Hip Adductor Muscle Forces during Strength Training and Rehabilitation Exercises.

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Exercise Physiology
• Sports Science

Background:

• Hip adductor muscles are vital for athletic performance and injury prevention.
• Optimal exercises for specific hip adductor muscle activation remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To rank common strength and rehabilitation exercises based on their effectiveness in targeting individual hip adductor muscles.
• To analyze muscle fiber lengths, velocities, and activation ranges associated with these exercises.

Main Methods:

• Fifteen participants performed eight hip adductor exercises.
• Surface electromyography (EMG) and 3D kinematics were used with a neuromusculoskeletal model.
• Muscle forces were estimated for adductor brevis, longus, magnus, and gracilis.

Main Results:

• Copenhagen adduction (long-lever) ranked Tier 1 for all adductor muscles.
• Deadlifts and sumo deadlifts were Tier 1 for adductor magnus (ischiocondylar) and gracilis.
• Lateral slide and lying leg lift showed lower tier rankings for most adductor muscles.

Conclusions:

• The Copenhagen adduction exercise is highly effective for activating multiple hip adductor muscles.
• Hip extension exercises are beneficial for targeting the adductor magnus (ischiocondylar).
• These findings can inform exercise selection for performance enhancement and rehabilitation.