Standing Side Leg Lifts
Standing Side Leg Lifts
Muscle Group Stretched: Hamstrings
Muscle Group Strengthened: Hip Flexors
Type of Stretch: Active Dynamic
Difficulty: All Levels
Suggested Prerequisites: none
Similar to standing leg lifts where you kick your leg to the front, leg lifts to the side help strengthen your quads and hip flexors to support a deeper hamstring stretch. The difference with side leg lifts is they also engage your glutes to help strengthen your turn out (aka hip external rotation), as well as potentially give you an inner thigh stretch (depending on how tight your inner thigh muscles are). This is a great conditioning drill for “open” splits like Y-scales and Bird of Paradise.
How To
Step 1
Start standing with both legs straight, hips pointing forwards. Place your hand on a wall or something for balance if you’d like.
Step 2
Rotate your working leg out to the side, so that your toes, knee, and thigh are rotated away from your midline (“turned out”). Make sure to keep your hip bones pointing forwards, don’t let your hips rotate along with your thigh.
Keeping your leg rotated, lift it up as high as you can with control, kicking your leg towards the ceiling (your thigh and knee should be facing up towards the ceiling, not forwards). Then slowly lower with control.
Be sure to keep both legs straight (don’t let the knees bend), and maintain level hips (don’t let them tilt to the side as you lift the working leg).
Repeat for 8-12 leg lifts on one side, then switch legs.
Modifications
Need to make it easier?
Bend the lifting leg slightly.
Don’t worry about how high you’re kicking the leg. As long as you’re feeling a squeeze/engagement in your thigh (and glutes), you’re strengthening the area we want.
Want to make it harder?
Add ankle weights.
Start with the lifting leg elevated on a chair or low table - something tall enough where it feels challenging to lift it just an inch or two in the air.
Related Content
Flexopedia: Standing End Range Side Leg Lifts
Flexopedia: Standing Leg Lifts
Flexopedia: Side-Lying Leg Lifts
Flexopedia: Side-Lying Froggy Kicks
Blog Post: How to Tell if Hamstring “Tightness” is Nerve or Muscle Tension
Blog Post: Can't Touch Your Toes? 8 Hamstring Stretches for Beginners
