hip abductor machine

The Hip Abductor Machine, (sometimes referred to as the glute abductor machine), is a staple piece of equipment in most gyms.

This machine will target your abductors, which are a group of muscles in your bum/thigh area that primarily include the gluteus medius, minimus and the tensor fasciae latae muscles, which run down the side of your hips where your IT band is.

Here we will delve into the world of the Hip Abductor Machine, covering the specific muscles it activates, proper technique, benefits, common mistakes to avoid, recommendations for reps and sets, strategies for incorporating it into your workouts, and finally exercises that target similar muscle groups.

Muscles Worked When Using the Hip Abductor Machine

Hip Abductors: Collectively these primarily include the gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, and tensor fasciae latae.

And then from a secondary perspective they include the piriformis, sartorius, and the gluteus maximus.

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How to Use the Hip Abductor Machine

1. Setup: Take a seat with your back pressed firmly against the backrest, your feet on the footrests, and your knees resting comfortably on the knee pads.

2. Start Position: Start with your knees together, you can use the machine's lever to bring them into each other.

3. Engage Your Glutes: Squeeze your glutes and then with your glutes fully engaged, slowly push your knees apart, as far apart as possible. The movement should be controlled and smooth. Moving only your hips and knees, the rest of your body should remain completely still.

4. Back to Start: Slowly bring your knees back together through the same smooth and controlled movement. Avoid letting your glutes relax, go straight into the next rep..

5. Weight Selection: Choose a weight that challenges you but allows you to maintain proper form. If you're not feeling the burn by the 6th or 7th rep of a 10-rep set, consider increasing the weight.

You can use the muscle highlighted image at the top of this page for a visual guide of the muscles worked.

Other Ways You Can Perform This Exercise

An Instagram trend got people using this machine standing up, they argue that it helps them feel it more in their glutes. Do what works for you, just keep in mind that in a standing position, you are also recruiting your thighs to help move the load and engaging your core muscles to maintain your position.

Benefits of the Hip Abductor Machine

Glute Isolation: The Hip Abductor Machine offers excellent isolation of all the muscle groups that make up the hip abductors.

Glute Activation: If you’re someone who struggles with glute activation on compound exercises, this is an excellent gateway exercise to help you truly feel what it feels like to work your glutes.

Hip Abductor Machine: Common Mistakes to Avoid

Exercise Order: While the Hip Abductor Machine is fantastic for glute isolation, it is typically more effective when used toward the end of your workout routine. Avoid starting your workout with this machine. Unless you’re just warming up your glutes for a more intense workout.

Upper Body Momentum: To ensure proper isolation, do not use your upper body for momentum. Keep the rest of your body completely still throughout the exercise. Move the load through your hip abductor muscle groups only.

Hip Abductor Reps and Sets

The number of reps and sets you perform depends on your current strength with this exercise.

Beginners: Start with simply mastering the move. Keep in mind that if you’re just starting out, 3 reps is a valid set.

To determine how many reps/sets of the Abductor Machine you should start with, you first need to figure out how many reps you can comfortably perform. Then add 2, and perform that number of reps for 3 sets.

For example; let’s say you can perform 4 reps comfortably. Add 2 to make 6 reps. Perform those 6 reps 3 times over, allowing yourself sufficient rest in-between.

Experienced lifters: You know your body and its abilities better than anyone, use your own judgment.

We recommend that you avoid performing more than 12 reps per set. If you’re comfortably performing 12 reps for up to 6 sets, it’s time to make the exercise more challenging.

How to Make the Hip Abductor Machine More Challenging

As mentioned above, you may have seen some women in the gym performing this exercise with their bums raised up off the seat. While this isn’t conventional, there is a method to this madness and that is that it makes the exercise more challenging, but not just on the glutes.

On the flipside, the standing method does mean that it is no longer an entirely isolated exercise. You will naturally recruit the help of your quads, hamstrings, core and even your upper body as you hold onto the machine. It’s important to note that this doesn’t take anything away from the potential glute gains, we’re just being pedantic for the purpose of educating you on the fact that this does take something away from the fundamentals of this exercise.

In our opinion, there are better, more effective compound exercises that you can do to replicate the benefits of the standing method. So when all is said and done, we suggest that you do this exercise sitting and you make it more challenging by adding weight. If you have added all the weight and still need a challenge, we suggest that you move onto other, more advanced glute exercises.

Exercises That Work Similar Muscles to the Hip Abductor Machine

Exercises like Kneeling Squats, Romanian Deadlifts and Good Mornings are great compound moves to help further strengthen your ability to work the Abductor Machine. Compound exercises are crucial for muscle growth since they allow you to move more overall weight than isolation exercises, helping you build the muscle faster.

You can also pair this exercise with other exercises, such as the Goblet Squat, Dumbbell Sumo Squat or the Leg Press Machine. If you’re looking for more advanced glute isolation exercises, you can perform Cable Kickbacks, Hip Thrusts or a Single Leg Glute Bridge. A combination of compound and isolation exercises is recommended for well rounded results.

You can find more Bum Exercises at the bottom of this page. Or you can check out our entire exercise database broken down by muscle group here.

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