Athletes at large are prone to knee pain and injuries, or groin strain. Regular injuries might indicate that your adductor muscles are weak.
People have tendencies of only a handful of muscles like biceps, triceps, traps, lats, abs, glutes, hammies, and several other muscle groups in their workouts.
In this article, you will learn why you shouldn’t neglect your adductor strength and flexibility. Consequently, you will learn how to improve it safely and efficiently.
We will suggest some simple adductor exercises to incorporate into your training routine.
Quick Summary
- The best adductor exercises are the cossack squats, sumo squats, ball squeeze, adductor raise, and Copenhagen windmill side plank.
- Strengthening the adductors helps improve your sports performance.
- Individuals who regularly perform adductor exercises are less likely to get injuries like groin sprains.
- Beginners should start low on the intensity of adductor workouts and gradually increase.
What Are the Adductor Muscles?
The adductor muscles or hip adductors belong to a group of muscles in your inner thighs, containing:
- Adductor brevis
- Adductor longus
- Adductor magnus
- Obturator externus
- Gracilis
- Pectineus
The primary function of these groin muscles is to help bring your hips and thighs to the body midline (adduct them) to support proper balance and alignment.
They’re responsible for enabling your:
- Pelvis stabilization
- Knee flexion and medial rotation
- Hip flexion, hip extension, hip internal rotation and hip external rotation
For instance, adductors help you step to the side, get up from the squat, get out of bed, or the car.
They become increasingly activated when you’re running uphill, downhill, or when you’re performing explosive lateral and multi-directional movements.
Why Is Strengthening the Adductors Important?
Strengthening the adductors is important because it can help improve your sports performance by enhancing your hip extension, flexion, and internal and external rotational power.
These movements separate outstanding from average athletes, especially in sports like figure-skating and others already mentioned.
This is also equally important for squatting, sprinting, jumping, deadlifting, and many other similar everyday movements.
What’s more:
Strong hip adductors prevent groin strains, knee, and other common injuries. [1]
Injury prevention is crucial because these injuries may result in a decreased range of motion, chronic pain and muscle weakness, missed playing time, or even the inability to play sports again. [2]
A study on professional ice-hockey players has shown that the weaker your hip adductor muscles, the higher the risk of adductor and hip flexor strains and injuries. [3]
Here’s a quick and simple test to find out whether your adductors are weak:
“If your knees point outward during a squat then there could be an imbalance of hip strength with your hip adductors being weaker than the reciprocal hip muscles (hip abductors).”
- Kevin Laudner, Ph.D., Certified Athletic Trainer, Kinesiology Professor
Now, let’s find out how you can strengthen them easily.
Related: Best Mobility Exercises
What Exercises Work the Adductors?
Exercises that work the adductors are the Copenhagen windmill side plank, cossack squats, sumo squats, ball squeeze, and adductor raise.
For the best results, perform at least three sets of each exercise weekly. And don’t forget to warm up for 5 to 10 minutes before you start.
You may also choose powerful pre-workout supplements to avoid pain and injuries, stay healthy, improve athletic performance, and enjoy your activities.
1. Copenhagen Windmill Side Plank
For this adductor side plank exercise variation, put the ankle, shin, or knee of your right leg on a bench, coffee table, box, or another similar surface.
Use it to lift your left leg, hips, and trunk off the ground, relying on your left hand while keeping the whole body in a straight line.
Your glutes and core should be engaged, and your right arm extended above you.
Hold yourself in this plank position, maintaining stability for at least 30 seconds or as long as you can. Then, switch sides and repeat.
Do 3 sets of 10 reps per side.
2. Cossack Squats
Stand with your feet wider than your shoulder width, and your toes slightly turned outwards.
Keep the weight with both hands above your chest level for a better balance and stability (add no more than 10-15lbs if you’re a beginner).
Shift your weight into your right foot and lower into a deep lateral lunge with your right leg completely straight, foot fully planted, knee forward over your toes, and the chest up high, while moving your left heel to point the toes up.
Stand up (not necessarily all the way up unless you want to) and repeat the movement on the other side.
You can adjust your stance if necessary while you’re at the bottom of the squat.
Only go as far down as you feel comfortable to avoid tearing your groin muscle.
Perform 3 sets of 5-12 slow, controlled reps per leg.
It’ll be enough for strength and power athletes to improve their hip mobility and stability and enhance injury prevention of the knees, inner groin, and hips.
Other types of exercises:
3. Sumo Squats
Stand with your feet wider than the shoulder width, and the toes turned out.
Keep your back straight and both arms fully extended in front of you at the shoulder level.
Bend both knees to lower your body into a squat position until your thighs get parallel to the ground.
Then, rise and repeat.
Do 3 sets of 12-15 reps.
4. Ball Squeeze
Lie on your back with your knees bent, both feet flat on the floor, head and shoulders raised from the floor, and both arms slightly lifted and straightened beside your body.
Place a small medicine ball between your legs and knees. Squeeze the squishy ball, drawing in your abs, and hold for 10 seconds. Then, relax and repeat.
Do 3 sets of 12-15 reps.
5. Adductor Raise
Lie on your left side, leaning up on your left elbow and using your right hand for balance if necessary.
Bend your top leg, placing the right foot over your lower thigh.
From this position, lift your bottom leg and heel upward as high as comfortable, keeping it straight.
Hold for a few seconds, and return it slowly to the starting position. Then, repeat.
Do 5 sets of 10 reps with each leg.
Other types of exercises:
References:
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25833903/
- https://www.statpearls.com/articlelibrary/viewarticle/17189/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11292035/
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