Fire Hydrants
Fire Hydrants are a bodyweight floor exercise that targets the gluteus medius and improves hip mobility. By lifting the leg laterally while maintaining a stable core, this movement strengthens the hips and enhances pelvic stability.
Since Fire Hydrants are often used for activation or rehabilitation, the AI analyzes your RPE and recovery data to ensure you are stimulating the glutes without exhausting them before heavier compound lifts. If you report hip tightness or lower back pain in your daily check-ins, the app can adjust volume or suggest this movement to aid in recovery. The system also tracks your consistency with accessory work, correlating it with improvements in your main lifts like squats and deadlifts over time.
Form Cues
- Start on all fours with hands under shoulders and knees under hips
- Engage your core to keep your back flat and stable
- Lift one leg out to the side while keeping the knee bent at 90 degrees
- Squeeze the side of your glute at the top of the movement
- Lower the leg slowly back to the start without touching the floor
- Don't rotate your spine or lean away to lift the leg higher
- Don't let your lower back sag towards the floor
- Don't rush the movement using momentum
- Don't bend your elbows to compensate for limited hip mobility
Common Mistakes
- Twisting the torso to fake range of motion
- Using momentum to swing the leg up
- Hiking the hip toward the shoulder
- Allowing the lower back to arch
Muscles Worked
This exercise primarily targets the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus, which are essential for hip abduction and stabilizing the pelvis. Secondary emphasis is placed on the core muscles, particularly the obliques and transverse abdominis, which work isometrically to prevent the torso from rotating during the movement.
Primary
Secondary
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