Side Plank Hip Adduction
Also known as: side plank adduction, side plank with adduction, copenhagen plank floor variation, side plank hip adduction exercise
- Primary muscleAdductors
- EquipmentBodyweight
- DifficultyAdvanced
- TypeIsolation · Hip isolation
- Secondary muscles
- Obliques, Glutes
- Body part
- Upper Legs
- Position
- Standing
- Laterality
- Unilateral (one side at a time)
- Category
- Strength
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Combining a forearm side plank with a leg lift stacks two jobs at once: the obliques hold your hips off the floor isometrically while the free leg works through its arc. That double duty is what earns the advanced tag; if the hips sag mid-set, split the pieces and train the plank and leg work separately.
How to do the Side Plank Hip Adduction
- Start by lying on your side with your legs extended and stacked on top of each other.
- Prop yourself up on your forearm, keeping your elbow directly below your shoulder.
- Engage your core and lift your hips off the ground, creating a straight line from your head to your feet.
- While maintaining the side plank position, lift your top leg towards the ceiling, keeping it straight.
- Slowly lower your leg back down to the starting position.
- Repeat for the desired number of repetitions, then switch sides.
Tip: Squeeze the knees together as if crushing something between them and hold for a count.
Muscles worked
Primary
Adductors · Legs
The inner thigh muscles pull the leg toward the midline, and you should feel a deep squeeze on the inside of the thigh at the end of each rep.
Secondary
- Obliques
- Glutes
Common mistakes
- Slamming the pads together — control the return and squeeze at the middle rather than letting the stack bounce.
- Setting the start too wide — start the range where you feel a stretch but no strain, and widen it over weeks as it improves.
- Leaning back on the machine — keep the back against the pad and the hips still, since rocking makes the movement easier and shifts the load.
- Fast side lying reps — on side lying adductions lift slowly and pause at the top to keep the inner thigh working.
Where it fits in a workout
Adduction work goes at the end of a lower body session or in the warm-up before wide stance squats. Superset it with hip abduction on the neighboring machine.
How many sets, how heavy and how hard: see what the ACSM position stands support.
Variations and alternatives
When to talk to someone
- Chest discomfort, feeling faint or lightheaded, or trouble breathing during or after exercise can be signs of a heart attack. In the US, call 911 right away; elsewhere, call your local emergency number.
- Heart, metabolic or kidney disease, or symptoms like these when you are active: talk to your doctor before you start or step up training.
- Pregnant: ask your obstetric care provider which exercise suits you.
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More exercises
Sources
- ACSM position stand on exercise quantity and quality (Garber et al., 2011)
- ACSM preparticipation health screening (Riebe et al., 2015)
- ACOG Committee Opinion No. 804 on exercise in pregnancy (2020)
- CDC: About Heart Attack Symptoms, Risk, and Recovery (2024)
Sources checked on October 17, 2026. Full citations are in the exercise library.
Animation and exercise data: ExerciseDB, licensed to SetGrip. General information, not medical or coaching advice.