Hip Airplane
Stand on one leg with your hands resting on a bench, a rail or a wall. Your torso leans forward and your free leg points back. From there, rotate your standing hip inwards as far as it goes, then rotate it back out.
The hip airplane loads the hip of the standing leg in rotation. While your pelvis and torso rotate over the thigh, the hip muscles hold the pelvis in position through the whole path — that is the real work, even more than the range of motion itself.
Leaning forward puts the hip into flexion. In that position the leverage of the glutes changes, and the gluteus medius does much of the stabilising work: it keeps your pelvis level over one leg while that pelvis is also rotating. The active contact of your toes gives the foot a stable base for the rotation.
The support on a bench or wall is part of the exercise. It takes away enough of the balance work for the hip to turn through its full range. Over time you lean on your hands less and less, until you can do it unsupported.
From the studio: I start with about five reps per side and build up from session to session. The glutes make themselves felt quickly here, and doing too much straight away shows up over the next couple of days. That is what I see in the studio.
Starting position
Set up in front of a bench, a rail or a wall so you can rest your hands on it.
Stand on one leg with the knee very slightly bent and your toes actively gripping the floor. Lean your torso forward, roughly 30 to 35 degrees, and extend your free leg behind you so that your torso and free leg form one line.
From there, rotate your standing hip inwards as far as it goes, then rotate it back out. Your pelvis rotates over the standing leg while the foot stays planted. Then do the same number of reps on the other side.
The three cues
- Standing knee slightly bent, toes gripping the floor
- Lean your torso forward — torso and free leg in one line
- Rotate the standing hip inwards as far as it goes, then back out
- Support yourself on a bench, rail or wall at first
Common faults
| Fault | How to fix it |
|---|---|
| The torso stays upright | Lean forward far enough that your torso and free leg form one line. Only then does the hip turn under load. |
| The rotation comes from the back instead of the hip | The torso stays in one line and the pelvis turns over the standing leg. Put a hand on your pelvis to feel the rotation there. |
| The standing leg is locked straight | Keep the knee very slightly bent. That keeps the hip free to move and lets the foot grip. |
| The standing foot rolls or shifts | Toes into the floor, weight spread over the whole foot. Put more weight through your hands while the foot still shifts. |
| The glutes cramp up | Work with fewer reps and a smaller rotation. The range grows over the next few sessions. |
Variations
| Variation | When to use it |
|---|---|
| Supported, small rotation | Both hands on the bench or wall; the hip turns only as far as the pelvis stays steady. |
| Supported, full rotation | The hip closes and opens as far as it goes, with pelvis and standing leg holding position on every rep. |
| Unsupported | Your hands come off the bench once the full supported rotation is clean on every rep. |
Reps and load
Both sides get the same number of reps. The rotation builds over the weeks, as long as your pelvis holds its position.
It works well as prep before single-leg work and alongside the Glute Bridge and the Single-Leg Romanian Deadlift.
Which muscles do the work
| Muscle | Role | What it does here |
|---|---|---|
| Gluteus medius M. gluteus medius | Prime mover | Holds the pelvis over the standing leg and guides the rotation |
| Gluteus minimus M. gluteus minimus | Synergist | Supports the gluteus medius in holding and turning the pelvis |
| Gluteus maximus M. gluteus maximus | Synergist | Rotates the thigh outwards and holds the hip against the forward lean |
| Hamstrings Mm. ischiocrurales | Stabiliser | Hold the torso in its forward lean over the standing leg |
| Trunk muscles Mm. abdominis, M. erector spinae | Stabiliser | Keep your torso and pelvis in one line while the hip rotates |
| Intrinsic foot muscles Mm. plantares breves | Stabiliser | Give the standing foot a stable base to rotate over |
The gluteus medius does the stabilising work and the gluteus maximus turns with it. Hamstrings and trunk hold the forward lean, and the foot provides the base.
Explained in full
Andreas shows the hip rotation in a single-leg stance: the support, the forward lean, the active foot and the hip's path on both sides. · 1:18
Seeing it done right is not the same as doing it right
Video, cues and variations take you a long way. What they cannot give you is an outside eye at the moment the movement isn't quite there yet. That is what training with me is for — in the studio or in a workshop.
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Sources
Song JK, Yoo WG. (2025). Effects of modified hip airplane exercise on gluteal muscle activation in healthy individuals. J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil 38(5):1021–1030. DOI: 10.1177/10538127251322857 — The only study of the exercise itself. In 20 healthy men, gluteus medius activity in the hip airplane was higher than in the single-leg squat and the pelvic drop, while gluteus maximus was highest in the single-leg squat. The basis for listing gluteus medius as the prime mover. An acute single measurement in men only, with three comparison exercises, no percentage values in the abstract and no multi-week training outcome. (Evidence type: EMG)
Krause DA, Jacobs RS, Pilger KE, Sather BR, Sibunka SP, Hollman JH. (2009). Electromyographic analysis of the gluteus medius in five weight-bearing exercises. J Strength Cond Res 23(9):2689–2694. DOI: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181bbe861 — Compares gluteus medius activity across five weight-bearing exercises: single-leg stance exceeded double-leg stance, and the single-leg squat exceeded single-leg stance. The basis for describing single-leg stance as what challenges the pelvis. An acute measurement in healthy people, without the hip airplane itself. (Evidence type: EMG)
Distefano LJ, Blackburn JT, Marshall SW, Padua DA. (2009). Gluteal muscle activation during common therapeutic exercises. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 39(7):532–540. DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2009.2796 — Measures gluteus medius and maximus activity across twelve exercises in 21 people. Side-lying hip abduction led for gluteus medius (81 per cent of maximum), while single-leg squat and single-leg deadlift sat around 59 to 64 per cent for both muscles. Included for context: the hip airplane is a good exercise for the glutes rather than a stand-alone one. An acute measurement with wide variation, and without the hip airplane. (Evidence type: EMG)
Delp SL, Hess WE, Hungerford DS, Jones LC. (1999). Variation of rotation moment arms with hip flexion. J Biomech 32(5):493–501. DOI: 10.1016/S0021-9290(99)00032-9 — Measures the rotation moment arms of 18 hip muscle compartments in cadavers at 0, 20, 45, 60 and 90 degrees of hip flexion. Gluteus maximus has a large capacity for external rotation, and the moment arms shift with increasing flexion — towards internal rotation in 15 of 18 compartments. The basis for saying the levers shift with the forward lean. Measured in four specimens, without muscle activity and without movement. (Evidence type: Biomechanics)
Wei Z, Zeng Z, Liu M, Wang L. (2022). Effect of intrinsic foot muscles training on foot function and dynamic postural balance: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLoS One 17(4):e0266525. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0266525 — A review of 16 studies on intrinsic foot muscle training: it has favourable effects on the medial longitudinal arch and on dynamic postural balance. The basis for describing the active toe contact as part of the exercise. The effects concern dynamic balance rather than quiet single-leg stance, and no study covers toe gripping during a hip rotation. (Evidence type: Meta-analysis)
A note on context: EMG studies show which muscles an exercise recruits — that is a good reason to pick it, but it does not replace adjusting things to the person in front of you. See a doctor for persistent or severe pain.