The Bodyweight Hip Abduction is a beginner-friendly bodyweight strength exercise that targets the glutes. Here's how to do it right — and what to stop doing.
Primary musclesGlutes
Secondary muscles—
EquipmentBodyweight
LevelBeginner
TypeStrength
3D demo in the EGON app
01 Execution
How to do the Bodyweight Hip Abduction
Lie on your side on a mat with your legs stacked, your bottom arm extended under your head for support.
Stack your hips squarely on top of each other and bend the bottom leg slightly for stability.
Keep the top leg straight with the toes pointing slightly forward and your foot flexed.
Lift the top leg straight up toward the ceiling in a smooth, controlled motion.
Stop when you feel a strong contraction in the side of the hip — usually around 30 to 45 degrees.
Lower the leg back down slowly without letting it touch the bottom leg, then repeat for reps.
02 The payoff
Why it earns its spot
Builds the glute medius for hip stability and rounded glute shape.
Improves knee tracking under squats and lunges.
Activates the lateral hip muscles before lower-body training.
03 Don't do this
Common mistakes
Rolling the hips back to lift the leg higher, which lets the hip flexors take over from the glute medius.
Lifting the leg too fast, which removes the time-under-tension that builds the glute.
Pointing the toes up instead of flexing the foot, which shifts the work off the side hip.
Letting the top hip drift forward — kills the side-glute contraction and turns the lift into a leg swing.
EGON Put it on record
Track it in EGON.
Log every set of the Bodyweight Hip Abduction, get your PRs detected automatically, earn aura for the work — and climb five leagues of statues, from Stone to Ego.
