Standing Hip Abduction

The Standing Hip Abduction exercise aims to improve the strength of the outer hip muscles, specifically the gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and tensor fasciae latae.

Start by standing on one leg in a nice tall upright position, then take your other leg out to the side, to roughly 45 degrees.

At the end of the position, return to the start position and repeat this movement for the number of reps as suggested in your rehab programme.

You should feel this exercise working the muscles on the outside of your hips on both sides, not just the leg that is moving, but also the leg which is standing as your hip muscles are working to stabilise the position.

Your torso should remain upright and not swaying from left to right to help generate the movement. You want to also make sure your toes aren’t pointing outwards when you do this movement, as it will then work your hip flexors on the front of your hip, instead of the muscles on the outside of your hip.

Try as well not to rest after each rep by putting your foot back down, instead keep going until you have completed your set, as you ideally want to create a long period of tension within the muscles.

If you need a little help with your balance, you can lightly hold onto the wall or the back of a chair, but don’t be tempted to lean forward when doing this or grip too hard.

If this exercise is too easy, you can add a resistance band around your ankles to make it more challenging. However if this exercise too difficult, you may find it easier performing this movement laying on your side, there is a video of this exercise on your channel. You can also perform two other exercises which work the same muscle group, Monster Walks and Clam Exercise in Lying. We have videos of all of these exercises on our channel.