By the healthiergang writer , personal trainer.
Inner Thigh Exercises
The muscles that make up the lower limbs are very numerous; because of this there are countless exercises aimed at their training.
Inside the gym, most of the time, the most neglected muscles are those that make up the outer and inner thighs, areas where, especially in women, there are the classic accumulations of fat, very difficult to get rid of without the right training and the right diet.
Anatomical Notes
The muscles that make up the inner leg are:
? small adductor;
? middle adductor;
? great adductor;
? gracile;
? comb.
The primary function performed by these muscles is that of adduction of the leg.
After a brief introduction we will see, in detail, the most useful exercises for the development of the muscles listed above.
# 1 Hip adduction
Complementary exercise.
The muscles that are primarily involved are large, medium and small adductor.
Also involved are gluteus maximus, gracilis, pectineus, part of the femoral framework, psoas iliaco.
For correct execution, stand next to a support, lean on it with your hand, tilt your torso slightly; then bring the leg corresponding to the supporting hand into abduction, until reaching the highest point on the opposite side.
Return to the starting position without losing muscle contraction. It is important, in carrying out this exercise, keep the trunk still in order to isolate the muscles as much as possible.
Exercise recommended for novice beginners, who are therefore at the first stresses of strength or for those who have suffered trauma and must resume activity after a long period.
To increase the difficulty you can use anklets or work directly on the cables.
Mistakes and advice
The mistakes that are made most frequently are swing with the leg to help the execution and tilt with the trunk thus helping the abduction of the leg.
Since this is a simple exercise, and since the leg excursion is very short, it is advisable to keep the execution time very low; in this way it is possible to emphasize the muscular work to the maximum, furthermore it is useful to keep recovery times low and the number of repetitions high.
variants">variants
Some variations to this exercise are:
? hip adduction from lying on one side;
? adduction of the hips in supine decubitus;
? hip adduction using cables (standing or lying on the ground).
As in the previous exercise, also in these it is recommended to use anklets in order to increase the load and consequently the muscular work, if you use the cables it is important to carefully choose the weight with which to work, in order to maintain the execution as correct as possible.
#2 Adductor Machine
Complementary exercise. The muscles that are mainly involved are small, medium and large adductor; the pectineus, gracilis, psoas muscles, part of the femoral framework and buttocks are also involved in a secondary way.
For a correct execution, position yourself on the seat of the machine, legs specially positioned between the supports for the ankles or knees.
After positioning the machine in such a way that the legs are open to the maximum point allowed by the joints, close them in adduction until reaching the point of maximum contraction.
While performing the exercise it is important keep your torso still in order to maximize the muscular work of the lower limbs.
Mistakes and advice
The most common mistakes made while performing the exercise are: excessive or poor leg opening, use of too much or too little weight, too fast movement of momentum to aid execution.
This exercise is ideal for both beginners and more experienced athletes; the important thing to pay attention to is not to open the legs excessively in order to avoid any type of damage, both at the muscle and joint level.
variants">variants
Some variations to the classic exercise are:
? adductor machine with reclined backrest;
? adductor machine with back in anteposition;
? adductor machine with glutes off the bench.
? adductions to the multi hip
As already mentioned for the previous exercises, a low speed of execution, slightly shorter recovery times and a high number of repetitions (between 15 and 20 repetitions) should be preferred.
To increase muscle work, you can choose to exercise these muscles with particular training techniques such as Super Series, Negative Repetitions, Stripping.
Furthermore, to avoid the intervention of the other muscles of the legs, to support the adductors, it is possible to insert pre-tiring exercises, such as squats, lunges, step ups, leg presses, in this way it is possible to increase and isolate the muscle work of the adductors.
Finally, it can be useful for those who want to thin this area, insert one or more of the exercises listed above into an aerobic circuit, alternating, in the aerobic phase, the use of different machines such as bike, elliptical, treadmill.
To increase the difficulty, you can increase the number of sets, repetitions, weight or increase the time spent on aerobic machines.
