Muscles worked
Machine hip abduction trains the muscles on the outside of your hip, the ones that move your leg out to the side. The gluteus medius and gluteus minimus do most of the work, helped by a muscle at the front of the hip called the tensor fasciae latae and by the upper part of the gluteus maximus. The same muscles keep your pelvis steady when you stand on one leg. Many people find that leaning slightly forward moves more of the sensation to the glutes. Pick one position and hold it for the whole set.
Common mistakes
- The weight is so heavy that the movement gets short. If your knees only travel a few centimetres, your muscles only work through a small part of the movement. Choose a weight you can push as far out as your hips comfortably allow.
- The start position is set wrong. Most machines have a lever that sets how far apart the pads are at the start. Set it so your knees begin close together. If the pads start wide apart, you miss the first part of the movement.
- Using it instead of the heavy lifts. Hip abduction is a useful extra, but it does not build the same strength as hip thrusts, squats and deadlifts. Put it after the heavy exercises in your session, not in their place.
Variations and alternatives
- Cable hip abduction is done standing, one leg at a time, and asks more of your balance.
- The seated band abduction is almost the same movement at home, with a band above your knees.
- The clamshell is an easier version lying on your side, useful for learning to feel the muscles work.
- The monster walk trains the same muscles on the move and works as a warm-up before a leg session.
Sets and reps
Hip abduction is an isolation exercise with simple technique and suits slightly higher reps. Many people do 2 to 4 sets of 12 to 20 reps at the end of the session, with about a minute's rest. The guide to sets and reps covers how to choose. Sets can go fairly close to your limit, with zero to two reps left; see the guide to reps in reserve.
The jumps between weights on a machine are often large compared with how small these muscles are. So add reps until you reach the top of the range in every set, then go up one step in weight. That is progressive overload, even on a machine.