Side-Lying Leg Raise
Lying on your side with straight, stacked legs, you lift the top leg up and lower it slowly, working the abductors on the side of your hip.
- Primary muscles
- Abductors
- Secondary
- Glutes
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Reps
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Why do it
With straight legs, the lever is longer than in a clamshell, so the outer hip has to work harder for the same small movement. It needs no equipment and suits beginners, warm-ups and home sessions; ankle weights or a band around the ankles add resistance later. Because you lie on the floor, the only thing lifting the leg is the side of your hip, as long as you don't roll back to cheat the height.
How to do it
Lie on your side with your legs straight and stacked, your head resting on your lower arm.
Keep your toes pointing forward and lift the top leg straight up as far as you can without rolling your hips back.
Pause at the top for a second.
Lower slowly without resting the leg on the other, then switch sides after the set. The movement is small; height comes from the hip, not from twisting.
Common mistakes
Rolling your hips back
Tilting your pelvis backward lets the front of the hip lift the leg higher than the side can. Keep your hips stacked and accept a small range.
Turning your toes toward the ceiling
Pointing your toes up shifts the work to the front of the hip. Keep your toes pointing forward and the foot level.
Swinging the leg up
Kicking the leg up and letting it fall uses momentum. Lift for a slow count, pause at the top and lower without resting it on the other leg.
Sets, reps and progression
How many sets you do and how close to failure you take them depend on your goal and your week, not on the exercise. These guides cover it:
Alternatives that train the same thing
Same movement, a different angle or piece of equipment.
