Medial Chain, Lower Body Exercises
In my experience training and racing, as well as in the physical therapy profession, there exists an under appreciation for strength and conditioning of the muscles in the medial chain. I’m talking about the muscles on the insides of your thighs and legs, which are a group called the adductors. They work very closely with the hamstrings, too, which is another group of muscles on the back part of your thighs. If you’ve ever experienced a high hamstring or groin strain, you can bet a weak medial chain was likely to blame, at least it was, in part. In the clinic, I also see a lot of patients with gluteal tendonitis and trochanteric bursitis. Both of these issues, as well as those injuries often experienced by runners, cyclists, hikers, and skaters, develop as a dysfunction of increased pelvic wobble, or instability.
As a profession, physical therapists have emphasized the need for stronger glutes. Case in point: clamshells, anyone? Yet there still exists a substantial imbalance in stabilizing strength if those were the only exercises you did. Typically, the next question I get is about those two pieces of exercise equipment in the gym, the ones where you sit and push your legs apart, and then the other where you pull your knees together. There exists absolutely no functional activity we do as human beings that makes those movements helpful to stabilizing your hips.
So here are some exercises that will first, make you aware of your adductors while you’re lying down on your back, squeezing a block. Then, progress you to a hands-and-knees (quadruped) position to better sequentially recruit, and use in combination, your adductors and your deep core. Finally, a standing exercise that will help you to put everything together on your feet.
Parameters: Aim to do each exercise for one minute. As always, it’s more important to maintain correct technique and form than it is to reach the one-minute mark. Please work up to this instead of compromising your technique.
When these feel easy, reach out to me for more!