Legs · Bodyweight
Side Lying Clam and Kick
How to do the side lying clam and kick, 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
- Extension
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Lie on your side with your hips and knees bent and stacked. Keeping your feet together, lift your top knee like a clam, then extend that leg straight out in a controlled kick before returning. Keep your hips stacked and stable the whole time. Finish all reps, then switch sides.
- 1Feel your outer glute working as you open the knee and extend the kick
- 2Keep your hips stacked vertically and your core braced
- 3Drive the motion from your hip, not your lower back
Common mistakes
- Don't let your top hip roll backward as you open
- Avoid using momentum; control both the clam and the kick
- Don't arch your lower back to gain range
Muscles worked
The side lying clam and kick mainly works the glutes, with the lower abs, obliques, quads, hamstrings, external rotators, and hip flexors assisting.
- GlutesPrimary
- Lower AbsSupport
- ObliquesSupport
- QuadsSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- External RotatorsSupport
- Hip FlexorsSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
Kovo programs the side lying clam and kick 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.