Your legs bear a lot of abuse during exercises and throughout the day. The legs include the thighs and the groin area. It is important to have strong and flexible groin muscles to prevent injuries during a workout, especially if you are an athlete. The inner thigh and groin are comprised of a group of muscles called adductors. These muscles are helpful in activities that involve side to side movements like playing volleyball, tennis etc. Apart from this, strengthening the muscles help in improving the balance and provide stronger legs too. This article lists 10 best exercises for groin muscles that will help you in toning them effectively. Top 10 Exercises For Strengthening Groin Muscles: Prior to starting any exercise, it is important to consult your physiotherapist to discuss the suitability of a certain exercise according to your physical condition. Avoid doing any exercise if it is causing pain or aggravating an injury. Seniors with improper balance and reduced fitness levels should always perform these groin muscle exercises under an expert’s supervision to avoid muscle strains in groin and thigh. 1. Adductor Squeeze: To perform this exercise, follow the steps: Lie down on your back over a mat on the floor, placing your hands on the sides of your body. Keep your knees pointing upwards and grab a soft ball in between them. Slightly squeeze the ball to tighten your adductor muscles. Pause for a few seconds and repeat it again for 8-10 times. 2. Side Lying Groin Stretch: To perform this exercise, follow the steps: Start the exercise by lying down on your left side. Support your head with your left hand while keeping both the legs straight. Slowly lift your right leg in the air as much you can do comfortably. You may also support your knee with your right hand. Hold on this position to feel the stretch, and repeat it with the other leg by changing your side. [ Read: Exercises To Strengthen Your Wrists ] 3. Lunges: To perform this exercise, follow the steps: Stand straight with your hands positioned on your sides and place your right foot in front of you. Slowly bend your forward knee while keeping your back straight. Keep bending it until your right leg is at an angle of 90 degrees. Also bend your back leg during this process. Hold on this position for a few seconds until you feel the stretch in your groin muscles and return back to your normal position. Repeat with the other leg. This exercise may seem hard at the beginning and should be done according to your comfort level. 4. Side Leg Raise: To perform this exercise, follow the steps: Take a steady chair and stand next to it. Holding the chair with your left hand, stand with your left leg placed firmly on the ground. Slowly raise the right leg in the air until you feel the stretch in your groin muscles. Swing it back and cross it over your left leg. Repeat this 8-10 times. Change your side and do this exercise with the other leg. 5. Power Squats: To perform this exercise, follow the steps: Stand with your hands placed on your hips or straight in front of you. Place your feet wide apart, so that your toes are pointing outwards on either sides. Slowly bend your knees by bringing your hips down. You may also slightly bend your lower back. Hold for a moment and come back to your initial position by pushing your heels to straighten your legs. You may also do this exercise with weights in hand to increase the intensity. 6. Gravity Groin Exercise: To perform this exercise, follow the steps: Lie down on your left side and keep a chair near your feet. Place your right leg on the chair while resting your left leg on the floor. Raise the lower leg toward the bottom of the chair against the gravity. Hold for 8-10 second and return your leg back to the floor. Switch to the other side and repeat the exercise with the other leg. 7. Groin Stretch: To perform this exercise, follow the steps: Sit over a mat on the floor and bend your knees so that your heels are close to your body. Keep your back straight as much as possible and lower your knees so that it touches the floor. You may also bend your back a little bit and use your elbow to put pressure on the knees in a downward direction. Slowly release the tension and repeat it a few more times to strengthen the groin muscles. 8. Hip Extension: To perform this exercise, follow the steps: Kneel down on the floor with your palms flat on the ground for support. Keeping one leg firm, lift another leg in the air as much as you could do comfortably. Bring it back to its initial position and again raise it in the air. Do this 5-7 times. Switch your leg and repeat the exercise with the other leg. 9. Lateral Jump: To perform this exercise follow the steps: This exercise involves hopping laterally over a row of cones or hurdles or appropriate height and should not be done by people who have poor balance. If done wrong, it can cause injuries. Place a row of 2-3 cones and stand sideways so that you are facing 90 degrees to the row of cones. Using the adductor muscles, hop over the first cone laterally and use your legs to land while absorbing the impact. Repeat it with the other cone in the row until you hop over all of them. Return back by hopping over them to your initial position. This exercise is effective for strengthening the groin muscle. 10. Band Abduction: Stand straight with both the feet placed together. Put a resistance band around your ankles. Hold a steady object with your hands for support. You can also do this without any support depending on your fitness ability. Keeping your left leg firmly on the floor, raise the right leg on your side, stretching as much as you can do comfortably. Take a pause and bring your leg back to its initial position, releasing the tension of the resistance band. Now keep your right leg firmly, raise your left leg to your sides, stretching the band and return back to the initial position releasing the tension. Repeat this exercise several times to strengthen the groin muscles and the knees. This exercise also prevents the falling in of knees during squatting and running. Most of the times, we overlook these invisible muscles, focusing on the outer look of the body. Sculpted abs, calves, biceps etc. all do look attractive, but if the other muscles in the body are not strong enough, the outer look won’t last long! So, work those groin muscles and stay healthy and fit! Do you practice these exercises? Have we missed any? Do share with us in the comments section below. Original article and pictures take http://www.stylecraze.com/articles/best-exercises-strengthening-groin-muscles/ site
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