When most athletes think about improving performance, they focus on the big muscle groups — glutes, hamstrings, quads, and core. But there’s an often-overlooked group of muscles that plays a crucial role in strength, balance, and injury prevention: the adductors.
What Are the Adductors?
The adductors are a group of muscles located on the inner thigh. They include the adductor longus, brevis, magnus, gracilis, and pectineus. Their primary role is to pull the legs toward the midline of the body (hip adduction), but they also stabilize the pelvis and assist in flexion, extension and rotation of the hip.
Why Adductors Matter in Sports
In any sport that involves sprinting, cutting, changing direction, or lateral movement — think soccer, hockey, basketball, tennis, and martial arts — the adductors are working overtime.
Here’s why strong adductors are essential:
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Lateral Power & Change of Direction: Powerful adductors help you accelerate, decelerate, and cut laterally with control and explosiveness.
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Hip Stability & Injury Prevention: Weak adductors can lead to groin strains and imbalances, especially when paired with strong abductors or external rotators. This imbalance is a common cause of non-contact injuries.
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Force Transmission: The adductors are key in transferring force between the upper and lower body, particularly during running, jumping, and rotational movements.
Top 3 Adductor Exercises for Athletes
If you want to boost athletic performance and bulletproof your groin, incorporate these three adductor exercises into your training:
1. Copenhagen Plank
Why it works: One of the most effective ways to build isometric adductor strength, which is essential for stabilizing the pelvis and knee. Also, the Copenhagen Side Plank is fairly easy to learn and a great place to test adductor strength in athletes (can your athlete maintain a straight line?)
How to do it:
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Lie on your side with your top leg resting on a bench or box.
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Support yourself on your forearm.
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Lift your lower body off the ground and hold maintaining a straight line with your body while keeping your lower leg off the floor.
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Start with three sets of 10–15 seconds per side, and gradually increase over time.
2. Lateral Lunge
Why it works: Builds dynamic adductor strength through a large range of motion while improving hip mobility and stability.
How to do it:
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Stand tall and take a big step to the side while keeping the leg on the stationary foot side straight (ie, stretching the groin.)
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Push your hips down and back as you decelerate your body mass going into hip and knee flexion on the landing leg
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Drive through the heel and “fire” your inner thigh muscles on the straight leg drawing your body back to the starting position.
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Perform 3 sets of 8–12 reps per side and progressively overload with dumbbells, kettlebells or sandbags overtime
3. Sumo Deadlift
Why it works: Strengthens the adductors through heavy compound loading while also targeting the glutes and hamstrings.
How to do it:
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Set your feet wide and point your toes slightly out.
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Grip the bar, or Kettlebell, with your hands inside your knees.
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Keep your chest up and back flat as you drive through your feet (push the earth away).
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Focus on squeezing your inner thighs at the top.
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Perform 3 sets of 8–12 reps per side
4. BONUS: Glute Slide Lateral Lunge
Why it works: Strengthens the adductors through dynamic elastic resistance
How to do it:
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Place one foot on the adductor block and one on the slide platform
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Set appropriate resistance for 8-12 reps by selecting anywhere from zero to six push-pins (upto 180lbs)
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Bend knee and hip on adductor block side while keeping slide leg straight
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Stand up on adductor block leg (extend hip and knee) while drawing slide platform to the adductor block
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Pause one to three seconds at end range to work isometric strength and demonstrate control over the movement pattern
- Perform 3 sets of 8–12 reps per side
*The Glute Slide is a NEW glute workout machine that has been touted as one of the best home gym glute and ham machines on the market. Interestingly enough, the Glute Slide machine is equally good at building adductor strength!
Conclusion
If you want to be a more explosive, stable, and resilient athlete, training your adductors isn’t optional — it’s essential. Whether you’re cutting across the field, grappling on the mat, or sprinting down the court, strong adductors help you move better and stay injury-free. Add these exercises to your program, and watch your performance and durability rise.
Author: Pete Holman: Physical Therapist, Strength Coach, Former US National TaeKwon-Do Champion & team captain
