Chest · Bodyweight
Side Lying Wide Opener
How to do the side lying wide opener, 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
- Rotation
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Lie on your side with knees stacked and bent in front of you and arms extended together. Keeping your hips still, sweep the top arm in a wide arc up and over to the other side, opening the chest and rotating the upper spine, then return and repeat.
- 1Your chest and front shoulder opening as the arm sweeps over
- 2Rotation through your mid and upper back
- 3Your knees staying stacked and hips quiet
Common mistakes
- Letting your knees roll open with the rotation
- Forcing the arm to the floor through pain
- Holding your breath during the reach
Muscles worked
The side lying wide opener mainly works the mid chest, with the upper chest, obliques, and front delts assisting.
- Mid ChestPrimary
- Upper ChestSupport
- ObliquesSupport
- Front DeltsSupport
- LatsMinor
- Mid TrapsMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
- Lower AbsMinor
Kovo programs the side lying wide opener 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 chest exercises
- How to do the archer push-up
- How to do the assisted dip
- How to do the resistance band chest flyes
- How to do the resistance band push-up
- How to do the barbell bench press
- How to do the paused bench press
Last reviewed June 2026.