SQUAT PREHAB

When you think of squats, you probably think of them as a way to get bigger quads or maybe a bigger butt. And some may argue that doing front squats versus back squats targets one over the other. Research actually shows that you get equal activation in these muscles with the 2 lifts, so it’s more than we just feel one more than the other based on our body position and where the weight sits. But that’s not the main point of today’s blog. What I want to focus on is what the main muscle driver is in your squat: your adductors! Even with a strong anatomy and lifting background, this suprised me the first time I read it, because you don’t feel these muscles as strongly during the lift as you do your quads and glutes. But it also made perfect sense when I thought about it more. It definitely explains why I sometimes feel crazy sore in my inner thighs after a heavy or high-volume squat day!

ADDUCTOR PAIN WHEN SQUATTING

(To note: if you are someone that feels like your quads/glutes “don’t fire” and you compensate by increasing your turnout in your squat on one side or both, what you are effectively doing is letting the stronger adductor muscle group do even more work on that side. Unfortunately, this means that you aren’t allowing your quads and glutes to fire as much, so if that’s the case, these are still good exercises in general, but I would focus more on targeted quad and glute work. Think single leg bridges, weighted step-ups, reverse nordic curls, etc)

This is often an area that isn’t addressed more directly, yet if they aren’t strong or flexible enough, this can lead to all kinds of issues like groin strains or knee pain. I know I have definitely had a lot of patients come in complaining of ITBand and Syndrome and knee pain and after evaluating, it turned out that the adductors were short and weak, causing the ITB to be pulled taught.

INNER THIGH SQUATS - MOVES TO BUILD STRENGTH

Here are some great drills that work on adductor strength throughout their range of motion (ie both mobility and stability benefits simultaneously! Win-win.). And if you happen to currently be experiencing pain, this is part of what you should be doing to get back to activity (disclaimer: this is not individualized medical advice. If you are experiencing pain and want to work with me and get individualized care, email me

Cossack squats:

Keep your chest tall and back neutral (ie don’t over arch and don’t let your ribcage flare). Drop into a squat on one side, keeping the opposite leg straight. The foot can come up as shown, or stay flat on that side. On the squat side, knees can go over toes, but still need to track in line with the toes. Hold a moderate weight goblet style as shown for a counter balance if you want :) (why yes, Coach Andris’ idea of a “moderate to light weight” for this when I told him to grab something was a 70# KB #imjustjealousofhisstrength)

CURTSEY LUNGES:

Great for working on adductors and hip flexors. (Please note that if you feel pinching at the front of your hip with this, that’s no beuno…we might have a little bit of an impingement syndrome going on. DM me and I can send you resources and/or set up an appointment to get a plan of action in place!) As with most exercises, don’t let te rib cage flare and don’t let the back overarch. Keeping your front foot flat with weight evenly distributed, take the other leg back and across behing you into a lunge. Kinda looks like a curtsey without the bowing part. Again, a counter weight is helpful. I usually do these with a 24-35# KB, nothing crazy

Copenhagen planks: if you only did one thing on here, make it this. And this is very easy to make easier or harder! The more your top leg is supported, the easier it is. Conversely, the further out you have your supportive surface, the harder it is. So if it’s getting easy with it supported at above the knee, try below the knee, mid shin, and then foot/ankle. Need more of a challenge? Add an ankle weight to the bottom leg! You can also do a static hold with the bottom leg off the ground rather than moving it up and down. No matter what though, don’t let your hips/core drop and keep the hips stacked!

How would I perform these? If I really wanted to target the adductors in my warmup, I’d just throw in 2x10 of each of these in addition to whatever other movements I need to do. But what I really like doing if I’ve noticed a need to get my adductors stronger and firing better, I’ll do something like this:

SAMPLE INNER THIGH SQUAT WORKOUT

20’ EMOM:

1. 30” Copenhagen Plank L

2. 30” Copenhagen Plank R

3. Max adductor sit backs - switch at 30” (50/35#)

4. Max cossack squats (alternating) (50/35#)

5. 12/10 cal row

Questions/comments? Drop them in the comments or DM me!

Thinking you want a more individualized assessment to really know what will be most helpful for you specifically? Hit me up and let’s work together to figure something out!