How to Strengthen the Adductors

Strengthening the adductors is important for rehabilitating groin and hip injuries.

It is also important in a runner's quest to run pain and injury free.

Here POGO Head Physio Brad Beer demonstrates one of our favourite strengthening and activation exercises for the adductors-the adductor ball squeeze.

Progress from 4x 30 s holds at 80% squeeze intensity to 4x1 min holds at 100% intensity over the course of 4-8weeks.

For more information visit www.pogophysio.com.au

Transcript

Hey guys I am just going to share with you how to strengthen the Adductors which are important for any running based activity where you go from one leg to the other. The Adductors work as a force couple with the gluteus medius so if they are not working enough or are not strong enough then you are going to have a degree of hip collapsing which can load up the hips, knees, lower back and lower limbs including your calves. What you need is a ball of any description and the first position is with the legs bent to 45 degrees. From here we generate a squeeze pressure on the ball and we are going to hold that for 30 seconds at 80% strength and relax. So you will see the blog post protocol that you can follow but eventually you want to be able to get this to doing four lots of 1 minute holds at 100% pressure which is very fatiguing. So, that is the bent knee position for the Adductor squeezes. The second position is with the legs straight and the ball between the ankles and we are going to generate a squeeze similar to the bent knees starting with 30 second holds at 80% and four repetitions and over time working up to 1 minute holds, four reps, at 100% squeeze. This is for the Adductors. Have fun with it.