GlutesMachineBeginner

How to Do Seated Hip Abduction

By Bryan Alger, Co-Founder of Gravitus

· Updated Sep 30, 2026

Seated hip abduction is a machine exercise for the side of the hips. Sit with your back on the pad and the pads outside your knees, push your knees apart, then bring them back slowly. It trains the gluteus medius, gluteus minimus and upper glute max. Most lifters do 3 to 4 sets of 12 to 20 reps.

Sets x reps 3-4 x 12-20

Median 10-rep weight 14565 lbkg men 12055 lbkg women

Muscles Glute medius, glute minimus, upper glute max

Setup Hips over the pivots, pads outside the knees

Seated Hip Abduction start and out positions

1Start. Sit all the way back with your hips over the machine's pivots, the pads on the outside of your knees and your hands on the handles.
2Out. Push your knees apart as far as you can control, pause for a second, then let them come back together slowly.

Watch 3 video demonstrations

Video 1 of 3

Find more video demonstrations in the Gravitus app

Technique

How to use the seated hip abduction machine

Set the start lever so your knees begin together, or as close as the machine allows, and pick the weight with the pin.
Sit all the way back so your hips sit over the pivots, the points the leg arms swing around. Put your feet on the foot bars and the pads on the outside of your knees.
Hold the handles and pick your torso angle (see below). Keep that angle for the whole set.
Push your knees apart as far as you can with control. Pause for a second at the widest point.
Let your knees come back together over 2 to 3 seconds, stopping just before the plates touch.

Setup

Should you lean forward, sit upright or lean back?

Your torso angle sets how far your hips are bent, and hip bend changes which muscles push the pads. When 27 men pushed their legs apart at 0 to 80 degrees of hip bend, upper glute max activity nearly tripled as the hips bent further, the TFL at the front of the hip did less, and the gluteus medius stayed about the same (Fujisawa 2014). Sitting upright on the machine puts you near the right edge of the chart. Leaning back moves you left. Leaning forward bends your hips past 90 degrees, further than the study tested.

Muscle activity by hip bend hard isometric abduction, % of max

Upper glute max. 30% of max with the hips straight, 86% at 80 degrees of hip bend.

TFL. The front-of-hip abductor. 70% with the hips straight, 45% at 80 degrees.

Gluteus medius. Between 53% and 66% at every angle. The change was not significant.

What to do

Sit upright with your back on the pad. Lean forward, chest toward your thighs, if you want more upper glute: the trend points that way, but nobody has measured past 80 degrees. Leaning forward does not target the gluteus medius more, and leaning back gives up upper glute work. Use the same lean every set so your numbers compare.

Gravitus data

How much weight should you use on the hip abduction machine?

On Gravitus, the median man lifts 145 lb (65 kg) for 10 reps on the seated hip abduction, and the median woman 120 lb (55 kg).

Men, typical 145 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 110 to 190 lb
Top 10% lift: 240 lb or more
Starting out: under 110 lb

Women, typical 120 lb for 10 reps

Most lift: 90 to 165 lb
Top 10% lift: 210 lb or more
Starting out: under 90 lb

Men, typical 65 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 50 to 85 kg
Top 10% lift: 110 kg or more
Starting out: under 50 kg

Women, typical 55 kg for 10 reps

Most lift: 40 to 75 kg
Top 10% lift: 95 kg or more
Starting out: under 40 kg

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 5 lb (2.5 under 40). From 8,700 men and 6,901 women who log the seated hip abduction on Gravitus, computed Oct 11, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men	Women
25th	145 / 110 lb	120 / 90 lb
Median	190 / 145 lb	160 / 120 lb
75th	255 / 190 lb	220 / 165 lb
90th	320 / 240 lb	280 / 210 lb

One-rep max / 10-rep weight, rounded to 2.5 kg (1 under 20). From 8,700 men and 6,901 women who log the seated hip abduction on Gravitus, computed Oct 11, 2026 (Brzycki). Methodology
Percentile	Men	Women
25th	65 / 50 kg	52.5 / 40 kg
Median	87.5 / 65 kg	72.5 / 55 kg
75th	115 / 85 kg	100 / 75 kg
90th	145 / 110 kg	125 / 95 kg

Close to half the lifters behind these numbers are women, and the women's and men's numbers sit closer together here than on most lifts. Stack numbers do not compare between brands: lever length and where the pads sit change how heavy each plate feels. Your start width and lean change the number too. Compare yourself to your own log on the same machine and setup.

Anatomy

Muscles worked

Gluteus medius and minimusThe side glutes. They move the thigh out and hold the pelvis level when you stand on one leg.

Primary

Upper glute maxIts upper part works harder than its lower part in abduction exercises (Selkowitz 2016), and more with your hips bent (Fujisawa 2014).

Primary

Tensor fasciae latae (TFL)A small abductor at the front of the hip. It does more of the work the straighter your hips are.

Secondary

Core and hip rotatorsHold your pelvis still on the seat.

Stabilizer

Compare

Seated machine vs standing cable vs side-lying abduction

Attribute	Seated machine	Standing cable	Side-lying
Hip bend	About 90 degrees	Straight	Straight
Loaded with	Weight stack, both legs	Cable, one leg	Bodyweight or ankle weight
Extra muscle	Upper glute max	TFL, standing leg	TFL
Best for	Heavy sets, easy progression	One side at a time	Home, rehab

Verdict

Use the machine to load the side glutes. In 11 men, the machine matched side-lying abduction and the clamshell for gluteus medius activity and had the best gluteus medius to TFL ratio of the three (Paz 2022). A band around the knees drew more gluteus medius activity than the machine in 16 untrained women (Brandt 2013), so bands are a fair swap at home.

Programming

Sets, reps and progression

3-4Sets

12-20Reps

0-2Reps left

Stop each set 0 to 2 reps short of failure. Sets taken close to failure build muscle across a wide range of reps (Schoenfeld 2021), so pick a range where you can still open your knees fully on the last rep.

Add reps first. When every set reaches 20, move the pin down one plate and go back to 12. Train it after your squats or hip thrusts, 2 times a week.

Form

Common mistakes

Lining your knees up with the pivotsThe pivots sit under your hips, not your knees. Sit all the way back so the leg arms swing around your hip joints and the pads rest on the outside of your knees.
Rocking your torsoThrowing your chest forward as you tire turns the rep into a swing. Pick a lean and hold it for the set.
Leaning backIt straightens your hips and hands work to the TFL at the front of the hip. Sit upright or lean slightly forward.
Half reps with a heavy stackOpen your knees as wide as you can control. If you cannot pause at the widest point, go lighter.
Letting the plates slamBring your knees in over 2 to 3 seconds and stop just before the stack touches.

Variations

Seated hip abduction variations

Leaning forward seated hip abductionSame machine, chest toward your thighs. More hip bend for more upper glute.

Banded seated hip abductionA loop band above the knees on a bench. Easy to do at home.

Cable Hip AbductionStanding, one leg at a time, with an ankle cuff on a low pulley.

Standing hip abduction machineStand and push one leg out against a pad.

Side-lying hip abductionLie on your side and raise the top leg. No equipment needed.

Banded clamshellSide-lying with bent hips and knees, knees apart against a band.

FAQ

Questions people ask

Does hip abduction grow glutes?

It trains the side glutes, the gluteus medius and minimus, plus the upper glute max. Squats and hip thrusts do little for the side glutes. Nine weeks of either grew the glute max but barely changed the gluteus medius and minimus (Plotkin 2023).

Should I lean forward for hip abduction?

You can. Leaning forward bends your hips more, and more hip bend drew more upper glute max and less TFL activity, with the gluteus medius unchanged (Fujisawa 2014). Sitting upright already gets most of that. Avoid leaning back.

Is seated hip abduction better than standing cable hip abduction?

Not better, different. The machine loads both legs with your hips bent, which brings in the upper glute max. Standing cable abduction works one leg with straight hips, which brings in more TFL and trains your balance on the standing leg.

Is hip abduction isolation or compound?

Isolation. Only the hip joint moves, so it is a single-joint exercise.

Where should you feel hip abduction?

On the side and upper back of your hips. If you feel it mostly at the front of the hip, sit up straighter or lean slightly forward, since the TFL there does more with your hips straight (Fujisawa 2014).

How much weight should I use on the hip abduction machine?

For 10 reps, the median on Gravitus is 145 lb (65 kg) for men and 120 lb (55 kg) for women. The strongest quarter lifts 190 lb (85 kg) and 165 lb (75 kg) or more.

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References