Functional Anatomy Part 4- Medial Thigh Muscles

If youve read my previous three posts you should have a pretty decent grasp on
lower body functional anatomy. Together with parts 1, 2 and 3, this article and the
next will complete the lower body portion of my Functional Anatomy Miniseries.
So lets dive right into it
The adductor group consists of five muscles-adductor magnus, adductor brevis,
adductor longus, gracilis, and pectineus-that comprise the medial compartment of
the thigh (AKA the groin). Generally speaking all of these muscles originate on the
inferior, or lower end of the pelvis and insert, at varying levels, on the posterior
aspect (back) of the femur. Their primary function is to adduct, or pull the legs
toward midlinethink ThighMaster or the machines at the gym that vaguely
resemble an OBs stir-ups. Got the picture? Now that your know what your
adductors do, keep in mind that if you want to properly train them you should avoid
both the machine and Suzanne Somers money maker like the plague!

While adduction is the primary function of each adductor muscle, they also
contribute to hip flexion and internal rotation. The amount of hip flexion present
determines the degree to which each muscle contributes to internal rotation. A quick
summary of the origin, insertion and action of each adductor muscle is provided in
the chart below

Because most human movements are linear (i.e. running, walking, cycling, etc.) and
most naive exercisers tend to only perform exercises in the sagittal plane, the
adductors are often under trained. Unless youre already including a fair amount of
single-leg work or wide stance training (e.g. sumo squats and deadlifts), you
probably arent targeting your adductors enough to realize their full strength and
injury prevention potential.
Weak adductors increase the potential of sustaining an adductor strain. Also known
as a groin strain, adductor strains are extremely common in sports that involve quick
changes in direction. They are quite painful, often slow to heal and can sideline you
from activity for up to 6-8 weeks. Additionally, weak adductors are also one of the
potential causes of patellofemoral pain syndrome. So why not attempt to prevent
these in the first place?
As I alluded to earlier, two highly effective ways to strengthen your hip adductors are
unilateral leg exercises and wide stance exercises. Before outlining specific exercises
that strengthen your adductors Id like to point out one thingSome of these
exercises might be contraindicated if you find that your knees tend to buckle inward,
or knock, when youre doing exercises like squats, deadlifts, lunges and step-ups. If
this is the case, your adductors are probably tight (this is about as common as weak
adductors, so be careful!) and youd be better off emphasizing stretching your
adductors and IT band while strengthening you glutes (the primary abductors) and
core. Now that Im finished going off on my little tangent let me provide you with a

few exercises that will target your adductors a helluva lot better than the
ThighMaster or similar machines you may find in the gym
Exercises for the Medial Thigh

Sumo deadlifts

Sumo squats

Bulgarian split squats

45-degree lunge

Considerations for Training

Training the adductors is important for those people that participate in sports that
require quick cutting or changes in direction. While the quads and hamstrings have
a higher percentage of fast-twitch muscle fibers, the adductors usually have a
greater proportion of slow-twitch fibers. Therefore, you need to train your adductors
differently than you might train your quads and hamstrings. The adductors require
higher rep ranges and greater time under tension than the quads and hamstrings.
Remember that tight adductors are just as problematic as weak ones so before
beginning the assault on your adductors you should first determine whether yours
are weak or tight. If your adductors are tight, youd be better off focusing on
adductor foam rolling, flexibility and mobility exercises rather than strengthening
exercises.