Legs · Bodyweight
Gate Rock
How to do the gate rock, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- time
- Movement
- Flexion
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Kneel on the floor and extend one leg straight out to the side with the foot flat, coming into a kneeling gate position. Rock your hips back toward your heel and then forward, feeling a stretch along the inner thigh of the extended leg. Keep your hands on the floor or your hips for support and move slowly through the range.
- 1Feel a stretch along the inner thigh and groin of the extended leg
- 2Keep your spine long as you rock back and forth
- 3Let your hips drive the movement, not your lower back
Common mistakes
- Don't force the inner-thigh stretch; ease into it
- Avoid rounding your back as you rock back
- Don't let the extended knee roll forward; keep the toes pointing up or forward
Muscles worked
The gate rock mainly works the adductors, with the glutes, hamstrings, and hip flexors assisting.
- AdductorsPrimary
- GlutesSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- Hip FlexorsSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- Lower AbsMinor
- ObliquesMinor
Kovo programs the gate rock 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 hips & adductors exercises
- How to do the butterfly stretch
- How to do the external rotation
- How to do the cable hip adduction
- How to do the internal rotation
- How to do the cobra pose
- How to do the core scrunch
Last reviewed June 2026.