When a groin strain occurs, what should you do? Dr. John Snyder explains a few exercises to safeguard the hip and help prevent groin strains from happening again.

Groin Strain

photo credit https://anatomy.lexmedicus.com.au/collection/pelvis-hip

The groin refers to the region between your pelvis and thigh.

Groin pain is attributed to two primary sources in the majority of cases. This includes pain related to the joint itself or the musculotendinous structures that cross the joint.

This musculotendinous region is broken down further into four distinct regions, which include:

• adductor
• hip flexor
• inguinal
• pubic

Hip Adductors

The adductor region is made up of the adductor longus, adductor brevis, and adductor magnus. Research shows this muscle group to be the underlying cause in groin pain in up to 63% of cases. Of those individuals with adductor-related groin pain, 93% have been found to be related to pathology of the adductor longus.

Adductor Longus

Seeing how the Adductor Longus is the majority culprit of groin injuries, we are going to focus on 3 exercises to strengthen the muscle.

1. Adductor Plank

To set up this exercise, start by laying on your side. Place your bottom leg in front and bend your knee.⁠
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Put all your strength and weight into the top leg, pushing your hip into the air. Hold that position for at least 10 seconds before lowering again.⁠

2. Landmine Lateral Lunge

Grab onto the end of the barbell, stand all the way up, and widen your stance.⁠
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Shift all your weight to one side, keeping the other leg straight. Pause, and then slowly return to the starting position.⁠

3. Slider Lateral Lunge

Don’t have a landmine for the above lateral lunge? Here’s a similar exercise you can do at home!⁠
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Dr. John is using a slider, but you can also use a towel or pillow case on a hard floor.⁠
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Place the slider (or towel) under one of your feet. Slowly lower and slide your foot away from your body.⁠
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Pause, and then slowly come back to the starting position.⁠

Hip Adductor Series

Watch the below video as Dr. John explains the three exercises.

Preventing Groin Strain⁠

We hope you enjoyed this post about safeguarding your groin against groin strains. Focus on the hip adductors as a part of your general exercise routine to decrease your chance of injury.

Let us know–which one of these exercises was easiest to do? Hardest? Did you have any issues performing these exercises? Let us know below!

You can always send us an email at office@theactivept.com with any questions or comments.

Need some help from Dr. John? Call or text 614-850-0500 to get on his schedule!