Impact of Lever Length and Added External Weight on Hip Adduction Torque During Isometric Copenhagen Adduction...

The Copenhagen Adduction (CA) exercise is commonly prescribed to field-sport athletes and has been proven as effective in strengthening the hip adductor muscles and reducing groin problems. The aim of this study was to compare maximal isometric torque in the isometric CA exercise with various loads, and at various lever-lengths, in a cohort of male and female field-sport athletes.

Cross-sectional study.

Hip adduction torque was assessed in the short-lever, mid-lever, and long-lever testing positions during the isometric CA exercise with body mass-only, and with various loads, in 48 field-sport athletes.

A 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed no significant interaction between added external weight and lever length on torque (F4 = 1.366, P = .248, η2 = .033), indicating that the effect of added external weight on torque during the CA exercise was consistent across lever length positions. Added external weight demonstrated a significant main effect on torque (F2 = 114.494, P ≤ <.001, η2 = .741), with significantly greater torque evident with 20% body mass added compared with 10% body mass added (mean difference: 0.28 N·m/kg) and body mass-only (mean difference: 0.53 N·m/kg), and significantly greater with 10% body mass compared with body mass-only (mean difference: 0.25 N·m/kg). Lever-length demonstrated a significant main effect on torque (F2 = 89.403, P ≤ .001, η2 = .691), with significantly greater torque evident in the long-lever position compared to the mid-lever position (mean difference: 0.22 N·m/kg) and short-lever position (mean difference: 0.52 N·m/kg), and significantly greater in the mid-lever position compared to the short-lever position (mean difference: 0.30 N·m/kg).

Added external weight conditions and lever-length have a significant effect on torque during the isometric CA exercise, with large effect size. This data can inform exercise selection criteria for the CA exercise, based upon hip adduction torque requirements.