Legs · Bodyweight
Side Lying Clam
How to do the side lying clam, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Reps
- Movement
- Rotation
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Lie on your side with hips and knees bent and feet stacked together. Keeping your feet touching, lift your top knee up by rotating at the hip, then lower it back down with control.
- 1Feel the outer glute on your top side working to open the knee
- 2Keep your feet together and your pelvis stacked and still
- 3Open only as far as your hip rotates, then lower slowly
Common mistakes
- Avoid rolling your hips or torso backward to lift higher
- Don't let your top foot peel away from the bottom foot
- Don't rush; control both the lift and the return
Muscles worked
The side lying clam mainly works the glutes, with the external rotators assisting.
- GlutesPrimary
- External RotatorsSupport
- Lower AbsMinor
- ObliquesMinor
- Hip FlexorsMinor
Kovo programs the side lying clam 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
- How to do the agility ladder drill
- 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.