Legs · Bodyweight
Bodyweight Side Squat with Towel
How to do the bodyweight side squat with towel, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand with feet wide and place a towel under one foot on a smooth floor. Shift your weight into the planted leg and sit your hips back into a squat as you slide the towel foot out to the side, then drive through the bent leg to pull yourself back to center.
- 1The working glute and quad loading as you sink into the squat
- 2A stretch through the inner thigh of the sliding leg
- 3Your chest staying up and weight in the heel of the planted foot
Common mistakes
- Letting the knee of the squatting leg cave inward
- Rounding your back as you sit your hips down
- Sliding out faster than you can control the return
Muscles worked
The bodyweight side squat with towel mainly works the glutes, quads, and adductors, with the lower abs, obliques, and hamstrings assisting.
- GlutesPrimary
- QuadsPrimary
- AdductorsPrimary
- Lower AbsSupport
- ObliquesSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
- CalvesMinor
- Hip FlexorsMinor
Kovo programs the bodyweight side squat with towel for you and tracks it every session.
We build your whole program, drop the right lifts into each workout, and adjust your weights as you get stronger. Free on iOS and Android.
More glutes exercises
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- How to do the airdyne bike
- How to do the arc trainer
- How to do the assault bike
- How to do the medicine ball atlas stone lift
- How to do the b stance hip thrust
Last reviewed June 2026.