Side plank · Your Basic Trainer

Key points

In 24 healthy people, a side plank with hip abduction (moving the thigh out to the side) gave the highest gluteus medius (a buttock muscle beneath the gluteus maximus, the large muscle of the buttock) activity of 18 exercises^1,2. A review of 23 studies ranked the side bridge with hip abduction among three exercises with the highest gluteus medius activity³.
A systematic review of core-muscle activity in healthy adults reports that one study found side-plank external oblique activity of about 35% of maximum⁴. It reports that one study found about 26% in the internal oblique⁴.
Smaller single studies: in eight people, the side bridge was the best of the isometric abdominal exercises tested for working the abdominal wall while keeping psoas activity low⁵. In four young adults on one elbow and both feet, the quadratus lumborum (a deep muscle of the lower back) was more active than other muscles⁶. Isometric means the muscles work but the joints do not move, and the psoas is a deep muscle that bends the hip.
In 17 healthy people holding a torso-elevated side support, with the upper body raised, until they could not, 41.1% stopped because of shoulder fatigue and 17.0% because of shoulder pain⁷.

Movement

What the movement is

A side-bridge is a side plank: the body is held straight while propped on one forearm and the side of the feet. One study measured it as an isometric hold on one elbow and both feet⁶. Another compared the weightbearing side, the side that bears the weight, with the other side⁸.

The versions studies have used

The studies on this page tested the side plank in several forms, and each finding below names its version^6,8,9:

Held on one elbow and both feet⁶.
The torso-elevated side support, with the upper body raised, and the foot-elevated side support, with the feet raised^7,8.
The rotational side-bridge, one of four side-bridge exercises one study compared⁸. It is a side plank that turns from facing the side to facing down.
A side plank with hip abduction, including one with the dominant leg on the bottom¹.
A body-weight side plank¹⁰.
A wall side bridge and two side-lying variations, each compared with the traditional side bridge⁹.

What ended the hold

One study asked 17 healthy people to hold a torso-elevated side support to failure⁷. Of them, 41.1% stopped because of shoulder fatigue, and 17.0% stopped because of shoulder pain⁷.

What it loads

The side of the trunk

On the flanks, the abdominal wall has three layers of muscle². The external oblique is the outer layer, the internal oblique the middle one, and the transversus abdominis the deepest². The two obliques are prime movers (main muscles) for twisting at the waist and for lateral flexion (bending the spine to the side)².

During a side support on one elbow and both feet, the quadratus lumborum was more active than other muscles in four young adults⁶. In a study of eight people, the side bridge was the best of the isometric abdominal exercises tested by one measure⁵. That measure was working the abdominal wall while keeping psoas activity low⁵.

A systematic review searches the research on a question in a set, checkable way. One such review covered core-muscle EMG in healthy adults⁴. It reports that one study found side-plank activity of about 35% of maximum in the external oblique and about 26% in the internal oblique⁴. It reports that one study found the greatest external oblique activity of the exercises it tested in side planks⁴.

Maximum expiration means breathing out as hard as possible. The review reports that one study found it significantly raised rectus abdominis and oblique activation during side planks⁴.

Single studies measured the external oblique in particular versions^7,8:

In 17 healthy people, the torso-elevated side support gave external oblique activity of about 78% of maximum⁷.
In 25 people, the rotational side-bridge gave external oblique activity of 62.8% of maximum⁸.
In 30 healthy people, the authors concluded the side-bridge could be used to strengthen the external oblique¹².

How the version changes the work

In 20 healthy men, a wall side bridge gave significantly less quadratus lumborum activity than the traditional side bridge⁹. The same study found two side-lying variations gave external oblique, internal oblique and quadratus lumborum activity similar to the traditional side bridge⁹.

In 25 people, four side-bridge exercises were compared⁸. The rotational side-bridge gave the most activation in three of the four trunk muscles recorded⁸. In that study, most measured trunk and thigh muscles were more active on the weightbearing side than on the other side⁸. The exceptions were the rectus abdominis, at the front of the abdomen, in the rotational side-bridge, and the longissimus thoracis in the torso-elevated side support^2,8. The longissimus thoracis is one of two lower-back muscles of the erector spinae, the long muscles beside the spine that straighten the back^8,13.

The hip muscles

The gluteal muscles are the three muscles of the buttock. The gluteus medius lies beneath the gluteus maximus². The gluteus minimus lies beneath the gluteus medius². The gluteus maximus is aligned to extend the hip (move the thigh backward) and turn it outward¹⁴. It also helps with hip abduction¹⁴.

Several studies found high gluteus medius activity in side planks^1,8:

In 30 healthy people, the authors concluded the side-bridge could be used to strengthen the gluteus medius¹².
In 25 people, gluteus medius activity was above 69% of maximum in the torso-elevated side support, the foot-elevated side support and the rotational side-bridge⁸.
In 24 healthy people, the side plank with hip abduction gave the highest gluteus medius activity of 18 exercises¹.
A second systematic review covered 23 EMG studies of people without injury³. It placed the side bridge with hip abduction among the top three exercises for gluteus medius activity³.

In the 24-person study, gluteus medius activity reached 103% of maximum with the dominant leg on the bottom¹. Gluteus maximus activity in the same exercise was above 70% of maximum¹. In the review, the three top exercises ranged from 81 to 103% of maximum³.

A modelling study of 14 female footballers estimated gluteal muscle forces¹⁰. The body-weight side plank was a top-tier exercise for gluteus medius and gluteus minimus force¹⁰. The study gave force in newtons as a 95% confidence interval¹⁰. A newton is a unit of force, and a confidence interval is a range around a study’s result that shows how precise it is:

Muscle	95% confidence interval for force, body-weight side plank
Gluteus medius	338 to 483 newtons¹⁰
Gluteus minimus	272 to 382 newtons¹⁰

The back and front of the trunk

The erector spinae, the group of long muscles beside the spine that straighten the back, is the main extensor of the spine². In the lower back, one of its two muscles is the longissimus thoracis¹³. There, the multifidus, a deep muscle running along the spine, lies nearer the midline than the erector spinae and belongs to a different group¹⁵.

In adults aged 21 to 35, the side-bridge gave longissimus thoracis and lumbar (lower back) multifidus activity below 50% of maximum¹¹. In the 25-person study, the rotational side-bridge gave longissimus thoracis activity of 41.3% of maximum⁸. The core-muscle review reports that one study found side-plank erector spinae activity of about 20% of maximum⁴.

It also reports that one study ranked the side plank and a suspended side plank highest for erector spinae activation of its exercises⁴. That is a ranking between exercises. Each erector spinae level above is below half of maximum^4,8,11.

The rectus abdominis is the prime mover for bending the spine forward². In the rotational side-bridge, its activity was 43.9% of maximum⁸. The core-muscle review reports that one study found about 15% in the side plank⁴. It reports that one study found about 75% in the side plank with maximum expiration⁴.

The shoulder

The deltoid, the rounded muscle that caps the shoulder, has three parts: front, middle and back¹⁶. The middle part raises the arm out to the side¹⁷. In 17 healthy people, the torso-elevated side support gave middle deltoid activity of about 56% of maximum⁷. That was more than in the foot-elevated side support⁷.

The low back

One study measured a twisting moment, the turning effect of a force, at the low back¹⁸. In eight healthy men holding a closed-chain side bridge, the average was 22 ± 14 newton-metres, directed to the right¹⁸. A newton-metre is a unit of turning effect. Closed-chain means done with the hands or feet fixed against the floor, so they do not move freely.

How the body adapts

The side-plank studies on this page measured muscle activity, force or load during the hold^6,10,18. The studies below looked at training muscles the side plank works; they are not studies of the side plank itself^{1,7,11,19,20,21}.

External oblique. A randomised controlled trial assigns people to groups by chance, then compares the groups. One such trial had 73 people aged 18 to 45, and 40 did four weeks of rotational movement exercise¹⁹. Their external oblique thickness on ultrasound, a scan made with sound waves, rose significantly from their first measurement¹⁹. The abstract gives no comparison with the untrained group¹⁹.
Gluteus maximus. A meta-analysis pools the results of earlier studies. One pooled resistance-training studies of at least five weeks in healthy adults aged 18 to 45, and found a moderate effect on its growth²⁰.
Erector spinae. In a two-year trial in healthy white postmenopausal women, 27 did progressive back-strengthening exercise²¹. Their mean back extensor strength rose from 39.4 kg to 66.8 kg, against 36.9 kg to 49.0 kg in 23 controls²¹.

Progressive overload

A 2026 position stand describes progressive overload as the need to increase the stimulus placed on the muscle throughout a training programme²². The trials below progressed the side bridge by hold time, tempo, sets or harder variations, each inside a programme of several exercises^23,24,25.

Longer holds and a set tempo

In a randomised trial of adolescent male sub-elite handball players, the training group did three sets of the side bridge on both sides²³. They trained three times a week, and holds rose from 45 seconds to 60 and then 75, every two weeks over six weeks²³. Odd weeks were static holds, and even weeks kept a beat of 60 per minute²³. This side bridge was done from bent knees, and in the beat weeks the hips were raised and lowered continuously²³.

The programme, in 26 players, also had cross curl-ups and the bird dog²³. It improved back and side trunk endurance scores more than handball training alone, but throwing speed showed no change specific to the group²³.

Adding sets

In a study of 32 elite soccer players, the side plank was one of six bodyweight exercises, done four times a week for 8 weeks²⁴. Each was done in 5 sets of 10 repetitions, one side at a time, adding one set in each following week²⁴.

Harder variations

A study of 10 healthy, physically active people used seven side bridge variations in order²⁶. They ran from a short bridge to a long bridge, then one-leg support²⁶. Next came two legs, then one, on a hemisphere ball, a half-ball balance trainer²⁶. Last came two legs, then one, on a fit ball, a large exercise ball²⁶.

In 57 healthy, young, physically active male students, long bridging gave higher pelvic accelerations than short bridging in front, back and side bridges²⁷. Pelvic acceleration was recorded with a smartphone accelerometer, a sensor that records movement²⁷. In 76 males and females doing front, back and side bridges, one leg generally gave more body sway than two²⁸. A hemisphere ball gave more than the floor²⁸.

A trial that moved people up the variations

A randomised trial in physically active males set the side bridge from the same seven variations²⁵. Its two training groups did four repetitions each of the right and left side bridge, twice a week for 6 weeks²⁵. The front bridge, back bridge and bird-dog were in the same sessions²⁵. The higher-intensity group held each repetition 15 seconds on a harder variation, and the higher-volume group 30 seconds on an easier one²⁵.

In the fourth and eighth sessions, each person tried the next-harder variation²⁵. The one in their group’s pelvic-acceleration range became their new exercise²⁵. The higher-volume group improved within the group on all trunk endurance tests, the dominant side bridge test among them²⁵. But neither training group differed from the other or from the control group²⁵.

Connections

The muscles it works

Each of these has its own page, and each was measured in a side-plank study^1,7,8,11:

The external oblique, the outer muscle layer on the side of the abdomen^2,7.
The gluteus maximus, the largest of the gluteal muscles^1,2.
The erector spinae, through its longissimus thoracis^11,13.
The rectus abdominis, at the front of the abdomen^2,8.
The deltoid, through its middle part^7,17.

Muscles without a page yet

Side-plank studies also measured the quadratus lumborum, the internal oblique, the gluteus medius and minimus, and the multifidus^6,9,10,11.

Side plank loads

Side plank is progressed by

Training principleProgressive overload

Sources

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Every source the library cites

Changes

October 23, 2026 Added a Progressive overload section.
September 29, 2026 Tidy pass: minor review findings fixed, glosses aligned with the reviewed glossary.
September 29, 2026 Added a figure showing where it sits, links to the exercise pages that load it, and tighter wording in a few places.