Written by Paulina Kairys | BSKin & EX.Sc., NASM CPT
Fact checked by Kirsten Yovino, CPT Brookbush Institute
FACT CHECKED
An entertaining name and an even better activation exercise, fire hydrants target the hip complex and glutes.
In addition to targeting the gluteus maximus, this exercise and its variations engage the core and challenge the body's coordination and balance.
You're about to learn more about the fire hydrant exercise, its benefits, and some great variations and progressions, as well as how to incorporate it into your routine.
Table of Contents:
- What Is A Fire Hydrant Exercise?
- Muscles Worked During the Fire Hydrant
- Fire Hydrant Exercise Benefits
- How To Do The Fire Hydrant Exercise
- Common Fire Hydrant Exercise Mistakes To Avoid
- Fire Hydrant Exercise Variations & Progressions
- Fire Hydrant Exercise Alternatives
- Programming the Fire Hydrant Exercise
- FAQs
- The Fire Hydrant Exercise: Key Takeaways
Let's get into it!
What Is A Fire Hydrant Exercise?
The fire hydrant, completed from the hands and knees position, is an accessory exercise that targets the hips and glutes while incorporating coordination and balance. Many exercises for the lower body, like squats, deadlifts, and lunges, are compound and performed within the sagittal plane.
The fire hydrant works within the transverse plane and isolates one joint action: hip abduction (moving the leg outward from the body's center). Training the body through different planes of motion is essential for building a functional body that can move and isolate in several directions. Functional movement patterns can translate to more efficient movement throughout your day, leading to fewer aches, pains, and fatigue.
When done with proper form and progressive overload, the fire hydrant exercise can help increase the strength of the glutes, especially the gluteus maximus. It also strengthens the hip complex and improves movement quality and injury prevention through core stabilization, balance, and coordination.
Therefore, the fire hydrant is a perfect accessory movement, warm-up, or finisher on a lower body workout day.
Muscles Worked During The Fire Hydrant
In the fire hydrant stance, the bent leg opens in abduction, targeting the hip abductors, gluteus medius, gluteus minimus, gluteus maximus, and the core muscles.
The stable leg and the rest of the body resist movement through core activation, keeping you stable and centered in the quadruped position. Once a resistance band or an ankle weight is added to the active leg, it increases the intensity level.
Since one side is targeted at a time, this exercise corrects for instabilities and/or strength deficiencies in the lower body.
Looking for more great core stability exercises? Read our article on Core Stability Training: Best Rotational & Anti-Rotational Exercises.
Fire Hydrant Exercise Benefits
The fire hydrant isolates the hip complex and hip joints and strengthens the glutes.
In this exercise, the glutes activate through hip extension, external rotation, and abduction. These movement patterns are crucial for keeping the hip complex strong, mobile, and stable.
Most lower body exercises move in the sagittal plane, taking the hips through flexion and extension. In contrast, the fire hydrant trains the transverse plane of motion and adds rotation.
Strong glutes can improve movement quality and posture to prevent injuries. Since the fire hydrant is performed unilaterally and in the quadruped position, it relies on core stabilization, balance, and full body stability.
To summarize the fire hydrant's benefits:
- Strengthens the glutes
- Strengthens the hips outside of the sagittal plane
- Improves movement quality, corrects posture, and prevents injuries
- Challenges core stabilization along with full body balance and coordination
How To Do The Fire Hydrant Exercise
Get the most out of your fire hydrants by practicing proper form with body weight first. This exercise puts you in the quadruped position, so to perform fire hydrants, you'll need a mat to protect your knees while on all-fours.
- Start in a quadruped position with your hands apart and directly under the shoulders and your knees apart, stacked directly under the hips.
- Find a neutral spine with a slight curvature of the lower back.
- Brace your core as you lift your right leg off the ground without shifting the rest of your body off center.
- Keep your right knee bent and open out to the side as you feel your right glute start to fire.
- Once you reach about 45 degrees, pause and slowly lower your right leg to starting position with control.
- Reset for the next repetition and complete the desired repetitions. Switch legs, repeating with the left leg.
Common Fire Hydrant Exercise Mistakes to Avoid
Make sure you stick to the following guidelines to avoid common mistakes:
- Keep a neutral spine throughout the exercise and avoid any excessive arching or rounding.
- Stay stacked in your quadruped position, and make sure your body stays stable and in a straight line throughout the movement. Breathing and bracing through your core are vital for keeping your quadruped stable.
- Open in the fire hydrant just enough until you feel your glutes activate. Opening out too far can offset the pelvis and force the body to shift and compensate away from the active leg.
- Stick to a slow and controlled pace that will allow you to connect with your glutes. Completing the repetitions at a fast pace can defeat the purpose of isolating the glutes.
- Practice bodyweight repetitions before adding a resistance band or ankle weights. Focus on form and function first before adding external load.
5 Fire Hydrant Exercise Variations & Progressions
Once you've built a strong foundation for the standard fire hydrant, progress this movement to keep challenging your body. Any of these variations and progressions will ensure progressive overload continues.
Once you master these variations, you can make the move harder by performing the fire hydrant exercise while attempting to balance on one hand.
1) Resistance Band Fire Hydrant:
Loop a resistance band around both legs just above your knees to add resistance while maintaining a solid quadruped stance.
To challenge yourself further, utilize a heavier resistance band or slow down the movement.
2) Ankle Weighted Fire Hydrant:
Similar to the resisted band fire hydrant, utilizing an ankle weight will allow your glutes to work harder throughout the fire hydrant.
Make sure the ankle weight is secure and comfortable, right above the ankle. When you wear ankle weights, start with a lower weight and eventually increase the resistance.
Never used ankle weights? Be sure to check out our article on the benefits of ankle weights to see what makes them so great!
3) Fire Hydrant Kick:
An additional emphasis on the lateral part of the glute, the fire hydrant kick is a great way to strengthen your hip complex.
At the top, extend your leg completely until the knee is straight. Then, bend through your knee and lower back down. This complete extension of the leg will challenge the outer glutes and core stability.
4) Fire Hydrant Pulse:
With any of the above three progressions, adding a pulse to the fire hydrant can significantly challenge this movement pattern.
When you reach the top of your fire hydrant, hold and pulse at the top for 3-5 counts, then slowly lower to the start position.
5) Standing Fire Hydrant:
This variation is a great alternative to the quadruped position for those with knee sensitivity or trouble getting on and off the ground. While standing, you can do the same hip movement in a different stance but with less pressure on the wrists and knees, limiting discomfort.
To do the standing fire hydrant, start in a standing stance with your feet hip-width apart, and position yourself close to a chair or wall to use for balance. Lean your upper body slightly forward and engage through your core.
Bend through your right knee and lift your leg straight to the side until you reach 45 degrees. Lower your leg to the starting position and repeat. When ready, switch sides and repeat on the left leg.
4 Fire Hydrant Exercise Alternatives
Looking for some other ways to target your hip muscles and build muscle? These alternatives may be just what you're looking for.
1) Kneeling Donkey Kick:
Hip extensions target the glutes through a different range of motion: the sagittal plane. Only move through your hip and avoid additional flexion or extension through the lower back.
How to do the Kneeling Donkey Kick:
- Start in a quadruped position with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
- Find your neutral spine and keep your gaze toward the top of your mat.
- Lift your right foot off the ground and send your leg toward the back while keeping your knee bent at 90 degrees.
- Once your right leg is parallel to the ground, return it to the starting position.
- Complete your repetitions on this side before you switch your legs to the left side.
2) Clamshells:
Clamshells mimic the movement pattern of a fire hydrant, but they're completed in a side-lying position. If you're not a fan of the quadruped position, the side-lying position is a comfortable variation and puts less stress on the wrists and knees.
How to do Clamshells:
- Lie on the left side of your body. Cradle your head with your left arm, bend through your knees, and keep your hips stacked and legs together.
- Squeeze the glutes and lift the top knee to open. Make sure the feet stay together.
- Return your knee to the starting position. Make sure to switch sides.
3) Standing Side Leg Raise:
Like fire hydrants, leg raises work the glutes and engage core stability. These can also be done in the side-lying position where the top leg moves into abduction.
How to do the Standing Side Leg Raise:
- Grabbing onto a chair or piece of equipment for balance, stand with your feet hip distance apart and shift your weight onto your left foot. You can also place your hands on your hips to make this move harder.
- Lift your right leg off the ground and open out to the side until you feel the outside of the glutes tense.
- Slowly return to the starting position and repeat. Switch and repeat with the left leg.
4) Bird Dogs:
This exercise is an excellent variation to fire hydrants and will allow you to connect deeper in your core and find stability within your quadruped position.
Although this movement does not directly activate the glutes, it's a nice variation to train a neutral spine and challenge your balance and coordination.
How to do Bird Dogs:
- Start in a quadruped position with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.
- Keep a neutral spine as you lift your right hand and left knee off the ground.
- Reach your arm out in front of you and fully extend your left leg straight behind you. Pause at the top and tap into your stability, engaging the upper body and left hip.
- Slowly lower down and reset for the next repetition.
- For bird dogs, you can either complete all your repetitions on one side or choose to alternate sides.
Programming the Fire Hydrant Exercise
The fire hydrant is most efficient as an accessory movement in a leg workout, a warm-up for the glutes, and a finisher for the glutes/hip complex.
As your warm-up, complete the fire hydrant for one set of 1-2 minutes per side. If you're incorporating it into your accessory work, pair it with a main compound movement like squats, deadlifts, or hip thrusts.
You could also complete it in a series of accessory movements, doing 3-5 sets of 12-20 reps or 15-30 reps on each side (depending on which variation you choose) if you're primarily targeting muscle hypertrophy or muscle endurance.
Finally, as a finisher, you'll do it as one of the last movements of your workouts, getting in as many quality repetitions as you can while fatigued.
During your weekly workouts, completing fire hydrants and their variations anywhere from 2-3 times is plenty. Spread out your workouts to make sure you're using adequate rest in between days.
Over time, increase the resistance you're using for your fire hydrants to keep progressing.
Sample Leg Workout
The following workout is a lower body, glute-focused workout. You'll find fire hydrants at the end of the workout, allowing you to focus on completing quality reps while connecting with the glutes.
|
Exercise |
Sets |
Reps |
|
Weighted Hip Thrust |
3 |
12 |
|
Dumbbell Step Up |
3 |
10 |
|
Dumbbell RDL |
3 |
12 |
|
Ankle Weighted Fire Hydrant |
3 |
12 |
|
Frog Pumps |
3 |
30 |
FAQs
Still want to learn more? Take a look at some of the most frequently asked questions.
Why is it called a fire hydrant exercise?
Have you ever noticed a dog urinating (fire hydrants being a popular choice for going potty)? Well, the fire hydrant resembles the action of a dog urinating on a fire hydrant, lifting one leg in the quadruped position.
Are fire hydrants good for runners?
Yes. Fire hydrants are an excellent exercise for runners. Since running is in the sagittal plane, the body may lack strength in other planes of motion. As a runner, building an efficient posterior chain (glutes, hamstrings, back muscles) to withstand longer distance runs is crucial. Fire hydrants directly target the glutes and stabilize the core, helping build strength in this range.
Do fire hydrants grow side glutes?
Fire hydrants alone do not grow your glutes. It takes a great amount of effort and time to grow the glutes. Including various glute isolation exercises within a program featuring progressive overload is the proper approach, and fire hydrants are a great exercise to incorporate into a well-rounded glute growing program.
Are fire hydrants good for inner thighs?
Fire hydrants are mainly an outer glute exercise, although they will work the inner thigh of the stabilizing leg to a small degree. Still, there are better inner thigh exercises to train that area specifically.
The Fire Hydrant Exercise: Key Takeaways
If you're not already adding fire hydrants somewhere into your workout, there's no time like the present.
They might get passed over for more flashy movements such as squats or cleans, but fire hydrants make an excellent addition to any program's warm-up or working sets.
They're fantastic for injury prevention, glute strength, and hip stability. Plus, they only require a small resistance band (or no equipment at all), so there's no excuse not to get them done.
Looking for more moves for stronger hips? Check out our article on the 10 Best Hip Abductor Exercises For Stronger Hips!
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Paulina Kairys
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