Weekly Hip Stretch – Stretch Like A Yankee
This week we’re stretching the adductors.
This particular stretch is one of my favorites. When I give this to clients I often hear “I don’t feel anything”, then “oooooohhh”, then “I didn’t even know I was tight there.”
Many people use this stretch, but I first fell in love with it during a workshop with Eric Cressey, Director of Player Health and Performance for the New York Yankees. My clients now know it as “The Yankee Stretch”.
Illuminate me…
The adductors are the group of muscles on the insides of your thighs that pulls your leg in toward your midline. The tops of them connect into the pubic bones and sit bones and the bottoms connect to the inner lines of the thighs.
When these are tight you may feel it in your groin area or, sometimes, a pulling above the inside of the knee.
Adductors don’t get a lot of love, but they’re important for balance, walking straight and a general feeling of ease and openness in the hips (think yoga).
Try it…
I usually do this on all fours on the floor. But if getting down on the floor doesn’t sound appealing, you can also use a counter, table top or chair seat. Anything that allows you to rest your forearms on it and hinge forward at your hips (no rounding in the low back).
Don’t forget to breathe!
Here’s the exercise. Try it and let me know how you like it!
As always, go slowly and listen to your body.
Wishing you happy hips!