefly at the top without rotating the pelvis or leaning away from the working side.",
    "Lower the knee back to the starting position under control.",
    "Complete the repetitions on one side, then switch legs."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Geh in den Vierfüßlerstand, die Hände unter den Schultern, die Knie unter der Hüfte und der Rücken flach.",
    "Spann den Rumpf an, damit die Hüfte waagerecht und zum Boden ausgerichtet bleibt.",
    "Halte das Knie im Winkel von etwa 90 Grad gebeugt und heb ein Knie seitlich an, bis der Oberschenkel ungefähr parallel zum Boden ist.",
    "Halte oben kurz inne, ohne das Becken zu verdrehen oder dich von der arbeitenden Seite wegzulehnen.",
    "Senke das Knie kontrolliert zurück in die Ausgangsposition.",
    "Führe alle Wiederholungen auf einer Seite aus und wechsle dann das Bein."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Colócate a cuatro apoyos con las manos bajo los hombros, las rodillas bajo la cadera y la espalda plana.",
    "Aprieta el tronco para que la cadera se mantenga nivelada y cuadrada respecto al suelo.",
    "Manteniendo la rodilla doblada a unos 90 grados, levanta una rodilla hacia el lado hasta que el muslo quede aproximadamente paralelo al suelo.",
    "Haz una breve pausa arriba sin rotar la pelvis ni inclinarte hacia el lado contrario al que trabaja.",
    "Baja la rodilla de vuelta a la posición inicial de forma controlada.",
    "Completa las repeticiones de un lado y luego cambia de pierna."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Move only at the hip; if the lower back twists or the torso tips, the range is too big.",
    "Keep the knee bent at the same angle for the whole set.",
    "Press the supporting hand and knee into the floor so the standing side does not sag."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Bewege dich nur aus der Hüfte; verdreht sich der untere Rücken oder kippt der Oberkörper, ist der Bewegungsumfang zu groß.",
    "Halte das Knie den ganzen Satz über im gleichen Winkel gebeugt.",
    "Drück die Stützhand und das Standknie in den Boden, damit die Standseite nicht durchhängt."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Mueve solo la cadera; si la zona lumbar se tuerce o el torso se inclina, el recorrido es demasiado grande.",
    "Mantén la rodilla doblada con el mismo ángulo durante toda la serie.",
    "Empuja el suelo con la mano y la rodilla de apoyo para que el lado de apoyo no se hunda."
  ],
  "met": 3.5,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "start": "images/flat/fire-hydrant-start.webp",
      "peak": "images/flat/fire-hydrant-peak.webp"
    }
  }
}

Fetch just this exercise

const { exercises } = await fetch(
  "https://exercise-dataset.com/exercises.json"
).then(r => r.json());
const ex = exercises.find(e => e.id === "fire-hydrant");

Free for personal and commercial in-app use with attribution (“Exercise data by RepDB”) — see the license and ready-made attribution snippets. Redistributing the data as a dataset or API is not permitted.