The Adductors: Train Them or Pay The Price!
Yesterday, I talked about the role of hamstring strength in athletic development. The hamstrings are responsible for a majority of sprinting injuries. (Intramuscular Coordination Training, Schuermans et all 2014.)
However, as I’ve watched and timed almost 10,000 sprints in the last 5 years, I’ve noticed les hamstring and more acute adductor injuries.
I believe most athletes that come to work with us focus too heavily on bilateral sagittal plane movements. Consequently, their adductors are not developed in balance and injury risks can increase.
In sprinting and all athletic actions the adductors are responsible for eccentric deceleration (Tyler et. al, 2010).
The adductor magnus is one of the largest muscles in the entire body. Primarily, the adductor is active during the beginning and end of the stance phase within the gait cycle.
From a joint action perspective, the adductors are opposite of the glute, and together they provide balance to the forces on the femur. The Adductor additionally provides balance to the powerful external rotation and abduction forces of the glutes in late swing phase as the foot is driven downwards toward the ground.
The adductor group is the most ignored group in all of training as it relates to speed and performance. It provides an opposing adduction force to the abducting force of prime swing and stance movers (which is where the glute comes into play).
Too much propulsion from the glute can increase excessive ATP which leads to a disproportionate amount of eccentric force on the abductors.
3 Exercises to Train Your Adductors
- Single Leg Stance w/ MB
- Hip Shift Eccentrics
- Falling Strides