# Side Lying Lat Stretch

A floor stretch lying on your side, sweeping the top arm over your head to meet the bottom hand. Stretches the lats and the side of your upper back.

- Beginner · Mobility
- Equipment: 
- HD video: https://media.seto.fit/exercises/side-lying-floor-stretch/video/male.mp4
- HTML: https://seto.fit/exercises/side-lying-lat-stretch/

## Muscles worked

- Lats: 8/10
- Teres major: 6/10
- Serratus anterior: 4/10
- Shoulders: 3/10

## How to do the Side Lying Lat Stretch

1. Lie on your side, bottom arm overhead under your head.
2. Sweep your top arm over your head to the bottom hand.
3. Reach long and feel the stretch along your side.
4. Hold, breathing slowly, then switch sides.

### Full technique — 6 steps

1. Lie on your side with your legs straight, one on top of the other.
2. Extend your bottom arm on the floor past your head and rest your head on it.
3. Start with your top arm in front of your body, hand on the floor.
4. Sweep your top arm up over your head and lower your hand toward your bottom hand.
5. Reach long through the top arm until you feel the stretch along the side of your upper back.
6. Hold the position and breathe slowly, then return the arm and repeat on the other side.

## Common mistakes

- Rolling onto the back during the hold
- Shrugging the top shoulder
- Flaring the ribs upward
- Bending the top elbow
- Bouncing the arm to go deeper

## Form cues

- Reach long through top arm
- Relax the top shoulder
- Keep ribs down
- Breathe slowly

## How much to do

- **Strength**: 1–2 sets of 20–30 reps · rest 15 s · 6 reps in reserve
- **Muscle growth**: 1–2 sets of 20–30 reps · rest 15 s · 6 reps in reserve
- **Endurance**: 1–2 sets of 30–45 reps · rest 15 s · 6 reps in reserve

Reps in reserve: how many more you could still do when you end the set.

## Where to start and where to go next

Same muscles, same movement. Too hard for now — step down; once it gets easy — step up.

- **This exercise: Side Lying Lat Stretch — Beginner**
- Harder: [Side Lying Stability Ball Lat Stretch](https://seto.fit/exercises/side-lying-stability-ball-lat-stretch/) — Beginner

## Quick answers

### What muscles does the Side Lying Lat Stretch work?

Primary: Lats 8/10, Teres major 6/10. Also works: Serratus anterior 4/10, Shoulders 3/10.

### When should I do the Side Lying Lat Stretch in a workout?

Warm-up. Done at the start to get the body ready. ≈ 3 min with rest.

### How many sets and reps of the Side Lying Lat Stretch?

Strength: 1–2 sets of 20–30 reps, rest 15 s, 6 reps in reserve. Muscle growth: 1–2 sets of 20–30 reps, rest 15 s, 6 reps in reserve. Endurance: 1–2 sets of 30–45 reps, rest 15 s, 6 reps in reserve.

### What is a harder version of the Side Lying Lat Stretch?

Side Lying Stability Ball Lat Stretch (Beginner).

How we rate exercises: https://seto.fit/guides/methodology/

---
seto — Fast, simple, clever workout tracking — offline-first by design. https://seto.fit/

Video licensed for playback on seto only — copying, downloading, or redistribution is prohibited. https://seto.fit/terms/