Side-Lying Hip Abduction Hold

Muscles worked by the Side-Lying Hip Abduction Hold

Primary

AbductorsHip AbductorsGlute MediusGluteus Medius

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 Side-Lying Hip Abduction Hold

1. Lie on one side with the legs stacked and straight, and support the head on the lower arm.
2. Brace the trunk so the torso stays square and does not roll backwards.
3. Lift the top leg to about 30 to 45 degrees, keeping the toes pointing forward.
4. Hold the leg there for the prescribed time, breathing normally.
5. Lower the leg under control and repeat on the other side.

Form tips

• Turning the toes towards the ceiling shifts the work to the hip flexor; keep them facing forward.
• Take the leg slightly behind the line of the body to bias the glute medius.
• Rest the top hand on the floor in front of you if balance is the limiting factor.

At a glance

Side-Lying Hip Abduction Hold 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": "side-lying-hip-abduction-hold",
  "name_en": "Side-Lying Hip Abduction Hold",
  "name_de": "Side-Lying Hip Abduction Halt",
  "name_es": "Abducción de Cadera Acostado de Lado Isométrica",
  "description_en": "The top of the side-lying leg raise held for time: lying on one side with the top leg lifted and slightly behind the body, loading the glute medius isometrically.",
  "description_de": "Der obere Punkt des seitlichen Beinhebens, statisch gehalten: in Seitlage bleibt das obere Bein angehoben und leicht hinter der Körperlinie, was den Gluteus medius isometrisch belastet.",
  "description_es": "La parte alta de la elevación lateral de pierna mantenida en el tiempo: tumbado de lado con la pierna superior elevada y ligeramente por detrás del cuerpo, cargando el glúteo medio de forma isométrica.",
  "category": "strength",
  "force_type": "static",
  "mechanic": "isolation",
  "difficulty": "beginner",
  "body_part": "upper_legs",
  "primary_muscles": [
    "abductors",
    "gluteus_medius"
  ],
  "goals": [
    "hypertrophy",
    "rehabilitation"
  ],
  "tags": [
    "leg_day",
    "knee_safe",
    "shoulder_safe",
    "no_axial_load",
    "lower_back_safe"
  ],
  "variation_group": "hip-abduction",
  "is_unilateral": true,
  "is_bodyweight": true,
  "instructions_en": [
    "Lie on one side with the legs stacked and straight, and support the head on the lower arm.",
    "Brace the trunk so the torso stays square and does not roll backwards.",
    "Lift the top leg to about 30 to 45 degrees, keeping the toes pointing forward.",
    "Hold the leg there for the prescribed time, breathing normally.",
    "Lower the leg under control and repeat on the other side."
  ],
  "instructions_de": [
    "Leg dich auf die Seite, die Beine gestreckt übereinander, und stütz den Kopf auf dem unteren Arm ab.",
    "Spann den Rumpf an, damit der Oberkörper gerade bleibt und nicht nach hinten kippt.",
    "Heb das obere Bein auf etwa 30 bis 45 Grad, die Zehen zeigen nach vorn.",
    "Halte das Bein für die vorgegebene Zeit dort oben und atme ruhig weiter.",
    "Senk das Bein kontrolliert ab und wiederhole das Ganze auf der anderen Seite."
  ],
  "instructions_es": [
    "Túmbate de lado con las piernas estiradas y apiladas, apoyando la cabeza sobre el brazo inferior.",
    "Aprieta el tronco para que el torso quede cuadrado y no ruede hacia atrás.",
    "Eleva la pierna superior unos 30 o 45 grados, con los dedos del pie apuntando al frente.",
    "Mantén la pierna ahí durante el tiempo indicado, respirando con normalidad.",
    "Baja la pierna de forma controlada y repite del otro lado."
  ],
  "tips_en": [
    "Turning the toes towards the ceiling shifts the work to the hip flexor; keep them facing forward.",
    "Take the leg slightly behind the line of the body to bias the glute medius.",
    "Rest the top hand on the floor in front of you if balance is the limiting factor."
  ],
  "tips_de": [
    "Zeigen die Zehen zur Decke, wandert die Arbeit in den Hüftbeuger - lass sie nach vorn zeigen.",
    "Führ das Bein leicht hinter die Körperlinie, um den Gluteus medius stärker zu treffen.",
    "Leg die obere Hand vor dir auf den Boden, wenn das Gleichgewicht das Limit ist."
  ],
  "tips_es": [
    "Girar los dedos hacia el techo pasa el trabajo al flexor de la cadera; mantenlos mirando al frente.",
    "Lleva la pierna algo por detrás de la línea del cuerpo para enfatizar el glúteo medio.",
    "Apoya la mano superior en el suelo por delante si el equilibrio es lo que te limita."
  ],
  "met": 3.5,
  "images": {
    "flat": {
      "main": "images/flat/side-lying-hip-abduction-hold-main.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 === "side-lying-hip-abduction-hold");

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.