Hip Clam Shell

Perform the hip clam shell to strengthen your hip muscles and improve stability.

  1. Lie on your side with your legs stacked and knees bent at a 90-degree angle.
  2. Keep your feet together and lift your top knee while keeping your hips stable.
  3. Lower your knee back to the starting position and repeat.

How to perform the Hip Clam Shell

  1. Set up. Set up in a stable, balanced starting position appropriate for the Hip Clam Shell using your body weight.
  2. Brace and execute. Brace your core, control the descent, and move through a full pain-free range of motion while emphasizing your glutes.
  3. Reset. Reverse the movement under control and reset between repetitions, keeping your form crisp on every rep.

Coaching cues

  • Move with intent — every rep should feel deliberate, not rushed.
  • Drive force through your glutes rather than momentum.
  • Keep your breathing steady: exhale on the hard part, inhale on the reset.

Common mistakes

  • Using too much weight and losing positional control.
  • Cutting the range of motion short and missing the target muscle.
  • Letting your spine round or hyperextend instead of staying neutral.

Detailed cues, common mistakes, and demonstration video are available in the Fitly app.

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