Legs · Bodyweight
Sideway Leg Lift with a Chair
How to do the sideway leg lift with a chair, the muscles it works, and the mistakes to avoid. Pulled straight from the Kovo app's exercise library.
- Equipment
- Bodyweight
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- Logged as
- Weighted reps
- Movement
- Flexion
- Mechanic
- Isolation
How to do it
Stand tall beside or behind a chair with one hand resting on the backrest for support. Keeping your leg straight and toes pointing forward, lift it out to the side as high as you can without leaning, then lower with control and repeat before switching sides.
- 1Outer hip and glute lifting the leg
- 2Torso staying upright, not leaning away
- 3A controlled lift and a slow lower
Common mistakes
- Swinging the leg up with momentum
- Rotating your toes up toward the ceiling
- Leaning your upper body to gain height
Muscles worked
The sideway leg lift with a chair mainly works the glutes, with the obliques, external rotators, and hip flexors assisting.
- GlutesPrimary
- ObliquesSupport
- External RotatorsSupport
- Hip FlexorsSupport
- Lower BackMinor
- Lower AbsMinor
- QuadsMinor
- AdductorsMinor
Kovo programs the sideway leg lift with a chair 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.