Legs · Bodyweight
Side Lunge with Hip Rotation
How to do the side lunge with hip rotation, 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
- Lunge
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand tall and step wide to one side, sitting back into that hip while the other leg stays straight. As you reach the bottom, rotate your torso over the bent leg, then push back to center and repeat on the other side.
- 1A deep stretch through the inner thigh of the straight leg
- 2Your glute and quad on the bent side loading as you sit back
- 3Your trunk rotating from the waist, not just the shoulders
Common mistakes
- Letting the bent knee cave inward past your toes
- Rounding your back as you twist toward the floor
- Putting weight on the straight leg instead of sitting into the bent hip
Muscles worked
The side lunge with hip rotation mainly works the adductors, quads, and glutes, with the obliques, lower back, upper abs, lower abs, and hamstrings assisting.
- AdductorsPrimary
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- ObliquesSupport
- Lower BackSupport
- Upper AbsSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- CalvesMinor
- Hip FlexorsMinor
Kovo programs the side lunge with hip rotation 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.