Banded Hip Abductions
Banded hip abductions push your knees or legs apart against a mini band, either seated, lying or standing. They isolate your glutes, especially the glute medius and minimus on the side of your hip. Use them as a warm-up before squats and lunges or as high-rep glute volume at home.
Muscles worked
The banded hip abductions trains the glutes.
Primary
Weekly sets for glutes
Hard sets per week that Swole.fit plans for glutes, counting every exercise that trains it. Start a cycle near the growth line and climb toward the recovery limit before a deload.
How to do the banded hip abductions
- 01Place a mini band just above your knees and sit on a bench or the floor with feet flat.
- 02Sit tall or lean slightly forward with feet about hip width apart.
- 03Push your knees outward against the band as far as you comfortably can.
- 04Pause for a moment at the widest point and feel the side of your hips work.
- 05Let your knees come back in slowly without letting the band snap them together.
Coaching cues
- Knees out against the band
- Pause at the widest point
- Slow return, keep tension
Common mistakes
- Using momentum to bounce the knees cuts tension, so push out and return with control.
- Choosing a band that is too strong shortens the range, so pick one you can move fully for every rep.
- Letting your feet roll onto their edges shifts the work, so keep your soles flat on the floor.
How Swole.fit programs it
Log it once and the app plans the next session for you.
- Most sets land between 8 and 15 reps, the range the plan steers isolation work toward for size.
- Week one starts around 2 to 3 reps in reserve. Each week you train a little closer to failure, ending around 0 to 1 in reserve before a deload week.
- Hit the top of the range on every set and the next session adds the smallest real jump in weight, rounded to the plates, dumbbells or stack you actually have.
- Sets for this exercise count toward your weekly volume for every muscle it trains: a full set for the primary muscles, half a set for the helpers.
The full method, with the maths, is in how mesocycles work.
Banded Hip Abductions alternatives
Same muscles, different tool. Swap in one of these when the equipment is taken or your joints want a change.
Log it. Let the app plan the next one.
Track your banded hip abductions free. Swole.fit picks the next weight, counts your weekly sets and tells you when to deload.