Let’s look at a series of exercises to stretch the adductors that will allow you to gain greater flexibility and prevent avoidable injuries.
Today in Total Bodybuilding I will explain a series of exercises and stretching tips for adductors that will allow you to gain flexibility in this important muscle area.
Don’t forget that groin and adductor injuries are common in sports that require flexibility in hip movements, particularly in sports such as basketball, tennis, running or soccer for example.
So, if you practice some of these sports you have no excuses for not implementing some of these adductor stretching exercises, choose a few and build your own daily routine.
LET’S REVIEW THE ANATOMY OF ADDUCTORS
Muscles in the adductor area include:
- The pectineus
- The gracilis
- The adductor longus
- The brevis
- The magnus
You can see them in the image below.
SHORT ADDUCTOR STRETCH WITH KNEE TO THE GROUND
- Kneel on your right knee and put your left foot in front so that your left knee is 90 degrees.
- Inhale and slide your right knee to the side, and without bending your back exhale to finish.
- Repeat with the opposite leg.
STRETCHING OF SEATED ADDUCTORS
- Sit on the floor with your knees apart and the bottom of your feet together.
- Keep your chest and back straight.
- Lean forward while keeping your pelvis fixed
- Now apply a slight pressure on the knees pushing them towards the floor.
- Relax and keep stretching the appropriate amount of time.
STRETCHING OF LONG ADDUCTORS
- Separate laterally the leg you want to stretch, keeping the knee in extension while the other leg forms an almost right angle with the first.
- Regulates the stretch by resting the arms on the flexed leg.
- Hold the stretch for 20-30 seconds.
STRETCHING OF LONG ADDUCTORS SITTING
This stretch also includes the hamstrings.
- To stretch both parts sit at the same time with your legs open and stretched in front of you always keeping your back straight.
- Slowly stretch your legs apart as much as possible.
- Exhale and lean forward with your hips, until you feel more resistance.
- Be sure to keep your chest and maintain lumbar lordosis (normal inward curvature of your lower back).
- Hold the stretch for 20-30 seconds.
STRETCHING ON THE WALL
- Lie down in front of a wall against your legs against them.
- Get as close to the wall as possible, maintaining a comfortable (not painful) stretch of your hamstrings.
- Keep your legs straight as you slowly open them until you feel a stretch between your legs (groin).
- Hold the stretch for 20-30 seconds.
- Relax and repeat 2-3 times.
ADDUCTOR FOOT STRETCH
- Start by standing with your feet apart at a distance of approximately 1 meter away.
- Direct your support to the side allowing the knee to bend.
- Keep the opposite knee straight to feel a stretch on the inside of your thigh.
- Hold the stretch for 20-30 seconds.
- Relax and repeat on the opposite side.
HOW LONG DO YOU HAVE TO STRETCH THE ADDUCTORS?
Hold these positions for an appropriate time interval. Most people can benefit with only about 30 seconds, no more is necessary. Of course, always try at least 2 or 3 sets of each exercise.
PRIORITIZE STRETCHING EXERCISES BASED ON YOUR SPORT
If you use static or dynamic stretching, your body position and movement patterns can affect the stretching exercise, making it beneficial or not.
For example, track athletes and gymnasts can get more benefits from stretching their adductors in a standing position instead of stretching on the floor.
This is based on the principle of specific adaptation to imposed demands, which states that your body improves and adapts specifically to what you teach it to do.
By this I mean that you should include in your stretching routines the exercises that are closest to the type of sport you practice.
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO STRETCH THE ADDUCTORS?
In general, groin injuries are the result of a sudden lengthening of the groin muscles beyond their normal flexibility.
This frequently occurs in sports that involve quick stops, climbs, and control movements such as basketball, soccer or in the case of bodybuilding exercises when performing squats for example.
A bad base flexibility, generates oppression in the adductor muscle, and in turn a bad technique when performing the exercise can predispose to one to an injury in the groin.
Stretching the adductor muscles allows us to have a greater range of motion before we resent the connective tissues of these muscles.
Finally, it is good to say that groin pain can be due to other causes as well, such as problems in the hip joints or hernias. So, if you are in doubt, you should always seek the advice of a specialist doctor.
- Adductor Stretching Exercises
- Back Stretching Exercises
- The Best Stretching Exercises for Forearms
- Quadriceps stretching exercises
- The Best Hamstring Stretch Exercises
- The Best Exercises to Stretch Calves or Calves