What Muscles Do Leg Lifts Strengthen?

Lifting your legs against the force of gravity while lying on your back, front or side helps strengthen the muscles that surround and act on your hip joints. Learning about these muscles can help you determine how to incorporate leg-lift exercises into a strength-training program that is tailored to your goals and needs.

Hip Abductors

Two of the three gluteal muscles -- the gluteus medius and gluteus minimus -- facilitate hip abduction ranges of motion. These muscles attach to the back of the ilium, which is part of your pelvis, on one end and to the greater trochanter -- the bony protrusion on the outside of your hip -- on the other. The leg-lift exercise that targets the hip abductors involves lying on your side with your legs stacked on top of each other and lifting your top leg away from your bottom leg repeatedly. You can add resistance by wearing ankle weights.

Hip Adductors

Four muscles contribute to hip adduction ranges of motion -- the adductor brevis, adductor longus, adductor magnus and gracilis. These muscles attach to the pubis bone of your pelvis on top and run along the inside of your thigh, with adductor muscles attaching to the inside of the femur, or thigh bone, and the gracilis to the tibia bone of your lower leg. Start in the same position as the hip abduction exercise to perform the leg-lift exercise that targets the hip adductors. Then, move your bottom leg in front of your top leg and lift it repeatedly.

Hip Extensors

The gluteus maximus and hamstrings cooperate to extend your hip joints, allowing you to move your upper leg backward from a standing position. The gluteus maximus attaches to various structures of the pelvis on one end and to the femur and iliotibial band on the other, and the hamstrings span the back of your thighs, crossing both the hip and knee joints. The leg-lift exercise that targets these muscles involves lying face down on the floor and lifting one leg at a time. You can also perform the exercise while lying on a flat bench or table.

Hip Flexors

The iliopsoas complex, which includes the iliacus and psoas muscles, are the major hip flexors, with the pectineus, rectus femoris, sartorius and tensor fasciae latae assisting. All of these muscles cross the front of the hip joint and help pull the thigh bone forward and upward, decreasing the angle between your upper leg and torso. Performing leg lifts while lying on your back strengthens the hip flexors. Start with your feet together, heels on the floor and hands under your buttocks, then lift both legs at the same time until they're perpendicular to the floor and lower them repeatedly.