Hey guys its JP and this time I will be going over some higher level exercises targetting
the groin muscles, otherwise known as the hip adductor muscles! While I already went
over some ways to strengthen the groin muscles, it may be beneficial to incorporate more DYNAMIC
and CHALLENGING exercises for the area! This is because as you run, the muscles are not
static, but rather are DYNAMIC and are constantly moving. Another reason is because of the role
they play in sprinting. As I mentioned before, they are primarily involved in accelerating
off the blocks, but I will go over how they are used in a bit more detail. When you are
in this position, the hips are bent. This actually shifts the role of the groin muscles
and they actually end up working as powerful hip extensors. Basically they will help you
explode off the blocks. And the more force you produce from these muscles, the faster
you will be able to accelerate and ultimately lead to even faster times. However, in order
to strengthen these muscles, they need to be challenged, so incorporating higher difficulty
exercises may be a great addition to your training program!
Now, lets go over some DYNAMIC and more CHALLENGING exercises that you can try with minimal equipment!
The first exercise I will go over is the Lateral Step To Lunge. This is great dynamic exercise
that can be deceptively difficult as it also involves coordination demands. Now, here I
have her on a step, but you don't need to use one initially to make it easier for yourself.
Basically, the groin muscles on this side will be the ones working. Now to do this,
all you do is perform a side lunge. However, when you are attempting to come back up, I
want you to try to pull the foot in. This cue will make sure you are using the groin
muscles in this scenario. Then, you will return to starting position and you can repeat the
exercise. Typically, I have people starting with this exercise for 2-3 sets of 10 repetitions
to learn the movement. Now, to make this more difficult, you can hold weights as well as
performing this from an elevated surface as shown. The higher the surface the harder the
muscles have to work as well as increasing coordination demands involved.
Now, the next exercise I will be going over is the Dynamic Copenhagen 1/2 Plank. This
looks like the exercise I went over in the last video on the groin muscles; however,
there is a bit of a twist involved as this incorporates dynamic movement. The postural
cues are similar though. You will basically start with your knee on an elevated surface.
Try to make sure the elbow is stacked under the shoulder to reduce stress on it. Then,
when you are ready, you are going to push down from the top knee and get into this position.
Now this is where the difference is. Instead of maintaining this posiiton, you will slowly
lower for around 3 seconds by using your groin muscles on the top leg. Then, you can continue
to repeat it. This can be pretty challenging to perform. I typically have people performing
this for 2-3 sets of 5 reps when trying this one out. Now, to make it harder you can either
slow down the tempo when letting the body lower..or you can try the next progression.
The progression to the last one is the Dynamic Copenhagen Plank. To do this one, the big
difference is that you will have your foot on the surface instead of the knee. This kind
of positioning will challenge the groin muscles more as you are engaging them from a longer
lever arm! Since this is more difficult, this increases chances of compensating. One common
compensation is letting yourself roll forward or backward. Try to keep yourself sideways
to really engage those muscles. Similar to the last one, I typically have people performing
this for 2-3 sets of 5 reps when trying this one out. To further increase the difficulty
you can either slow down the tempo when lowering or you can add ankle weights to the bottom
leg.
And those are some dynamic and challenging exercises that target the groin muscles, which
can easily be incorporated at home. I hope you guys enjoyed the video. I'd love to hear
your thoughts and any feedback you may have. And as always, THANK YOU FOR WATCHING!