Legs · Bodyweight
Side Lying Scissors
How to do the side lying scissors, 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
- Flexion
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Lie on your side with your legs stacked and straight. Lift the top leg a few inches, then sweep it forward and back past the bottom leg in a controlled scissoring motion. Keep your hips stacked and your core braced the whole time.
- 1Outer hip and glute of the top leg working to control the sweep
- 2A stable, braced torso with hips stacked vertically
- 3Steady tension through the full range, not just at the ends
Common mistakes
- Rolling your hips back or forward to cheat the motion
- Swinging the leg fast with momentum instead of control
- Letting the bottom leg or torso collapse
Muscles worked
The side lying scissors mainly works the hip flexors, with the lower abs, obliques, glutes, and adductors assisting.
- Hip FlexorsPrimary
- Lower AbsSupport
- ObliquesSupport
- GlutesSupport
- AdductorsSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
- QuadsMinor
- HamstringsMinor
Kovo programs the side lying scissors 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.