How to Twerk

Twerking is a great way to dance to your favorite song or workout and have fun simultaneously. Once you learn the basic moves, twerking is easy.

Method 1
Method 1 of 3:

Doing the Squat and Shake Twerk

  1. 1
    Get into a squat position. You want to be low to the ground so that you are grounded and easily balanced, but not too low. Consider keeping your knees behind your toes to avoid knee injury. Stand with your legs wide apart, lower to the ground, with your feet turned out. This will help you maintain your balance once you start moving. This is the most common way to twerk, and is the least sexually provocative.[1]
    • Pick a fun, fast beat and start practicing! You can practice twerking slowly at first, to get the basic move down, and pick up your pace once you're comfortable with it.
  2. 2
    Pop your booty outward. Get into the stance that looks like you are about to sit into a chair-- think "chair pose" in yoga -- your booty should be the main attraction. Make sure to keep your knees bent and place your hands on your hips. Keep your upper body pretty straight and look straight ahead. You don't need to look at the ground to twerk effectively.[2]
    • As you pop your booty out, you should lean forward approximately 45 degrees, shifting your weight to your toes. This is known as the "Miley Twerk". If you want to be a bit less scandalous, then you don't have to lean forward as much, and can keep your chest upright.
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  3. 3
    Shake your booty back and forth. If you choose to keep your hands on your hips while you twerk, then you should press your thumbs into your butt bones to help push your hips go forward if you're moving forward; to move your booty back, use your other fingers to pull back on your hip bones to help your booty move backward. If you're comfortable twerking without your hands, then you can lift your arms straight out in front of you, close together and parallel to the ground, and gently sway them as you continue to twerk.[3]
    • For the Miley Twerk, you should move your hips quickly from right to left; for a standard twerk, pop your booty up and down, arching and straightening your back to get the best results. And don't worry if you don't have a big booty. Anyone can rock this move!
    • It's all about isolating the lower half of your body. Try to keep the upper half of your body pretty stable.
    • You can also switch it up with your hands, keeping them up in front of you, out at your sides, or back on your hips.
    • Additionally, you can get even a bit lower the ground, placing your hands above your knees, with your fingers pointed toward each other and your wrists facing out, and shake your booty with your hands helping you get the most for your money.
    • If you're really going for it, add a Miley face or hand signal for good measure.
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Method 2
Method 2 of 3:

Doing the Wall Twerk

  1. Image titled Twerk Step 4
    1
    Stand about two feet away from a sturdy wall. Stand facing away from the wall but within close proximity so you can see the wall in your peripheral vision. Now, this is the most showy form of twerking. Make sure you don't think this is a good idea after you've had one drink too many, or you'll be fixing for a fall. When you attempt the wall twerk, you should already be pretty confident in your twerking abilities. This move is not for amateurs.[4]
  2. 2
    Put your hands on the floor. This time you want to make sure you have a strong grip on the floor as you will be walking your feet up the wall so you don’t want to fall. Your entire hands should be on the ground to give you the balance you need. Get your booty high in the air to make it easier to get your legs up there. Your hands should be down about a foot in front of your feet, shoulder width apart. As you place both hands on the ground, shift the weight from your legs to your hands.
    • Your torso and upper body should essentially be in a handstand position. Your fingers should be facing away from you.
  3. 3
    Walk your feet up the wall and bend your knees as you shake your booty. First, place one leg on the wall, get it up there until you feel stable, and then move your other leg up to join it. Your feet should be wide apart, about one foot away from each hip. Get your toes firmly on the wall and practice arching your back and hallowing it, creating the basic twerk move. Keep your arms and upper body strong and stable as you rock out with your lower body (which will be above your upper body!). You can think of this as a version of the "hands on the ground" twerk -- except that this time, you're up on a wall.
    • You should aim to be up there for thirty seconds, or maybe even a minute or the length of a short song, but remember that your hands and shoulders will get tired after a while. 
    • This is also a great opportunity for grabbing a wall twerking partner to join you as you show off those moves!
    • Make sure to come down gracefully. Move your feet back down the wall, one at a time. You can continue doing the "hands on the ground" twerk, or just take a complete break from twerking for a little while until you're ready to channel your inner-Miley again.
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Method 3
Method 3 of 3:

Doing the Hands on the Ground Twerk

  1. Image titled Twerk Step 4
    1
    Stand with your legs parallel and separated.  Make sure your legs are straight and your torso is facing forward. They should be wider than hip distance apart. If they're too close together, it'll be hard for you to bend down to twerk effectively.[5]
  2. Image titled Twerk Step 5
    2
    Put your hands on the ground. Turn your toes out as you lean down. You can have a slight bend in your legs and make sure at least your fingertips touch the ground. If you're more flexible, nobody's stopping you from getting your entire hands down on the ground. This will help you maintain your own balance.
  3. Image titled Twerk Step 6
    3
    Pop your booty. Bend and straighten your legs quickly, accentuating the booty pop during the move. Bend and straighten your legs along with the rhythm of the music.  You can also shake and move your booty as you twerk. To do the regular twerk, just arch your back and then hallow it out, letting your booty move up and down, up and down. For the Miley, quickly wiggle your hips from left to right.
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Community Q&A

  • Question
    How do you know if you're twerking? I can read this but I can't figure out whether I'm doing it right.
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    There's two ways to know if you're twerking or not. First, you can look in the mirror and if you see hip movement or your butt moving up or down, you're twerking. Or, if you feel your butt moving, as if if you feel it jiggle while you dance, then you're twerking. You don't need a big butt to twerk (i.e. Rihanna is one of the best twerkers and she doesn't have a big butt). It's all in the movement of the hips, so if you move your hips/but up and down, you're good.
  • Question
    How can I make my butt bigger?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    Simply do squats, this will make your butt muscles stronger and bigger. I do 200 squats 6 times a week and I have a pretty big butt.
  • Question
    How can I do twerking in a split?
    Community Answer
    Community Answer
    If you are in a middle split, go on your elbows and move your butt up and down, or you can move one butt cheek at a time, using your butt muscles to do so.
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References

  1. ↑ https://www.self.com/story/let-serena-williams-teach-you-how-to-twerk-in-this-masterful-video
  2. ↑ https://www.howcast.com/videos/512414-how-to-twerk-sexy-dance-moves
  3. ↑ https://www.eonline.com/news/452781/a-beginner-s-guide-to-twerking-what-is-it-why-is-it-happening-and-how-do-you-do-it
  4. ↑ https://heavy.com/social/2013/08/how-to-twerk-what-is-twerking-miley-cyrus/
  5. ↑ https://www.adweek.com/digital/heres-how-twerk-case-you-had-google-it-152109/

About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 142 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 2,804,931 times.
449 votes - 76%
Co-authors: 142
Updated: March 11, 2023
Views: 2,804,931
Categories: Fun Dances
Article SummaryX

To twerk, begin by squatting. Stand with your legs bent and wide apart, like you’re about to sit in a chair. Try turning your feet out over your knees, which will help your balance. Next, pop your booty out by leaning forward about 45 degrees. Rest your hands on your knees, with your fingers facing towards each other. Now, twerking is all about isolating the lower half of your body! For a standard twerk, pop your booty up and down by arching and straightening your back. It might also be helpful to think of twerking as moving your hip bones forwards, then backwards in two distinct motions. Practice slowly at first. Then once you feel comfortable with twerking on your own, try doing it to the beat of some fun music. As with all dance moves, you don’t need to have a certain body type or skill level to look good. Just twerk with confidence and enthusiasm! To learn more about how to twerk on a wall or while your hands are on the ground, keep reading!

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