Glutes exercise
Side Kick Front and BackHow to do it, with form in numbers
- Main muscles
- Glutes, Hip flexors
- Also works
- Abs, Hamstrings
- Equipment
- Yoga mat
- Level
- Beginner
How to do it
How do you do the Side Kick Front and Back?
- Lie on your left side with your legs straight and slightly forward of your body, head resting on your arm, top hand on the mat in front of you.
- Lift your top leg to hip height.
- Swing it forward with your foot flexed and pulse twice.
- Point your foot and sweep the leg back behind you, keeping your hips stacked.
- Do 8–10, then change sides.
Cues
- Hips stacked, waist long.
- Only the leg moves.
- Kick-kick forward, long reach back.
Common mistakes
- Rolling the hips: make the swing smaller.
- Arching on the back sweep: draw your belly in and keep the sweep shorter.
- Letting the leg drop: keep it at hip height the whole time.
Form in detail
What does good form look like?
The version in our demo
The classical mat Side Kick, front and back (Joseph Pilates, Return to Life; the Balanced Body side-kick series), lying on the left side with the head resting on the bottom arm (the Balanced Body option; the classical version props the head on the hand): the top leg at hip height kicks forward twice with the foot flexed, then sweeps back with the foot pointed, the trunk still.
Starting position
Lying on the left side, hips and shoulders stacked, both legs straight and angled about 30° forward of the body line; the head on the bottom arm stretched along the mat, the top hand on the mat in front of the chest. Lift the top leg to hip height.
The movement
Swing the top leg forward with the foot flexed and pulse twice ("kick-kick"), then sweep it back behind you with the foot pointed. Keep the hips stacked and the waist long; only the leg moves.
Breathing
In for the double kick forward, out to sweep back.
Tempo
One rep in 4 s: swing forward 0.9 s, kick-kick 0.5 s, sweep back 1.5 s, return 0.8 s. Real practice: 8–10 reps, then change sides.
Form in numbers
What are the angles and distances?
- Hips stacked (0°) and still (0.0 cm); legs 30° forward of the body line, the bottom leg on the mat.
- Top leg straight (knee 7°), level at its hip's height (ankle 27–31 cm above the mat).
- Front: 85° from the body line, then a second pulse 8° further; foot flexed.
- Back: 22° behind the body line; foot pointed.
- The bottom arm long on the mat under the head (elbow 15°), the top hand on the mat by the chest.
The targets our 3D demo was built to, from the references below. Bodies differ, so treat the ranges as a guide for your own build.
For coaches
Use this demo in your clients’ programs
The Side Kick Front and Back is in Trainaq’s exercise library. Add it to a workout, and your client sees this demo in the free Trainaq app above the sets they log.
Sources
Sources
- J. Pilates and W. J. Miller, Return to Life through Contrology (1945), "The Side Kick".
- Balanced Body, Pilates Mat instructor manual, side-kick series
