Legs · Bodyweight
Side-up Squat
How to do the side-up squat, 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
- Squat
- Mechanic
- Compound
How to do it
Stand with your feet wide and drop into a squat. Push off and shift your weight to one side, coming up over that leg as the other leg straightens, then drop back into the squat and repeat to the opposite side. Stay low and move side to side through the bottom of the squat.
- 1Feel your glutes and quads drive you up and over each leg
- 2Stay low through the transition and keep your chest up
- 3Push through the heel of the working leg
Common mistakes
- Don't let your knees cave inward as you shift
- Avoid rounding your back or standing fully upright between reps
- Don't rush so fast you lose control of the squat depth
Muscles worked
The side-up squat mainly works the quads and glutes, with the adductors, lower abs, obliques, hamstrings, and calves assisting.
- QuadsPrimary
- GlutesPrimary
- AdductorsSupport
- Lower AbsSupport
- ObliquesSupport
- HamstringsSupport
- CalvesSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- Upper AbsMinor
- Hip FlexorsMinor
Kovo programs the side-up squat 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 quads exercises
- How to do the resistance band squat
- How to do the resistance band squat to press
- How to do the resistance band thruster
- How to do the resistance band squat walk
- How to do the barbell squat
- How to do the barbell bulgarian split squat
Last reviewed June 2026.