Vinys
All movements

Lower back, hips and neck

Locust: Single Leg

Single leg lifts create targeted, asymmetrical back strengthening that helps address side-to-side imbalances in your posterior chain.

Stability / Core20 to 60 seconds
Start your first sessionFree · no credit card · your session is built from it

How to do it

  1. 1

    Lie face down with both hip bones evenly heavy

    Legs straight, arms alongside your body, forehead down. Take a moment to feel both sides of the pelvis pressing equally.

  2. 2

    Lift your chest, then lift one leg

    Only one leg rises, straight and reaching back from the hip. Working one side at a time is what separates this from the two legged version.

  3. 3

    Let level hips set the height

    Keep the opposite hip firmly down. The leg goes only as high as it can without the pelvis rolling, which is usually lower than you expect.

  4. 4

    Match both sides for time and height

    Do the same on each side and keep the more willing side down to the range of the other. If either side feels strong, keep the whole lift low.

  5. 5

    Hold 20 to 60 seconds on each side

    Lower the leg with control, rest for a breath or two, then change sides.

What to watch for

The pelvis rolling toward the resting leg as the working leg lifts, which trades even one sided work for a twist low in the back. Lower the leg until both hip bones stay down, and stop if anything starts travelling further down either leg.

Ways to adjust it

  • Low Locust
  • Classic
  • Gaze down cue

If this one is too much today

Try the gentler version instead. It asks less of you and does much the same work.

Other ways to do this movement

Every version below is the same movement set up differently, so one of them usually suits. See all Locust Pose versions in one place, ordered from gentlest to strongest.

Before you try it

Move within a range that stays comfortable. Stop if this brings on sharp pain, dizziness, or symptoms that travel down an arm or a leg, and speak to a clinician before repeating it.

One movement is a start. A session is the thing.

A few questions about your body and how it is today, and Vinys builds a session around it, including which movements to leave out.

Start your first session

From the clinically authored Vinys movement library.